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Subject: Plan to keep Ham Ave K-5 out of the new building until April
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:01:14 -0800
Ladies and Gentlemen
As you may be aware, the TCO for the Hamilton Avenue Re-construction project was received today, Friday, January 30th at around 2:30.
A few hours after receipt, the Superintendent, Betty Sternberg, issued a press release, a copy of which is on the Greenwich Public Schools website.
In addition, in today's Friday Folders, the means of communication to parents at Hamilton Avenue School, the principal, Dr. Damaris Rau sent out a letter with an attached Transition Plan for Move to the New Building.
First, I will address the Press Release.
Regarding the factors that must be considered - conditions outlined in the TCO. I have been informed by HAS Building Committee members that there are NO conditions attached to the TCO with respect to the students moving into the building as regards the Town Building Department, issuer of the TCO. When asked by a reporter from the Greenwich Time what conditions were attached to the TCO, Frank Mazza referred said reporter to Dr. Sternberg.
With regard to the BOE, Town Attorney and District Administration needing to review factors - the punch list was shared with the Building Committee and parents that attended the last building committee meeting. Other than the issues with the flue (which have now been corrected), none precluded the students from entering the building. If items on the punch list did, in fact, affect the occupation of the building, the Town Building Department would not have issued the TCO. As to training, the custodians have been attending training sessions for weeks, and per the HASBC, that training is complete.
Moving on, the next issues discussed in the press release are regarding the implentation of health and safety procedures, set up of offices and classrooms, orienting staff and students to the building and making sure that all services and technology work.
Let me address these issues thusly. The principal's Move Plan addresses, among other things, arrival and dismissal procedures, fire drill procedures , lunch procedures, etc. When the HAS students moved to the modulars a parade was organized with a welcome by Western Middle School students. The children did NOT enter the modulars at that time. The only other issue addressed was bus safety as this was the first time for many of these students to take a bus to school. There were no practice drills or procedures. When the HAS students were dispersed throughout the district, other than a parent night, our children did not receive practice drills or procedures. When school starts in August every year, there are no practice drills or procedures for incoming new students prior to the first day of school.
Setting up offices and instructional spaces is not an issue the children have to deal with. The furniture is already in place and has been for quite some time. If there were any issues with the furniture, the district should have already been aware of and remedied them. As to setting up offices, this falls under moving the packed items from the modulars to the new building. It also entails staff setting up their classrooms to make them welcoming for the students and educationally ready. If we can be dispersed to six different schools in one week and have offices and instructional spaces ready to go, if we can find out the day before school that we are moving from six different schools back to the modulars and have offices and instructional spaces ready to go, there is absolutely NO reason to believe that between now and the end of February break, these issues can't be done.
As to orienting students and staff to the new building as per the Press release, this issue will be done for the teachers while they are setting up their rooms prior to students returning to school. The children would then and should then receive the same type of orienting as at the start of school each August.
As to making certain that all building technology and services are fully operational, again, this should have already been done by the district. This building has been sitting for years with these things already in place. I know for fact that the food services equipment has already gone through a function test and, as stated previously, the maintenance people have already been trained.
Now that those particular issues have been outlined for you, please let me tell you the true story behind this devastating delay for moving our children into their new, long awaited building.
It all boils down to the following statement from the press release:
"Additionally, this schedule avoids disruption to the preparation for and administration of the March CMT testing schedule".
The principal and superintendant are attempting to play upon the fears of the parents for the safety of their children to make sure that we remain in the again-leaking modulars where children are exhibiting, again, nosebleeds, headaches and nausea. The CMT test scores do not come out until August. To keep our children in the modulars for a test is, for lack of a more descriptive word, atrocious. It is more important to this district to get good CMT scores than in putting our children in a healthy, safe, neighborhood environment. I ask you to think on this, isn't it safer to assume that being in their neighborhood in a clean, new building will boost the moral of these children so much so that they will be willing and eager to do their very best on these tests? Isn't it more realistic that being in their new, clean, safe building in their home neighborhood will let them know that they are deserving of great scores?
The children that are currently in our Pre-K program, scattered to North Street and Old Greenwich School will be moved into the new building in less than a week. If the building has "conditions" attached to the TCO that prevents our K-5 students from moving in, why don't those "conditions" apply to our littlest students?
One of the reasons given for moving the Pre-K students to the building earlier than the K-5 students is that the cost of busing 60 students to NS and OG school is too expensive. What hasn't been made public is that to move these small children into the new building without the K-5 group is that they must hire a full time on-site administrator, a full time on-site custodian, a full time o-site nurse and an additional cafeteria crew to cook and serve lunch to these children. All this hiring negates any savings that would possibly be realized by cancelling the buses for these children.
I ask you to think on this as well. Why was it that just ONE MONTH ago, the district was preparing, to the point of having the staff and students pack up their rooms, to move to the new building WITHOUT all these "conditions" and concerns for safety and health over an 8 school day, two weekend Christmas break and now they say that they CANNOT move over a 6 school day, two weekend February break? WHY IS THAT? WHAT HAS CHANGED SO VERY MUCH THAT A TWO DAY DIFFERENCE MEANS NOT MOVING UNTIL APRIL???
I ask each of you to make your own decision as to whether or not the superintendent and principal are proposing reasonable and sound issues to keep the children in those decrepit modulars. Are their reasons acceptable enough to basically leave a new building that is ready to receive the students almost completely EMPTY for months?
If you believe, as the parents do, that our children should be in the new building on February 17th, please, please stand with us and demand to be heard. We need your help. Our CHILDREN need your help. I ask you, on behalf of our children, to let the powers that be hear you demand that our children must be in their new school, ready to be taught, ready to learn on Tuesday, February17th.
