NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE

SPECIAL MEETING - PUBLIC HEARING ON REDISTRICTING

BROWN MIDDLE SCHOOL, AUDITORIUM

MAY 7, 2001, 7:00 P.M.

PRESENT: Chairperson Verne Vance, Vice-Chairperson Anne Borg, Susan Albright, Rodney Barker, Susan Heyman, Anne Larner, Nancy Levine, Andris Vizulis

ABSENT: Mayor Cohen, student representatives

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Verne Vance called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. He began by announcing that this is Teacher Appreciation Week and, on behalf of the School Committee, he thanked all the superb teachers in the Newton Public Schools for the continual hard work they do on a daily basis. The quality of the staff is what makes this an excellent system.

He then noted that the purpose of tonight's meeting is to hear public opinions

and comments around the proposed redistricting options and outlined the

process that will be followed.

Superintendent Jeffrey Young stated that the administration has narrowed down six options from the approximately 25 scenarios that were presented at the last meeting. Over the past few days a couple of additional scenarios were developed (F1 & F2). However, they have not reached the level of options. which will depend upon whether or not the School Committee wishes to pursue this further.

PUBLIC HEARING

Ken Krems, 55 Saint Mary St., Newton Lower Falls, Williams Elementary School parent, does not believe the option of sending Williams south meets the criteria of being in the long-term best interest of students and minimal disruption. Sending children across the other side of the city disrupts families. It will impact on friendships, community values, and traditions because most of their children's schoolmates will live very far away. The end product will not be credible because it would not make sense for students to be bused five miles away from their community. He also has issues with regard to the assumptions around transportation time, distance, and costs. Other options spread the burden more fairly.

Deborah Spar, 45 Colby Rd. East, Peirce Elementary School parent, believes that the amount of busing citywide should be minimized as much as possible. They should also maintain the diversity that currently exists at the secondary level. Options A, C and D send a small group of students through the middle schools and then separate them at the high school level, which is not an ideal situation.

Joyce Noverr, 293 Islington Rd., Auburndale, thanked the Superintendent, administration, and School Committee for this open and fair process. Every opinion has been heard and evaluated. She believes Option C is the best choice for meeting the established criteria. All cohorts will remain together. The high school populations will be equalized, thereby maximizing the use of facilities and providing stability for a reasonable period of time. Transportation is the only factor that is troubling under this option. However, this could be solved by a change in the policy with regard to distance from two to two-and-a-half or three miles, thereby decreasing or maintaining the same number of buses systemwide. Burr Elementary School parents are concerned that sending Williams south will divide their community.

Carol Cohen, Terry Yoffie, and Theresa Bucher, Ward Elementary School PTO Copresidents, talked about how strongly their community feels about remaining together in the current feeder pattern. They urged the Committee to focus on cost, middle school capacity, and keeping cohorts together. This year's budget deficit is $600,000 and next year's constraints appear to be even worse. Minimizing busing lowers transportation costs. Money not spent in this area can be put toward programs. Their school population continues to get smaller each year and splitting a cohort is not acceptable. The three options that meet all the criteria are B, E-1 and E-2.

Joel Shames, 348 Central St., Auburndale, noted that the distance between Memorial-Spaulding Elementary School/Day Middle School/Newton North High School is comparable to the distance between Williams/Brown Middle School/Newton South High and yet the option which sends a south side school across the City to the north is not on the table for consideration. He questioned why it is fair to send a north side school south if the opposite does not hold true.

Howard Birnbaum, 36 Central St., Auburndale, talked about 15 trips his family made last week to and from Newton North for a variety of his daughter's activities. If his son is forced to go to Newton South, they will not be able to retain this pace. Many people purchased their homes in certain parts of the City because of the proximity to neighborhood schools.

Kathy Zigarelli, 166 Chapel St., Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School parent, talked about the importance of diverse communities coming together at the middle school level. At Bigelow Middle School, one cannot easily identify socioeconomic differences between children from Lincoln-Eliot, Ward, and Underwood because

the community has worked hard to overcome those issues. They do not want north and south to become separate communities once again.

