The Reconfiguration
Elevator Version ~ Big Deal ~ Timeline ~ Gory Details
The Elevator Version
There were two separate issues back-to-back in January of 2008:
• The School Committee decided on extremely short notice to close an elementary school
• They ignored the pleas of the parents, as well as all common sense and reason, and chose the smaller school to house the largest number of students, and the larger school to house the town's kindergarteners, which led to one being grossly overcrowded and the other being 75% empty.
When the parents of Loker found out their childrens' school was closing from a note in their children's backpack, there was an uprising followed by many weeks of meetings, during which the SC ignored the research and data presented by the parents, including the findings of a professional traffic expert.
When the schools reopened in the fall, every dire warning that the parents had warned the SC about, came to pass - over-crowding, hour-long bus rides for students who'd previously enjoyed a 10 minute walk to school, increases SPED costs, an increase in bullying, long drop-off lines, traffic problems, dropping MCAS scores and more.