Preparation for the Monday, May 5th Public Hearing

From: Save Toquam Committee
To: Toquam Community
Re: Preparation for the Monday, May 5th Public Hearing
To be held at Cloonan Middle School Auditorium, 7pm, at 11 North Street

We have identified 8 main points of concern regarding the Board of Education's redistricting and school closure proposals, as they stand currently. This is not to say that there are other issues that many Toquam community members have voiced on other occasions. Please feel free to speak at the upcoming public hearing on any concern you may have. However, the following 8 items are issues that have been identified by the group as top concerns. We are forwarding them to everyone in the Toquam community please use them as speaking points at the publics hearing, if you are comfortable in doing so. Background information is available, please read the attached document.

1). Child Learning Center (CLC)
- CLC has expressed interest in obtaining additional school space for more city-run pre-k program
- their needs are in the areas below Bull's Head (where families in need of pre-k reside)
- while they have moderate interest in Toquam, they are very interested in a building located below Bull's Head
- it is in all of Stamford's best interest to support early education, pre-k programs, as it is the foundation for future academic success
- BoE has maintained this is not their charge, we maintain that it is. Solid pre-k programs cultivate school success, for which we all benefit

2). Rogers/EMS transition
- we are very interested in hearing how this transition can work
- the Rogers community wants to go to the new EMS and Toquam wants to stay and rather than being phased out we'd like to accept more students

- we'd like to know how the board of education will finance the required 6 to 15 million dollars of repairs to the Rogers building, if they do not to move
- Toquam, at its current location, can offer seats to absorb students

3). Loss of EMS as middle school choice (this has been mentioned by several parents)
- As a point of clarification: EMS, by virtue of its size, would not have been a viable "choice' for middle school for the majority of Stamford
- the lack of middle school "choice" and academic intervention needs to addressed with the BoE separate to Toquam, Rogers and EMS transitional plans

4). School Community
- Toquam is a valuable school community that needs to be preserved
- many families enjoy attending a Toquam even though it is not within the confines of their individual neighborhood
- it is important for the board of education to know that some of us do not mind taking a bus to Toquam
- it is also important for the board of education to know that we value both our individual neighborhoods and our school communities, wherever they are

5). Toquam/Stark transition
- if this is to be a consideration, Stark will need to come to Toquam
- it is in the best interest of student achievement to not disrupt two buildings
- the plan, as proposed has left too many loose ends and is currently difficult to comment on

6). Toquam remains where it is
- Toquam can offer assistance in balancing other schools from its current location
- Toquam is a tool in the redistricting process

7). Academic Performance
- thank you for finally putting academic performance into the spot light
- Toquam is one of two district elementary schools that has met academic goals as defined by NCLB
- it is irresponsible to not value academic performance in this process
- the community is please to see it being included

8). Subjective application of criteria
- school closure criteria was never applied evenly to the original 5 (now 6 schools) selected for potential closure
- criteria was identified but never publicly applied to all schools being considered
- criteria has been applied differently to each school considered

Sunday New York Times Article Not Accurate

Below is an article that appeared in this Sunday's Connecticut section of the NY Times about the Save Toquam effort. It indicated that the board has already decided to close Toquam. This is not true. The Reporter has indicated that the correction is going to be posted to the NYT website and will also run in tomorrow's New York Times.

AGAIN: THE REPORTER MADE A FACTUAL ERROR IN REPORTING THIS STORY.

THE BOARD HAS NOT YET FORMALLY VOTED TO CLOSE TOQUAM.

THE FORMAL VOTE IS SCHEDULED FOR THE MARCH 19 BOARD MEETING. PLEASE URGE ANY AND ALL TOQUAM PARENTS TO ATTEND AND SHOW SUPPORT!!!

Stamford Will Close K-5 Magnet School
By GEORGIA KRAL

Published: March 16, 2008

In the Region
Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey

Go to Complete Coverage »

TOQUAM MAGNET SCHOOL in Stamford is what many parents want for their children and what school officials strive for in academia: It is small, with just over 500 students; it has scored well in the Connecticut Mastery Test; it has a racially balanced population; and it has a strong parent support group.

In spite of its successes, the Stamford School District board has decided to close the K-5 school in the fall and probably send its students to the Environmental Magnet School, a new interdistrict K-8 facility that will open soon.

