The Daily Times

More than 200 Maryville residents attended a public input session on the school system’s 2011-12 budget Tuesday night, and nearly 15 people voiced their thoughts and concerns about a proposal to close the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning.

Some residents were upset about the decision. Other citizens wanted to offer advice to elected officials. One person wanted to offer encouragement to a disheartened Fort Craig community.

Chris Legaux, who serves as playground committee chairman at the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning, voiced concerns with the system’s grade configurations and their potential impact on students.

The approved changes mean three consecutive years of school transitions for many younger students, he said. “Many studies have concluded that primary-age students are particularly vulnerable with school transitions and need time to acclimate to their new environment,” he said.

Officials only have complete control over the system’s classroom sizes, Legaux said. He also noted the correlation between classroom sizes and performance on standardized tests.

“Utilizing Maryville’s four elementary schools will give a buffer to our teachers and students for the unavoidable turmoil we all face (in the future). Smaller teacher-student ratios will allow our best efforts in education to succeed,” Legaux said, referring to the nation’s economic turmoil and the Race to Top program.

“Our children should not be victims of political chess games, personal vendettas or uncontrollable circumstances. It is up to the City Council, school board and central office to do the right thing and treat people right even if nobody’s looking,” he said.

Nancy Peterson, a former school board member, expressed sadness at the school board’s proposal. “I really hate to see you close it. Fort Craig is unique. It was unique all over the country when we created it. I still think it is.”

Peterson said she didn’t presume to do the school board’s job or question their motives. “However, I think your problem is the high school. You seem to be moving everything back from the high school. Where can you put them instead of shifting back?”

Jennifer Barnett later voiced concerns with the system’s grade configuration, especially in grades 4-7. “I’m a little nervous about it. You could have 8-year-olds in the same space as 14-year-olds.”

Barnett asked board members to look at the whole picture. “You’re affecting more than the 300 students at Fort Craig.”

Diane Pezick, a parent, encouraged board members to instruct administrators to create multiple budget proposals. She then asked that they “study, discuss and analyze this situation in an open way, which hasn’t happened yet.”

Skeptical about proposal

Several parents voiced displeasure with the system’s decision-making.

Lori Knox, a parent, was apprehensive about the system’s proposal to close the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning. “I think it’s been part of the school board’s plan from day 1, which makes me very skeptical of the plan’s viability.”

Knox has viewed Maryville’s school budget, and the parent said she thinks there’s “significant holes” in it. She wanted school officials to provide their employees with a more accurate budget.

Susan Roseman said she thinks Maryville City Schools is moving in the wrong direction. “I appreciate the complexities that go into making this decision. However, it makes no sense to cut something that’s working and replace it with the status quo.”

Jackie Palmer, a parent of former students at the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning, later addressed previous comments made by officials about reopening the school. “It’s not a school. It’s a program. It’d be like Maryville not playing football for five years then starting it back again.”

Palmer later urged board members to not close the school.

Words of encouragement

One Maryville resident encouraged community members to pull together during this time of economic turmoil.

Alyson Colclough, a first grade teacher at John Sevier Elementary School, said she’s concerned about the negativity surrounding the budget. “It’s a time of great change in our system.”

Colclough addressed Fort Craig’s parents, teachers and students.

She offered sympathy to the parents and recognized that the decision could create a “deep sense of loss.” The teacher then assured parents that Maryville’s schools are very similar, and all elementary schools have highly-effective teachers who use differentiated instruction.

Colclough also wanted to welcome any teacher that might be transferred to John Sevier Elementary School. She then assured students that they will be “loved and nurtured” when they join the school’s family.

Future decisions

School board members will vote on the number of schools and the intermediate schools’ grades during February’s meeting.

Currently, Maryville City Schools has four elementary schools that serve K-4, one intermediate school that serves grades 5-6, one middle school that serves grades 7-8 and one high school that serves grades 9-12. Officials plan to open another school �" Coulter Grove Intermediate School �" in fall 2012.

They recently approved a grade configuration of K-3, 4-7, 8-9 and 10-12 to relieve the system’s overcrowding while working with the city’s funding problems. Maryville is nearing its legal debt capacity, and officials cannot borrow against more than 15 percent of the city’s assessed value.

Thompson has recommended the system move fourth- and seventh-graders to the intermediate school and ninth-graders to the middle school beginning with the 2012-13 school year.

However, the school system’s attempt to alleviate overcrowding has hit a major bump.

School officials will need $1.5 million to open Coulter Grove Intermediate School, and they have proposed closing the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning to help offset this cost increase.

If officials temporarily closed the Fort Craig, they would need an estimated $789,000 to open Coulter Grove.

The city would require a 21-cent property tax increase to pay for the $1.5 million increase and about an 11-cent tax increase for the $789,000 cost increase. City officials hope to find money within their budget to open Coulter Grove Intermediate School .

The school system will exceed programming capacity in its elementary schools in 2019 if officials close the Fort Craig School of Dynamic Learning. If Maryville closes Fort Craig, City Manager Greg McClain has said they could likely reopen the school in several years when the economy has recovered.

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