Merry Gerard, 150 Newtonville Ave., Cabot Elementary School Redistricting Task Force (RTF) parent representative, thanked the Committee and Superintendent for this fair, open, and inclusive process. She hopes that they will respect the process and not accept anymore options, which would undermine the proceedings. She expressed concern about the small number of vocal communities expressing their opinions and hopes that every school's concerns will be taken into consideration in doing what is best for the city as a whole. There is no consensus at Cabot with regard to the possibility of splitting the school. Some have expressed positive comments because the children can then walk to Day, while others prefer to keep the community together as a whole.

Michael Kajen, 29 Eden Ave., West Newton, Williams parent, reminded the Committee that the reason Williams was sent south in the last round of redistricting was because it was supposedly the least costly option that would require only one additional bus when, in fact, it actually required two. The cheaper option proved to be sending Peirce south, which also would have been a shorter commute for students. The data in the material regarding distance in sending Williams south is incorrect. It does not matter if it has since been modified because this data was used to develop these options. Therefore, the costs associated with moving Williams south are unrealistically low, and those moving Peirce south are artificially inflated. This means that the process was flawed from the start.

George Adams, 14 Westview Terr., West Newton, Peirce parent, talked about the students who will be caught in the transition phase and small cohorts that would separate at the high school level. He urged them to consider options that would keep adequately sized cohorts together, preserve geographical communities, and minimize busing time and costs.

Elizabeth Einaudi, 20 Overlook Park, Ward parent, discussed how scenarios F-1 and F-2 would split cohorts, which would have a very detrimental impact on the Ward community, particularly in five years when the school will become very small.

Ezra Hausman, 77 Kaposia St., Auburndale, Burr parent, talked about the importance of neighborhood schools in terms of building a community. Children who attend local schools together share similar social activities, playtime, and after-school activities.

Emily Levoy and David Palmer, 6^th grade students at Brown, currently ride the bus daily from the Williams district to middle school and do not want to have to

continue that at the high school level. Several students experience carsickness and the long bus ride makes them nauseous. They have less time to do their homework, socialize, or participate in after-school activities. Students often miss the late bus because activities extend beyond the pickup time and, therefore, parents are forced to retrieve them from school.

Bob Finelli, 35 Melbourne Ave., Lincoln-Eliot RTF representative, mentioned that their community prefers either Options A or B, but has not reached a consensus between the two.

Lisa Samuelson, 53 Channing Rd., Mason-Rice Elementary School RTF representative, expressed thanks for the participatory nature of the process and the fact that the options meet the set criteria. She appreciates the one-mile radius choice for their community at the high school level. However, she noted that this line is somewhat arbitrary and does not represent the natural boundaries of the neighborhood. She hopes they will refine this geographic line. She also asked that they reevaluate the assumption that 50% of the population in the choice district would choose to attend Newton South, because she has not heard that from a single family in the district. In terms of transportation, no matter which community is bused, it will be important to make sure it is as safe and as best an experience as possible.

Beth Siegel, Eldredge St., talked about how the current feeder pattern to Bigelow embraces diversity and she wishes to retain this ethnic, socio-economic, and religious mix.

Reenie Murphy, 53 Trowbridge Ave., Newtonville, is concerned that by focusing on individual communities, they will lose sight of what is best for the entire city. She does not understand why they would even consider an option that adds additional transportation costs when they are currently facing a difficult budget situation. Finally, if they choose an option which splits Cabot, she would prefer E-2, which would balance the number of students sent to each of the middle schools.

Hugh Gelch, 20 Oakland Ave., Auburndale, Williams parent, stated that what makes a large city such as Newton seem like a small community is the fact that it is made up of many villages. His family chose Auburndale, where they work, shop, and socialize. He wants his children to continue in the current north feeder pattern so that this sense of community is not broken.

Andrea Kelley, 28 Putnam St., West Newton, Peirce parent, is committed to finding a redistricting solution that works for the City as a whole. In terms of the goal to balance the capacity of the secondary schools, she does not believe Options A and B nor scenarios F-1 and F-2 meet those criteria.

Dane Watrup, 49 Woodlawn Dr., Ward parent, reminded people that there are 15 communities in the city and that the School Committee has to take all of their interests under consideration. Any one vocal community should not influence their ultimate decision. The options on the table represent substantially different costs and during difficult budget times that factor is very important. If the system is willing to pay extra for an option, they need to be able to demonstrate that it is a clear and tangible benefit for a broad number of students systemwide.

