Only three Board of Ed candidates oppose 900-student schools

Here's reporter Jackie Majerus' story about the thoughts that Board of Education candidates have on the 900-student schools proposed by the current school board:

The proposal to build two new 900-student, K-8 schools will save money and offer nice new facilities for Bristol students, according to school board candidates.
Several candidates said the big schools would actually be like two schools joined in the center.
"The primary grades will be kept separate from the middle school aged children," said Democrat Julie Luczkow, an incumbent who said the schools will be like "communities in and among themselves."
Luczkow also said the K-8 school will "provide the opportunity for the older students helping the younger students" during their free time.
Democrat Barbara Doyle, who is running for re-election, said the public has a "misconception" about the plans for the 900-student schools. The wings will have separate entrances, Doyle said, sharing areas like the offices, library, auditorium and the reality will be "two schools on the same site."
"It won't seem like 900 students in one building," said Amy Coan, a Republican running for re-election.
"I look at it as two separate schools," said Democrat Jane Anastasio, an incumbent who said her goal was to make the middle schools smaller.
The plan isn't a new idea in Bristol, according to Doyle, who said that Northeast, Stafford and West Woods were all K-8 in the past. She Chippens Hill Middle School currently has more than 900 students "and no one is complaining about that."
Coan said she agrees with the plan to build the two new schools, mostly "because it is economically beneficial."
Democrat Tom O'Brien agreed, saying the city must replace what cannot be upgraded.
"Two new 900-student schools are the best option," said O'Brien. "It is what we can afford to provide what we need."
Doyle said building two new schools is an opportunity to "deal with the issue of old schools which have outlived their usefulness as educational facilities and do not meet the needs of our students and staff."
Republican Peg Bonola said new schools would be up-to-date, state-of-the-art and completely ADA compliant. She said a K-8 could save money.
"It's fewer buildings," said Bonola.
Republican Chris Wilson said the number that counts isn't the number of kids in the building, but in any individual classroom.
"It is not the size of the school that is as important as the number of students in the classroom and the quality of the overall program," said Wilson.
Democrat Sherry Turcotte said the number of students in the school is a "minute" issue when considering how the school will be separated.
"I would like people to know more about how the schools will be divided and that the safety of the children will be secured," said Turcotte. "What's important is that these children get a state-of-the-art learning facility that will encourage productive students."
Democrat Karen Vibert said she thinks people are "misinformed" about how the school will be configured and blamed poor communication on the part of the school board.
"If people understood better what this concept was, they would be in favor of it," said Vibert, who said two new schools are "a given."
By making the change, middle school populations in the new schools will drop to 300 students, "which is phenomenal," said Vibert, compared to the city's middle schools today, which have 600 to 900 students each.
Not all the candidates were on board with the big K-8 schools, though.
Mary Rydingsward, a candidate on the Working Families ticket, suggested that smaller schools may be safer for kids.
"Research indicates that larger schools have higher incidence of violence and lower test scores," Rydingsward said, "so I'm very concerned why this school board wants to move to the 900-student schools."
Republican Wayne Sparks said he realizes that sometimes buildings reach a point when the cost of upkeep is so great that it makes sense to replace them. But he said he's "not necessarily convinced" that the Bristol schools are there yet.
"My natural inclination is to look with skepticism upon any plan to spend millions of taxpayer dollars," said Sparks.
But Sparks said he's not worried about the size of a 900-student school, since he attended them and never noticed any negative impact.
And Republican Dick Prindle said he's totally opposed to the big schools, saying he believes in neighborhood schools.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 6. Nine of the candidates – and no more than six from a single party – will win four-year terms on the board. This year, the four candidates who get the least number of votes won't make it onto the board.

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com