The decision to close the Toquam school, which has angered and saddened parents here, is part of a broader strategy by the district to cope with budget cuts and declining enrollments across the city. Because 25 percent of the students at the new school will come from out of the district, the state will provide 90 percent of its funding. The proposal to move the students to the Environmental Magnet School is awaiting a final vote on Wednesday.

Officials said they chose to close Toquam because of its small size and because, as a magnet school, more of its students are already bused from other neighborhoods, so fewer other students would be affected.

Joshua P. Starr, the district superintendent, said that closing the lowest performing schools may produce worse academic results and that the board has learned from the successful practices at Toquam.

Parents, however, say they see no good reason to change something that was already working right.

“The board flat out refused to consider school quality as part of the criteria,” said Jennifer Lambert, a parent at Toquam.

On a Web site it has set up to keep parents up to date on the efforts to save the schools, parents wrote that they want to keep Toquam open “because it is an academically successful, balanced reflection of the Stamford community.”

“And, by the way, the kids love it!” they added.

But in closing Toquam, the district now has to reconfigure enrollment at all of its elementary schools — there will be 11 next year — to maintain a racial balance at each one.

The state has a statute in place that calls for all schools to be racially balanced. The statute recently came under discussion among educators and parents in other towns, including Greenwich, because of a United States Supreme Court ruling last June that said students could not be assigned to schools based on race.

Stamford has its own more stringent rules about racial balance. The state statute says that if the difference between the percentage of nonwhite students in the district and the percentage of nonwhite students in the school is greater than 25, a school is imbalanced. Stamford’s rule sets the percentage at 10. Dr. Starr said it has been this way in Stamford since the early 1970s, but enforcement is not triggered until the imbalance is “egregious.” The last redistricting occurred in 1998.Thomas W. Murphy, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said that Stamford is the only school district that has opted for a higher standard and that in Connecticut local school districts have the authority to do so.

“They will have a better balance as a result,” he said. But “it’s very likely that it requires more attention.”

How the transition from Toquam to the Environmental Magnet School will shake out is the next matter to be resolved. The school’s curriculum was devised by the Bank Street College of Education in New York, and parents were concerned about whether the curriculum at the new school would include Bank Street, or be a combination of the two.

In an interview, Dr. Starr said that “a formal mix” of the two models is not possible. Officials will also decide on the curriculum at the Wednesday meeting.

Most parents have accepted the idea that Toquam is closing. Ms. Lambert said she was a pragmatist and believed the school board would do all it could to make the shift as seamless as possible.

District officials say they will keep working with the parents to find a way to keep the Toquam students together even as they integrate into the new school.

“No one wants to be in the position of having to close a school,” Dr. Starr said to the parents. “Moving them is a good idea to maintain continuity.”

NOTICE OF CORRECTION

From: Georgia Kral [mailto:georgia.kral@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 4:11 Subject: update on story
Hi Jennifer,We are going to run a correction in the paper, I believe it will run tomorrow and it will show up on the story on the website. Again, I apologize for not accurately reporting what the vote on Wednesday will consist of and for giving the impression to readers that a vote to close the school has already happened. If you wouldn't mind forwarding this to the other parents I met I would appreciate it.Thanks.Georgia Kral

Fresh Uncertainty - but Redistricting Board Still Slated to Vote on March 19th

Hello all,

In the interest of trying to get info out to everyone quickly, I wanted to acknowledge that given the recent budget discussions and public proclamations of the mayor and key Board members, the future of Toquam appears to be more uncertain than ever.

there is no way to know for certain if this all helps or hurts the chances to keep Toquam open, and if it does not keep Toquam open, helps or hurts our chances to preserve our Option #4 to move to the EMS.

I received email confirmations from Josh Starr and Susan Nabel this morning that as of today the board is still planning to vote on the original 4 options on the 19th.

As such, I think the only thing we can do is make sure we are writing in support of our community - that we consistently put forth the message that whatever decisions the board makes, they keep the best interests of our children in mind.

whether or not you believe this is option #1 or option #4, or Option #4 only if Toquam absolutely must be closed (or another option for that matter) is for each of you to individually decide.

But I urge you to write to the board members and the mayor expressing that we hope that whatever happens from here keeps the best interests of the children forefront.

And remember - on a practical level, support for option 4 - IF NOTHING ELSE - gives us ONE MORE SCHOOL YEAR where Toquam will remain open, and one more year to try to fight to keep it open if that is your preference.

