March 19, 2024

Neighborhood schools are a proven system

John McNeer

Newton

During the public open forum related to future Newton Schools reconfiguration recently, I spoke briefly, reflecting some of my family’s concerns. Being an “old timer” in the community, I feel it is now my time to be a good listener.

Just an hour earlier I came from a chamber of commerce “business after hours” meeting where I took a quick survey of 11 people asking just one question: would you prefer Newton go back to the “neighborhood” school system for elementary grades, or continue with the more recent “split-class” system in various schools?

Nine people replied “go back to neighborhood schools” while only one was for splitting classes in various schools ... one person had no opinion. These figures were reported to our school board, just as a matter of interest.

When leaving the meeting one lady mentioned to me in all seriousness that it had been decided some time ago that Newton would never go back to the “neighborhood” system, which was previously so very workable. When asking for details she merely said, “The die has already been cast, and there is nothing we can do about it.” This was indeed news to me ... and puzzling!

When stopping by my son’s home to give a little “input” from the meeting, both Mike and Shelley just shook their heads and in essence said, “It’s a lost cause … we and our neighbors have almost given up on children in the immediate area being able to go to Berg Elementary School ... as it should be. Plain and simple, it just makes no sense to the average person.”

They went on to say … “We and our neighbors bought homes near the school so our children could walk back and forth ... and not have to ride busses all over town. Yet, the ‘experts’ have listened to the multitude of comments and input with a deaf ear. Why should our daughter and her friends have to walk to Berg school, and then wait for a bus which drives them over to Aurora Heights School? No matter how you look at the current system it is ridiculous, wasting time, school busses, gas and personnel. Hundreds of parents all over town are fed up with this wasteful and experimental system.”

I will not elaborate further at this time, except to say that the matter of no future neighborhood schools following a proven system for a 100 years is still very puzzling. Put to a vote of the citizens of Newton might bring astounding replies.