When I first learned that our school district was considering closing Tappan Hill School, my thoughts went to my three-year-old daughter and how she might not have what her older brothers had. Tappan Hill was a magical place for my two boys, and I have nostalgic memories of their beloved teachers in their bright, happy classrooms, safe and sound, on Icabod Lane. The kindergarten building was as comforting for parents as it was for our little ones. I wondered what would happen if we lost this special school dedicated to nurturing and developing our district’s kindergarten students.
As I became more involved in the issue and started researching the situation, including the alternatives presented by the school administration, I became alarmed by the sobering facts. Like so many others in New York and around the country, our school district is facing a significant gap between reduced revenue and increased expenses. As a result, funds are being slashed from last year’s budget to address this gap. These include reductions in administration, operations and maintenance, transportation, the general education program, supplementary programs and services and athletics. In order to keep these cuts from being many, many eliminated programs, an elementary school building consolidation is recommended. Given this seemingly dire situation, it is my belief that the proposed building consolidation plan is a prudent choice for the school board to adopt at this time. Tappan Hill School would close, moving kindergarten to John Paulding. Morse School would become a first and second grade building and Washington Irving would serve our third, fourth and fifth grade students. The building consolidation is slated to save the district approximately $670,000, with additional funds possible if the Tappan Hill site is leased.
While it is hard for the community to envision losing this building, the impact to our children may not be as significant as I initially thought. John Paulding school is a lovely, single grade building with a wonderful playground built for young children. And, while Morse School was not originally built for first and second graders, the teachers and administrators have done a great job making it a happy, productive elementary building where our children continue to get a quality education. Plus, our kids would benefit from fewer building transitions. While there will be some adjustments for our community to overcome, I believe this is the lesser of two evils. The fact is that the budget cuts necessary to avoid the consolidation seriously jeopardize our entire school system, not just the elementary grades. These include: teacher layoffs leading to further increase of class sizes for students, the loss of additional teaching assistants, the elimination of some AP classes, cutting electives resulting in kids being housed in study halls, the loss of our elementary foreign language programs and dismantling athletics. The proposed cuts attempt to target inefficiencies and trim personnel and programs. The reductions necessary, if the consolidation is taken off the table, will massacre educational services to ALL of our kids for many years to come. We need to remember that once a program is lost, we will likely never get it back.
The sacrifices and adjustments needed to realign our building configurations successfully will be challenging, but keeping the current buildings and then dismantling the staff and services offered within would be a huge mistake. Our priorities should lie with what is happening inside the buildings rather than the buildings themselves. It is understandable that we wish we had more options, but there is a reality to the current economic environment and the state we live in that put us in this very difficult place. The options we have before us now are difficult, but clear: preserve our current building structure or lose valuable teachers and rich programs that are really the backbone of our school district. Our kids have the benefits that come from getting a strong education in a diverse environment because of the incredibly dedicated, caring staff of professionals and our commitment to high quality programs and services
I am grateful to the school board and the scores of volunteers, concerned parents and community leaders who are working toward resolving this difficult situation. I’m encouraged that the decisions we make this year will help us preserve the best of what our district has to offer and provide a foundation for future success. And I know my young daughter will soon embark on a school experience that is still wonderful, even if it begins at a different address.