Here are the email addresses. ONE CAVEAT: PLEASE - now MORE THAN EVER is the time for courtesy and clarity in your communications.


rkfreedman@optonline.net
REKing15@aol.com
alore11@optonline.net
emathews@ci.stamford.ct.us
rmcmanus@ci.stamford.ct.us
AttorneyRubino@aol.com
mhoherchak@ci.stamford.ct.us
jwade@optonline.net
emathews@ci.stamford.ct.us
dmalloy@ci.stamford.ct.us
nabel1@yahoo.com

good luck to us all...

protest plan for Toquam Magnet

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-toquam8feb06,0,2768708.story

Parents protest plan for Toquam Magnet
By Chris GosierStaff Writer
February 6, 2008

STAMFORD - A plan to move Toquam Magnet Elementary School into a newinterdistrict magnet school in the Cove drew a harsh response fromsome parents Monday.

At a packed public meeting, parents objected to the proposed setup, in which the new school would have two educational programs - Toquam'sBank Street program and the environmental science curriculum that isplanned for the new school.

People stood up and applauded when one parent, Dayna Patashnik, protested that Toquam parents thought their children would take partin the new school's environmental program."I don't understand what happened tonight . . . to what we've been ledto believe over the past few weeks," Patashnik said.

Board of Education discussions about the fate of Toquam have been aroller coaster for parents, she said.

"I'll apologize for your upset, on behalf of all of us," said SusanNabel, chairwoman of the school board's redistricting committee, whichheld the meeting.

Nabel said the committee came to Toquam to present the first availablespecifics about the proposed move, approved by the committee inJanuary and awaiting review by the full Board of Education.

Nabel said she wasn't sure how the proposal dashed parents' enthusiasmfor the new school. A woman then stood up and called out, "You haveanswers for nobody here." After speaking, she walked out.

"We're trying to work on it as fast as possible," Nabel responded.

The proposal is part of the redistricting plan the committee isputting together. The school board has already approved new schoolzones for Westover and Hart magnet elementary schools.
Moving Toquam into the new interdistrict school is a way to save $5.4 million inbuilding operating costs.

Board member Rosanne McManus said Monday the board is constrained bythe budget and concerns about high property tax bills.

"We don't have the luxury of operating 21 schools at 75 percentcapacity," McManus said.

The interdistrict magnet school is being built in the Cove and will open in September 2009. The state is paying 95 percent of constructioncosts and 30 percent of operating costs. In return, 25 percent of theseats must go to out-of-district students. Stamford gets full controlof the building in 20 years.

The committee's proposal is possible because the new school will notbe filled right away. It will be phased in grade by grade, so theenvironmental magnet school will have extra room in its beginningyears.

Under the committee's proposal, Toquam's kindergarten through third-grade classes will move to the Cove school in 2009-10, when thestudents are in second through fifth grade.

Toquam's program will be phased out as those students move through thesystem and the environmental magnet school is populated with students,starting with pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade in2009-10.

Parents said they are concerned that Toquam students will feelsegregated and their teachers will be demoralized by working in aprogram that's being phased out."I am concerned that our children will be attending a dying schoolwithin an emerging school," said Kathryn Francavilla, a parent of aToquam student.

Superintendent Joshua Starr said he won't let that happen.

"I just don't believe any educator in the Stamford Public Schoolswould allow a child to be isolated like that," Starr said.The administrators will be prepared to manage the transition, he said.

"They are all our children, and we will do right by them," he said."We will want to make the school work for every single child that's inthat building.

"State regulations limit how the district can use the building, Starr said. He will appeal to state officials to let Toquam studentsprogress beyond fifth grade at the environmental school, which willserve pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

The redistricting committee will examine a policy for admitting thesiblings of Toquam students to the environmental magnet school infuture years. Nabel said board members would explore interfacesbetween Toquam's Bank Street program and the interdistrict school'senvironmental curriculum.

Starr said that could pose problems because it changes the school planthe legislature approved.

"Hopefully, there are reasonable things we can do," school boardPresident Richard Freedman said.

Copyright (c) 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

Toquam Braces for a Change

By A.J. O'CONNELL
aoconnell@thestamfordtimes.com
Stamford Times -
STAMFORD — Since the third week of September, the Toquam Magnet School parents have been trying to protect their school from the ravages of redistricting. They've donned aquamarine bandanas and showed up en masse to public hearings and redistricting committee meetings. They set up a "Save Toquam" Web site and blog. Owen Nieberg, a Toquam father, even stepped forward to fill a vacancy on the school board.

