Published: April 05, 2009 01:45 am      

LETTERS: April 5, 2009

Reader: Resources meeting was not resourceful



I attended the public hearing of the NA-FC school board Thursday night regarding the possible school closures. I walked away from this hearing with more questions than answers. I am absolutely perplexed and galled at the school corporation’s arrogance and refusal to work with our concerned elected city officials and the mayor’s office, all of whom have pleaded to the school board and Superintendent Brooks to share with them collected data and be willing to discuss the impact this will have on our community.

The members of the NA-FC school board are elected officials themselves, who have been elected to these positions by hard-working, tax-paying residents of this community. Whether we have children who attend public schools or not, we all have a stake in the decisions being made by this administration. These decisions will not only directly impact the future of the children in our community, but they will directly impact our neighborhoods and property values. From my perspective, the school administration does not care about our children or the state and well-being of our community. They only care about the bottom line.

Why is it that Carl Malysz, a representative from the mayor’s office, was shut down at last night’s meeting and not allowed to finish his thoughts and questions regarding possible school closures?

It was clear from his questions concerning gathered documentation and urban population trends that the mayor’s office has not been included or consulted during this lengthy process. The school administration’s objective of closing several city elementary schools completely destroys the urban revitalization plans our elected city officials have for New Albany. One only has to drive through downtown New Albany to be reminded of the devastating impact school closures can have on neighborhoods and a community such as ML Reisz and West Spring Elementary.

Countless residents spoke last night of the fact that they chose to purchase properties in the downtown neighborhoods because they would be assured that their children would attend the prestigious, historic Silver Street Elementary School. These are our lives and our family’s lives the school administration is playing with! Who is going to be left to pick up the pieces after the consultant hired to assist with school closings leaves town and Dr. Brooks takes a position with the state?

We are all going to be left to clean up the mess and devastation created by this school administration.

— Jennifer Grose, New Albany



School results are no joke



I would like to take a moment to respond to the article about Children’s Academy of New Albany, in which a source stated that the average IQ of Title 1 schools is 90 — that is a low average. This information was published in the April 1, 2009, edition of The Tribune, and I was hoping it was an April Fools’ Day joke.

New Albany has many schools within its incorporated areas and most are Title 1 schools, which is based on those students able to receive free or reduced lunch. I visited the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. Web site and took a look at each Title 1 schools’ snapshot with the results being listed below:

• Children’s Academy: 93 percent free, four percent reduced

• S. Ellen Jones: 83 percent free, 10 percent reduced

• Fairmont: 72 percent free, nine percent reduced

• Pine View: 61 percent free, seven percent reduced

• Silver Street: 59 percent free, 10 percent reduced

• Green Valley: 56 percent free, 15 percent reduced

Out of these schools, only two have full accreditation — Silver Street and Green Valley. Three have provisional accreditation — S. Ellen Jones, Fairmont, and Pine View — with Pine View meriting corrective action. Only one is on academic probation — Children’s Academy.

While the schools with the higher incidence of students receiving free and reduced lunch do have more issues academically, no one should make a blanket statement that the “average Title One student’s IQ is 90.”

I know that we have many academically gifted students that, due to a lack of programming, are sent away from their Title 1 home school to Mount Tabor, effectively giving away our talent. Children like to mimic and learn from their peers and taking the cream of the crop away is damaging that dynamic.

I think in response to such dismal information, that we need to do something dramatic. The school corporation should look into putting an Excel program into one of the accredited schools — Silver Street or Green Valley — so our children can stay at their home Title 1 school and raise the IQ average for all students within those schools; otherwise, we reduce our educational decision-making on who can pay for lunch and who cannot, which is akin to segregation.

— Vicky Nugent, New Albany