Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/22/2021
PELHAM – On Nov. 17, the School Committee had conversations about a pair of sensitive subjects – restarting the pre-kindergarten program and moving the sixth grade to Amherst.
“I made a recommendation not to rush this conversation,” Superintendent Michael Morris said in his opening remarks about moving the sixth grade to the middle school. “You don’t have a space crunch, the way the Amherst schools do. [And] what is the [educational] model?...What are those critical buckets of work?”
Morris pointed to world languages as a critical focus. Should the educational model for a sixth grade, he asked the committee, have two core teachers or four? At a broader level, if Pelham sixth graders go to the high school, does the Pelham sixth grade teacher go to the high school too?
Morris said, “My recommendation, if you wanted to pursue it, are to do it at the same time as the Amherst elementary schools. It would have to be a collaboration with the Amherst Public Schools.”
Committee member Ron Mennino was most concerned with informing those who would be affected – the families.
“What has been done to let the Pelham parents know that we haven’t yet made a decision?” Mennino asked.
Morris had commented that feedback from parents would drive later discussions, possibly in December, but no date was set. The benefit of moving the sixth grade to the middle school, for the most part didn’t seem to connect with committee members’ thinking on the issue.
“I have reservations about the whole thing because if it moves the sixth grade teacher to the high school, and it’s taught the same way as it was in Pelham, it makes no sense,”Mennino said,
Margaret Stancer, acting as chair, observed that the door was left open by the Union 38 School Committee. When a move by Pelham’s sixth grade became a consideration, language was included in the documentation, such that Pelham would also have the option to move its sixth grade to the middle school.
The committee spoke little about the financial implications of a move. Costs were not discussed, though committee members made some mention of the impact of adding expenses.
“I’d love to learn more about the financial ramifications of moving the sixth grade,” said committee member Brenda Barlow. “What are the long-term budget issues going to be, because that will be part of the public conversation.”
Students coming to the district through the school choice program directly impact the budget. Mennino asked if those choice students would leave the Pelham district if the sixth grade went to the middle school. Morris said that would be the case and the fiscal impact would need to be analyzed.
Committee member Sarahbess Kenney spoke up about the lack of motivating upsides. She saw no benefits at all from moving the sixth-graders.
“Moving our sixth grade, as is, to the middle school has no benefits,” she said. “Moving them to another place when we’re not having space issues seems like a silly thing to do, to me.” Kenney also implied it was a decision for all stakeholders, not a small subset. “That would be a whole school decision, not just the sixth grade.”
Mennino asked again about parental input for the decision. He was reassured by Barlow that the community as a whole would be part of the decision-making process. Barlow again said the fiscal impacts should be determining factors.
Morris agreed. “If we foresee any financial [problems], we don’t want to go too far down this road.”
Morris also thought it wasn’t a good idea to reopen the pre-kindergarten program. He told the committee the district had pre-K for six or seven years. This year the district did not offer pre-k services, and as far as finances, they won’t be missed.
“There’s significant overhead to reopening the program,” Morris said, “and looking forward to next year, I have some real concerns.”
One concern arose because paraprofessionals were given a raise. “Our paras work incredibly hard and deserve the salaries they get ... but I’m afraid we’re going to price ourselves out of the market,” Morris said. The superintendent suggested that Pelham’s pre-K program is among the more expensive in the area.
Morris’s strongest argument against reopening the pre-K program returned to fiscal issues. Revenue from school choice had returned to levels predating the pandemic.
“What we experienced this year, was that our choice numbers got back to where we needed them to be,” Morris said, “without a preschool.”
Principal Micki Darling spoke of an ongoing staffing issue with the pre-k program. A pre-K teacher was often absent, which called for pulling a teacher from the K-6 staff to fill in, which created problems for regular classroom staffing.
Morris concluded the conversation by voicing his hope to concentrate on core issues. “I’d be inclined to maintain our level of programming and focus our energy on running the school.”
Committee members prepared for adjournment, having made no decisions on the pre-kindergarten program for next year or moving the sixth grade to Amherst.