The Closing Of A School

I just got back from a Board of Education meeting, and although it has not yet been made official, it appears inevitable that they are going to close my daughter's school, Toquam Elementary. The official vote is on March 19th.

This decision is baffling, enraging, and heartbreaking. We've been fighting with the school board, the mayor, and the superintendent for over 8 months to try to save our school. Our parents group has invested time, money, sweat and blood trying to work with the administration to find alternate solutions.

I have missed more of my kids' bedtimes (attending meetings, working on presentations, talking to reporters, etc) because of this than I care to think of.

And for what?

I won't rant in detail here, but what is profoundly disappointing is the fact that the BOARD OF EDUCATION, whose job it is to ensure the highest quality education for the children of Stamford, would decide it's a good idea to save money by closing one of the only two elementary schools in the Stamford School district that succeeding academically. It is one of only two elementary schools (out of 12 total) that is passing all No Child Left Behind standards - and the only one doing it with a racially and socioeconomically diverse student base. Toquam is has a staggering 59% non-white population - and almost half of the kids are on reduced/free lunches.

And yet, the school is not only passing, but thriving. In any sane universe, this school would be celebrated as a model and held up as a crown jewel of what the Stamford Board of Education should be striving to replicate at ALL schools.

Instead, they are choosing to close it, to save $5 million. And they are choosing to spare other schools where the buildings are in disrepair and students are plagued with the twin curses of low expectations and limited opportunities.

I feel like the Toquam community is going through the five stages of grieving. The loss of this school is almost like a death to many people. I sensed this in the questions and remarks made by the people in the room last night. I saw resignation and sadness in so many faces.

And as I looked around at all of the people that have worked so hard and invested so much in lifting this school to where it is today, I couldn't help but think, as have so many many others, WHY? How did we get here?

What kind of message does it send to people that the Board of Education chooses to close one of the only two schools that is NOT failing by state and federal standards? And how could they sleep at night knowing this could take 500 children that have been thriving in a successful environment and send them to schools that are failing instead?

My first grade daughter wrote a speech for me to deliver to the board. She was convinced that all I had to do was tell them how happy she was at Toquam, how much she was learning, and how wonderful her teachers are. She thought that if the board heard this from her, they wouldn't close the school.

How do I explain to my daughter that the very people who are supposed to be looking out for her best interests have lost sight of the end goal? That they are so focused on the means - saving money, reducing bus routes, adhering to strict ethnic percentages - that they are failing to focus on the true objective - which should be to provide Stamford's children with an excellent education?

How can the right answer elude a board of grown men and women when it is so crystal clear to a 7 year old?