Laura J. DiBella
Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
Ladies and Gentlemen
As you may be aware, the TCO for the Hamilton Avenue Re-construction project was received today, Friday, January 30th at around 2:30.
A few hours after receipt, the Superintendent, Betty Sternberg, issued a press release, a copy of which is on the Greenwich Public Schools website.
In addition, in today's Friday Folders, the means of communication to parents at Hamilton Avenue School, the principal, Dr. Damaris Rau sent out a letter with an attached Transition Plan for Move to the New Building.
First, I will address the Press Release.
Regarding the factors that must be considered - conditions outlined in the TCO. I have been informed by HAS Building Committee members that there are NO conditions attached to the TCO with respect to the students moving into the building as regards the Town Building Department, issuer of the TCO. When asked by a reporter from the Greenwich Time what conditions were attached to the TCO, Frank Mazza referred said reporter to Dr. Sternberg.
With regard to the BOE, Town Attorney and District Administration needing to review factors - the punch list was shared with the Building Committee and parents that attended the last building committee meeting. Other than the issues with the flue (which have now been corrected), none precluded the students from entering the building. If items on the punch list did, in fact, affect the occupation of the building, the Town Building Department would not have issued the TCO. As to training, the custodians have been attending training sessions for weeks, and per the HASBC, that training is complete.
Moving on, the next issues discussed in the press release are regarding the implentation of health and safety procedures, set up of offices and classrooms, orienting staff and students to the building and making sure that all services and technology work.
Let me address these issues thusly. The principal's Move Plan addresses, among other things, arrival and dismissal procedures, fire drill procedures , lunch procedures, etc. When the HAS students moved to the modulars a parade was organized with a welcome by Western Middle School students. The children did NOT enter the modulars at that time. The only other issue addressed was bus safety as this was the first time for many of these students to take a bus to school. There were no practice drills or procedures. When the HAS students were dispersed throughout the district, other than a parent night, our children did not receive practice drills or procedures. When school starts in August every year, there are no practice drills or procedures for incoming new students prior to the first day of school.
Setting up offices and instructional spaces is not an issue the children have to deal with. The furniture is already in place and has been for quite some time. If there were any issues with the furniture, the district should have already been aware of and remedied them. As to setting up offices, this falls under moving the packed items from the modulars to the new building. It also entails staff setting up their classrooms to make them welcoming for the students and educationally ready. If we can be dispersed to six different schools in one week and have offices and instructional spaces ready to go, if we can find out the day before school that we are moving from six different schools back to the modulars and have offices and instructional spaces ready to go, there is absolutely NO reason to believe that between now and the end of February break, these issues can't be done.
As to orienting students and staff to the new building as per the Press release, this issue will be done for the teachers while they are setting up their rooms prior to students returning to school. The children would then and should then receive the same type of orienting as at the start of school each August.
As to making certain that all building technology and services are fully operational, again, this should have already been done by the district. This building has been sitting for years with these things already in place. I know for fact that the food services equipment has already gone through a function test and, as stated previously, the maintenance people have already been trained.
Now that those particular issues have been outlined for you, please let me tell you the true story behind this devastating delay for moving our children into their new, long awaited building.
It all boils down to the following statement from the press release:
"Additionally, this schedule avoids disruption to the preparation for and administration of the March CMT testing schedule".
The principal and superintendant are attempting to play upon the fears of the parents for the safety of their children to make sure that we remain in the again-leaking modulars where children are exhibiting, again, nosebleeds, headaches and nausea. The CMT test scores do not come out until August. To keep our children in the modulars for a test is, for lack of a more descriptive word, atrocious. It is more important to this district to get good CMT scores than in putting our children in a healthy, safe, neighborhood environment. I ask you to think on this, isn't it safer to assume that being in their neighborhood in a clean, new building will boost the moral of these children so much so that they will be willing and eager to do their very best on these tests? Isn't it more realistic that being in their new, clean, safe building in their home neighborhood will let them know that they are deserving of great scores?
The children that are currently in our Pre-K program, scattered to North Street and Old Greenwich School will be moved into the new building in less than a week. If the building has "conditions" attached to the TCO that prevents our K-5 students from moving in, why don't those "conditions" apply to our littlest students?
One of the reasons given for moving the Pre-K students to the building earlier than the K-5 students is that the cost of busing 60 students to NS and OG school is too expensive. What hasn't been made public is that to move these small children into the new building without the K-5 group is that they must hire a full time on-site administrator, a full time on-site custodian, a full time o-site nurse and an additional cafeteria crew to cook and serve lunch to these children. All this hiring negates any savings that would possibly be realized by cancelling the buses for these children.
I ask you to think on this as well. Why was it that just ONE MONTH ago, the district was preparing, to the point of having the staff and students pack up their rooms, to move to the new building WITHOUT all these "conditions" and concerns for safety and health over an 8 school day, two weekend Christmas break and now they say that they CANNOT move over a 6 school day, two weekend February break? WHY IS THAT? WHAT HAS CHANGED SO VERY MUCH THAT A TWO DAY DIFFERENCE MEANS NOT MOVING UNTIL APRIL???
I ask each of you to make your own decision as to whether or not the superintendent and principal are proposing reasonable and sound issues to keep the children in those decrepit modulars. Are their reasons acceptable enough to basically leave a new building that is ready to receive the students almost completely EMPTY for months?
If you believe, as the parents do, that our children should be in the new building on February 17th, please, please stand with us and demand to be heard. We need your help. Our CHILDREN need your help. I ask you, on behalf of our children, to let the powers that be hear you demand that our children must be in their new school, ready to be taught, ready to learn on Tuesday, February17th.
Laura J. DiBella
Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
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