Janet Linder, 348 Central St., Auburndale, believes that the quoted distance times for the ride to and from Williams to the south side of the city are incorrect. She has personally clocked the route and it is much longer than what is being factored. No other school but Williams faces this hardship for so many years.

Joan Rottenberg, 66 Clyde St., Cabot parent, talked about the options that split their school and urged them to draw the boundary at Harvard St. rather than Walnut St. if they choose one of the E options. This would make walking to Day safer, easier, and more manageable.

Laura Dorfman, 111 Prospect St., Peirce parent, urged the Committee to keep their school in the Day/North feeder pattern so that additional busing is not necessary.

Katie Hanson, 28 Lafayette Rd., Williams parent, stated that the Committee has a difficult decision to make with regard to redistricting, but will ultimately result in two good high schools. Most of the options being considered meet the criteria of equalizing the middle school enrollments. However, there are other criteria to consider. If four of the six options are sending Williams south, this cannot be considered fair and equitable. Quality family time will suffer and students and parents will participate less in the life of the school.

David Bunis, 460 Waverley Ave., Ward parent, supports either Option B or E-2, because he believes they best meet the criteria of cost, respecting community values, and preserving cohorts.

Sarah Ecker, 68 Prospect Park, Cabot parent, hopes that the Committee will drop consideration of Option E-1, which would split their community 30% to Day and 70% to Bigelow. This could result in a cohort as small as 12 students attending Day. Option E-2 splits the school closer to a 50/50 ratio and would be more preferable.

Waldemar Augustyn, Williams parent, stated that long-term predictions are not concrete. The community recently went through this redistricting process only three years ago. He does not want consistent battles every few years among

different schools. He suggested that they abandon the concept of strict school districts and develop a system based on preference.

Cindy Barrows, 51 Perkins St., West Newton, Peirce parent, believes that minimizing busing is imperative. She does not favor redistricting a community that otherwise would not require transportation. Peirce borders the north part of

the city and Newton North's facilities are used by their family.

Gerry Robbins, 61 Prentice Rd., Newton Centre, talked about the importance of stability for children. She also believes minimizing transportation costs and not busing students who can currently walk should take greatest consideration.

Ofra Sarid Segal, 23 Trowbridge Ave., Cabot parent, noted that their school faces two unfavorable solutions -- either being split or being bused. She is concerned about the disruption to the community.

Brian Conway, 361 Otis St., Peirce parent, believes that maintaining cohorts is the most important criteria to be considered in making this decision and Option B best represents that goal. He suggested they review how these options would impact on property taxes, as many people move to a particular neighborhood specifically for the schools.

Jonathan Yeo, 152 Grove St., Auburndale, Copresident of the Williams PTO, stated that Option C may be slightly more costly because of transportation costs, but it is strong on all the other criteria. He has concerns about the accuracy of the estimates and assumptions used in preparing the data. It is not apparent if state reimbursement for transportation is factored into the data. They may be overestimating the number of buses required and might be counting spaces for students who are within the two-mile radius of the high school. Finally, the assumptions assume status quo regarding busing eligibility through 2010, during which time policies could change.

Joan Abensohm, 318 Prince St., West Newton, Bigelow parent, prefers Option B because it does not require additional transportation costs and does not split schools. The only drawback is that it requires the Williams community to extend their existing transportation schedule slightly.

David Levoy, 360 Central St., Auburndale, Williams parent, believes it is another community's term to share the transportation burden. The system should absorb additional financial costs rather than sacrificing children's school experience.

Deena David, 60 Rokeby Rd., Waban, Angier Elementary School RTF representative, mentioned that has and will continue to feed to Brown and Newton South despite its closer proximity to Newton North. While the

distance from Lower Falls south is great, parents have felt it worth the travel because their children are thriving at Newton South. Car pools have been formed and students continue to participate in after-school activities. While it is not the best circumstance, it is doable. Parents have worked to develop a sense of one community between the two schools and this opportunity to have two equally excellent high schools should be a positive experience.

Amy LeClair, 12 Jenison St., Newtonville, Copresident of the PTO Council, acknowledged the difficulties in determining and implementing changes in the current redistricting. While each individual school can and should advocate for its own community, the Committee must choose whatever solution they feel is in the best interest of all students citywide.

