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School Committee approves redistricting

Date: 5/14/2015

LONGMEADOW –  After months of discussions in the community about redistricting students from Blueberry Hill Elementary School to Center School, the School Committee’s decision at its May 11 meeting was to enact Proposal A and grandfather rising fifth graders at Blueberry Hill.

The plan was approved by a vote of six in favor to one opposed.

Proposal A would move approximately 70 students from “Neighborhood A,” which is located in a rectangular area, the borders of which are Forest Glen Road to the north, Farmington Avenue to the south, Laurel Street to the east, and Route 5 to the west.

The Elementary School Redistricting Subcommittee recommended the plan to the School Committee after a vote of seven in favor to one opposed with seven abstentions at its April 29 meeting.

School Committee member Michelle Grodsky voted against the recommended plan on May 11.

School Committee Vice Chair Michael Clark originally made a motion for Proposal A to be amended with fifth graders and all their siblings grandfathered as well. This motion failed by a vote of 5 to 2.

Clark also wanted the amendment to include the option for parents of grandfathered students to have the option to choose whether their child would go to Center School or remain at Blueberry Hill. However, School Committee Chair Janet Robinson informed him that this option already exists for grandfathered students.

“I do believe that we could have done a lot better,” Clark said. “I think one of the main things that I’ve heard throughout this process and from a lot of people who have been in this room tonight is that the process itself was flawed and to that end I do tend to agree.

“We could have and should have done things differently, but I would also suggest that regardless of which way we chose to engage in the process, people would be upset and I don’t think that’s an inappropriate response to a topic like redistricting,” he continued. “It is emotional, it is personal, and it is inherently unpleasant.”

Clark said the “fact of the matter” for redistricting is that Blueberry Hill students “don’t enjoy the same equity” as students at Center School because they have the same amount of resources and a larger population. There are also “significant space issues” at Blueberry Hill.

Superintendent of Schools Marie Doyle read a letter from Town Manager Stephen Crane regarding crossing guards that would be needed for the redistricting plan.

“The crossing guard program is constricted by budget pressures, so any deployment of guards must be carefully thought out and efficient,” Crane stated in the letter.

He added that regulations on busing, a planned intersection improvement near Neighborhood A, and a proposed traffic study, are all major factors in the planning process. Much of the information for these factors are currently unavailable or in a preliminary stage.

“The Police Department will work with the school district and the Department of Public Works to examine the issues, assess available resources, and create a planned pathway to schools from Plan A Neighborhood that maximizes safety with a goal of eliminating the need for the cost of busing,” Crane wrote.

Doyle said there are several proposed routes that the district is narrowing down for redistricts to commute to Center School. The routes were calculated on My Route.com.

“If you go down Longmeadow Street from [the farthest point on] Forest Glen [Road] … that’s 1.53 miles,” she added. “The problem with this route is they are doing construction on the intersection of Converse and Longmeadow [Streets], so it looks like there would be a period of time where this area would be not safe for students to walk.”

 Another route is 1.81 miles long and students would cross at Laurel Street coming from Forest Glen Road.

A third route is 1.89 miles and would have students traveling from Forest Glen Road to Benedict Terrace, down Llewellyn Street, and then “go back up to Longmeadow Street.”

Police Capt. John Stankiewicz has stated that the route has good sight lines, Doyle added.

A fourth route is 1.92 miles and starts from a corner of Forest Glen Road, goes down South Park and then up Converse Street and down Longmeadow Street.