But after the school board redistricting committee voted last Thursday to focus on transitioning Toquam's 455 students, as a group, into the new Interdistrict Environmental Magnet School, the parents are characterizing themselves as "cautiously optimistic" about the change.

"Yes," said Judy Klym, the mother of a first grader. "We want to protect what we have. But we are also concerned about the needs of the community."

The parents say they just want to be involved in the incorporation of their school into the new magnet in 2009; they want to give feedback, they want to sit on committees and above all, they want to keep their community together.

"We want some closure initially," said Steve Polo, the father of a second grader. "And then we want to be included."

Susan Nabel, chair of the board's redistricting committee, said Toquam was the best fit with the environmental magnet school for several reasons; many of the Toquam students already ride the bus to get to school, she said. Also, the school's small population makes it simpler to move the student body into the new school. She added that it's possible for Toquam's Bank Street curriculum — an academic model in which children participate actively in their classroom — to be integrated with the environmental science curriculum at the new school.

"I think there's the real possibility of a blend," said Nabel.

If the redistricting committee's proposal passes, said Nabel, all the students at currently at Toquam — magnet students and students districted to Toquam — will be moved to the environmental magnet school.

She hopes to have the proposal before the full board as soon as school administrators are able to research the details of such a plan.

"We'd like to have it as soon as possible," said Nabel. "Maybe in late spring."

Both parents and staff members are anxious about the details of such a plan — parents are worried about a sibling policy. Currently, if a child is accepted into K-5 Toquam, his or her younger siblings are automatically accepted into the program and older siblings are given preference. The new pre-K-8 school, may have a different policy.

"Will this guy get into Pre-K?" asked first grade parent Jeff Herz, gesturing to his seven-month-old son Owen. "We don't have a Pre-K program at Toquam."

Many details need to be worked out, said Nabel. The sibling policy is one of those details, but the board of education must also work with the Stamford Education Association (SEA) to place Toquam's 73-person staff.

SEA president Lori Rossomando said all the teachers are likely to have jobs, although they will not all necessarily be going to the new school — all the teachers will be put into a pool, and the most senior teachers will have their pick of the available openings for which they are qualified.
"I spoke to a few who are very excited about this," said Toquam principal Louise Spolowitz, Ed.D., who met with her 73-person staff this week.

Those who are most worried, she said, are the non-certified staff, the educational aides and other workers who are not protected by the teacher's contract.

"That still has to be worked out," she said.

Many parents accept plan to move Toquam students

By Chris Gosier
Staff Writer
Published January 18 2008

STAMFORD - A proposal to move Toquam Magnet Elementary School students to a new building in the Cove went over fairly smoothly with many parents.

The proposal, approved Wednesday night by the Board of Education's Redistricting Committee, is the outcome of months of discussion about whether to close a school when the new building - an interdistrict magnet school - opens in September 2009.

Some parents involved in the Save Toquam campaign, launched last fall to keep the school from being closed, said they were cautiously optimistic or excited about the plan.

"I like the idea that they are trying very hard to keep our student body together," said Judy Klym, a Parent-Teacher Organization member who also is on the Save Toquam steering committee. "Everyone that I've talked with (is) just very excited about the possibilities.

"The proposal still needs to be discussed with parents, and it is not yet clear how many of teachers and administrators would follow students to the new school."

I think that there are a lot of details that need to be worked out," Toquam parent Steve Polo said. He said he was cautiously optimistic about the proposal.

"I believe it can be great for Toquam," he said.

Toquam parents have protested potential closure of their school in recent months. They say Toquam's program should be preserved and replicated, because it shows how to attain strong academic performance by a diverse group of students.

Louise Spolowitz, Toquam's principal, said "no one seemed very upset at all" yesterday at school about the proposal.

"I think it was a nice compromise," she said. "All in all, I think that it was a very clever plan." She said some people seemed excited about possibly moving to the new building, which would showcase environmental science through wind turbines, a rain garden and other features.

But the change could be unnerving to teachers who have grown to love their workplace, said Lora Rossomando, president of the Stamford Education Association teachers union.

"It's still stressful to leave a place you call home," she said. "Every school thinks of themselves as a family."

"They all want to stay in their buildings," Rossomando said. "They love their schools."

Superintendent Joshua Starr said he would soon begin talks with unions representing administrators and teachers.