Lauren Rubin, 84 Bigelow Rd., Peirce School PTO Copresident, talked about the principles that their community feel are most important, which are balancing the elementary feeder school populations into the middle schools, minimizing busing costs and numbers/experience of students being transported, and keeping cohorts together from middle to high school. Options A, B and C do not meet these criteria, as too many communities are impacted by change and transportation costs are too expensive.

Janet Razulis, 266 Commonwealth Ave., Ward School RTF representative, is pleased to hear that F-1 and F-2 are not being treated as options at this point and that the established process is being respected. Those two scenarios divide their community, so she would be strongly opposed to either. Ward parents have emphasized the need for keeping cohorts together and continuing to allow children to walk to their neighborhood school.

Suzanne Zellner, 18 Groveland St., Williams parent, is concerned that her children will not have as active and participatory an experience at Newton South as they would if they had attended Newton North simply because of the logistics. Many activities, classes, and tutoring begin even before the official school starting time.

Bonnie Ciambotti, 16 Kingman Rd., Newton Highlands, Mason-Rice School RTF representative, stated that their community is well aware of the angst associated with redistricting, having been through this many times in the past. They have experienced busing, splits from cohorts, etc. and their children are doing fine. She believes it is time to look at what is best for the city as a whole. People need to remember how lucky they are to be living in this city and sending their children to Newton Public Schools.

Larry Raff, 16 Avondale Rd., hopes that the issue of seatbelts on buses will come up in a future discussion. Also, people make choices about where to live based on

the schools they want their children to attend. He hopes the Committee will keep that in mind when making their decision.

Paul Summit, Peirce parent, thanked the Committee and administration for their hard work and thoughtful deliberations around this important subject. He reminded people of all the basic things that are lacking in the schools because of insufficient funding. They should not add any additional burden to the budget. However, it is imperative to answer the various questions raised with regard to the data and assumptions so that the process will withstand scrutiny. Whatever the decision, it will be important to review the experience of students who are bused. Finally, if students have to be transported a great distance, he suggests they choose an option that at least keeps those cohorts together.

Rob Klein, 18 Groveland St., Williams parent, does not believe one criterion should outweigh all others. The transportation cost differential may not be as great as it appears and he urged the administration to examine the accuracy of the figures. Williams' population is increasing while Ward's is decreasing, which will result in the need for additional buses. If the eligibility line extends beyond the two-mile zone in the future, this could result in the Williams south option becoming the most expensive scenario.

Larry Handler, 60 Wachusett Rd., Ward parent, addressed the need to keep children together as they transition from one level to another, which is what is most important to the students themselves. She related some personal experiences to bolster this opinion.

Seth Jaffe, 176 Grove St., Williams parent, talked about the true cost of busing their community as a social vs. financial issue. It simply will not be possible for families to have a close connection to a school that is on the other side of the city. Additional burdens are imposed on families as the distance increases. Williams is the only community where such a drastic measure is being proposed.

John Ross, Ward, Bigelow and Newton North parent, congratulated the Committee on a much-improved redistricting process than the last round. However, if this were a business, there would be more customer service/ marketing surveys occurring prior to narrowing down the options. Unfortunately, Newton does not have a good history of long-term planning and he hopes that this will change.

Robert Horvitz, 54 Maple St., Williams parent, referred to the table that presents data on the percentage of students at different distances from the two high schools. Williams is the farthest from Newton South than any other elementary school. Only 3% of Williams students are within four miles of Newton South, but 100% are within four miles of Newton North. He commented on the fact that the research conducted on the traveling time took place in good weather.

Matt Hills, Hobard Rd., Ward parent, stated that the choices with the highest costs are Options A, C, & D. Options C & D distort middle school capacity. Option D also violates the cohorts issue. Therefore, Options B, E-1 and E-2 best meet all criteria.

Betsy McElvey, 272 Highland Ave., Peirce parent, wants to be sure that the middle schools offer not only a balanced and equitable program, but an equally diverse student population. She hopes the Committee takes into consideration test scores and other such factors.