"I want to make sure that people are taken care of," he said. "Disruption can cause some angst at times, and I want to make sure people understand what is going on and have good information.

"The scenario ultimately must be approved by the full school board. The plan calls for current kindergarten through third-grade students to move in 2009 to the interdistrict school, which could accommodate them because it will be filled gradually, over several years, to its full 660-student capacity.

The school will serve kindergarten through eighth grade, with 25 percent of its students coming from outside Stamford, leaving room for 270 elementary students.

The state is paying 95 percent of the school's construction cost and about 30 percent of its operating cost.

The school board's redistricting committee has been grappling for months with the question of closing a school. Five of the smaller elementary schools were considered for closure, drawing strong protests from parents and fueling criticisms by school board candidates in last November's election.

On Wednesday, redistricting committee members reaffirmed their reasons for proposing a school closure.

Opening the interdistrict school without closing a school somewhere else would strain the school board's budget, making it difficult to ensure that all students get the educational resources they need, said Susan Nabel, the committee chairwoman.

"I firmly believe that we will not have enough money" to provide those resources while operating another school, she said.

The environmental magnet school was approved by the school board and other city boards in 2005. Since then, officials have learned that Stamford's school population is projected to stay flat for the next decade.

At a public hearing last week, some parents said the school board should seek funds from the Board of Representatives and Board of Finance to keep all schools open.But it's not that simple, committee member Rosanne McManus said.

"Many of our parents have never seen the battles we go through to get each and every little dollar," she said.

She recalled last year's budget process, when the board's requested 5.2 percent increase was cut to 2.7 percent by the city's fiscal boards.

"We were all given the impression that this was not going to be a one-time deal," she said of that tight budget process.

Nabel recalled how the school board has been previously attacked by some claiming it to be fiscally irresponsible.

School board Vice President James Rubino said that "there's a strong taxpayer lobby." He said committing to running an extra school would be a bad fiscal move in the long run."We'll be roundly criticized in the future if we don't take our medicine now," he said.

Committee member Robert King also supported the Toquam plan.

"I don't want to see us water down our academic potential in this city because we want to do something that's easy," by avoiding the school closure question, he said.

Polo said he'd like to see the savings used for facility improvements at schools that need them.

Toquam parent Jeff Herz said he supported the proposal. He hoped the savings could be used for the proposed gifted and talented and elementary Spanish programs that the board cut last year because of budget pressures.

"I think the board thought a lot about what they needed to do to save money and the overall picture," Herz said.

School board President Richard Freedman said moving Toquam to the new school helps meet several redistricting goals, including increasing the number of children who walk to school and balancing the schools' socioeconomic mix of students.

"It was as good as any scenario could have been," he said.

Plan would close Toquam, move students to Cove

By Chris Gosier
Staff Writer
Published January 17 2008

STAMFORD - The school board's redistricting committee yesterday proposed moving Toquam Magnet Elementary School to the new interdistrict magnet school being built in the Cove.

The change would affect only current Toquam students in kindergarten through third grade, not fourth- and fifth-graders, since the magnet school will not open until September 2009.

The vote last night means that the committee will stop considering Hart Magnet, K.T. Murphy, Rogers Magnet and Davenport Ridge elementary schools for closure.Board members had been considering those schools, along with Toquam, for closure because of their relatively small populations.

Closing a school is necessary because budget pressures would make it difficult to operate the interdistrict magnet school without closing another city school, board members said at last night's committee meeting. The school district's population is projected to stay flat for the next decade.

The committee still must meet with Toquam parents about the proposed change.

Superintendent Joshua Starr and his staff will have to see whether Toquam's teachers and administrators would move to the new school, which they must do voluntarily, according to their contract, board members said.

The decision ended a lengthy debate among board members about whether a school should close, and which one.

Committee members found Toquam to be best choice to be transplanted to the new interdistrict school because many of its students live near the new school, board President Richard Freedman said.

More than half of Toquam's students are bused there. Under the city's magnet program, students are drawn from other parts of Stamford to balance the student makeup.

Students attending Toquam through the magnet program would not be required to go to the new interdistrict school.

The exact percentage of magnet students at Toquam was unavailable yesterday.

The new magnet school - showcasing environmental education themes - will take 270 elementary students from Stamford and a fourth of its elementary students from outside the district. It will serve pre-kindergartners through eighth graders.

The school will eventually hold 660 students.

The full Board of Education still must approve the change.