Gail Yeo, 12 Grove St., Auburndale, Williams parent, does not understand how their school ends up in four of the six options. She hopes there is not an unwritten additional criterion of socio/economic or academic diversity that has been added to the mix. The Superintendent has been clear from the start that this is not a social engineering process, but rather one that will equalize the high school population and balance the middle schools. It is not right to make predictions about what kind of students come from each district and how to best mix those populations.

Claudia Woo, 25 Sewall St., Peirce parent, feels strongly that one of Newton's strengths is its diversity and hopes the Committee will take that into consideration. She also hopes the Committee will consider retaining the very few districts where students can still walk to school.

Sherry Davis, 81 Pine Grove Ave., Newton Lower Falls, Williams parent, understands that the Committee is required to make a decision that balances many factors and which must satisfy the system long-term. Many of the elements are subject to change over time, i.e., busing costs, transportation policies, enrollment projections, etc. The one thing that does not change is the distance from Williams to the south side. She questioned how a decision that impacts one community only could be considered fair. She has concerns about her children's ability to forge friendships at Brown and Newton South when they will come from a small cohort across town and may be perceived as outsiders.

Donna Vona, 25 Hawthorne Ave., Auburndale, Copresident of the Williams PTO, had hoped that this process would "right the wrong" bestowed on their community several years ago and return them to the north feeder pattern.

However, given that Williams moves south in four of the six options, it does not look as if that is going to occur. Forcing this small community to bear the brunt of this process is not fair.

Tom Geoghan, 32 Fern St., Williams parent, noted that sending Williams south only continues an already inequitable decision. What is most troublesome is that their community has forged a strong relationship with Newton North.

Elizabeth Miller, 51 Oakwood Rd., Auburndale, Williams parent, stated that sending their community south does not meet the stated criteria. It is not fair or in the best interest of children. It does not maximize the use of school facilities because their children will be precluded from many extracurricular activities. The plan does not respect community values and traditions. The plan is not coherent or credible because it cannot be justified. Finally, it fails to consider transportation time or distance. If the Committee were to look at a map they would see that sending Williams south alienates them from all surrounding communities and essentially creates a peninsula surrounded on three sides by neighborhoods who will go north. The only abutting district going south would be Angier, which is separated from them by Woodland Golf Course and Routes 128 and 16. This city has never backed away from spending money on important issues and he hopes that will not change now.

Barbara Day, 119 Windemere Rd., Auburndale, Williams parent, supports all the previous comments with regard to Williams going south. She wished to emphasize that no one has any issues with the quality of education at Brown or Newton South. Their objections have to do with distance and the breakdown of community cohesiveness.

Carol Peacock, 32 Fern St., Williams parent, talked about the psychological implications of sending children to schools far away from their homes. Connections and relationships among children are very important to their growth. Teenagers need to be able to attend school events and gatherings on their own for a sense of independence in order to support their autonomy. It is nearly impossible for parents with two full-time careers to be dropping off and picking up their children from school and only heightens the stress within a family.

Bonnie Katz, 114 Windemere Rd., Auburndale, Williams parent, stated that only Option C meets every criteria, with the exception of busing costs. However, as others have stated, there are questions with regard to the assumptions and numbers in the data. Four years ago the decision to send Williams south also hinged on what proved to be erroneous busing predictions. It is inevitable that the transportation policy will change given the increasing budget crisis the city faces. User fees may be considered, as well as changing eligibility requirements. It does not make sense to make this decision based on one criterion, which is impossible to predict accurately. She asked that they consider some creative solutions, such as utilizing the Nexus bus system.

Jane Wan, 11 Oakland Ave., Auburndale, incoming PTO Copresident of Williams School, hopes that they have been able to demonstrate that any option sending their community south does not meet the criteria. It also damages the village framework concept that sets Newton apart from other cities. She urged them not to place so much emphasis on busing costs, which are not concrete. She hopes they will choose an option that results in equal sharing of the burden.

Lawrence Schwirian, 7 Williston Rd., Auburndale, no longer has students in the system, but is still concerned about his neighborhood and the outcome of the redistricting process. He asked the Committee to consider what is in the best long-term interest of the city as a whole and which options are most equitable in terms of sharing the burden. Newton has evolved into a number of semi-independent villages; each with its own history and character. This allows people to relate directly to a small neighborhood. The Williams and Burr communities should not be separated and should remain in the north feeder patterns.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m.