Letter from parent.

I received this letter from a parent who spoke at the prior night's school committee meeting.  I was saddened to read (and listen) to some of his remarks - particularly the one about cross-pollinating teachers from his present school (Cumberland Hill) to his potential new school (Ashton).  Certainly I can respect the worry that moving to a former choice school would raise questions and concerns - that said- given the fact that the achievement profile of the subcategory of non-SES (disadvantaged) students at both schools is nearly identical in both math and ELA, the assurances of similar achievement for non SES students is there - I believe the data should ameliorate the concern.

Our goal as a district is to improve achievement for every student. We must be relentless in that pursuit. Every day.

School Committee Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to address my concerns regarding the Full Day Kindergarten/Redistricting proposal at last night's school committee meeting. 

I also would like to thank Dr. Thornton for meeting with concerned parents from my neighborhood before the holidays.  During our meeting, Dr. Thornton presented the existing proposal, his future vision for the Cumberland School System and insight into changes he is already making.  The honest and open dialogue was greatly appreciated by my neighbors and I.

Under the current proposal, my neighborhood would be moving from Cumberland Hill to the Ashton School District.  As I shared last night and with Dr. Thornton in previous conversations, my main concerns are (in no particular order):
•    Middle School:
◦    The current proposal does not address the future district alignment of the middle schools, leaving fear, uncertainty and doubt with where our children will go if we were redistricted to Ashton.  Once we are part of the Ashton district we will have very little say in where we attend middle school if further adjustments are needed to be made.  I would like to see the middle school boundaries address and documented as part of this proposal.
◦    It is my understanding there is currently a 23% testing difference between McCourt and North Cumberland Middle School.  There is a great amount of concern about being redistricted from a performing school to a low performing one, especially since NCMS is 5 minutes away from our homes.
•    Social Impact:
◦    Studies have shown there is an impact on a student’s performance when they move from school to school.  For some of our children, the plan is asking them to attend their 3rd school in 3 or 4 years, and for others, we would be having them change schools in the final year of elementary school before they head to Middle School.
◦    In addition to adjusting to new schools, teachers and routines, many of the children that are being redistricted to Ashton will have to adjust to making new friends in Ashton and then again when they attend middle school.  This too could affect their academic performance.
•    Redistricted to Ashton:
◦    We are currently at one of the top two performing schools in Cumberland, but in this plan, according to a school committee member I spoke to last night, we would be redistricted to one of the bottom two performing schools in town.
◦    There are several questions around Ashton:
■    Why is it underperforming relative to Cumberland Hill and Community?
■    What is the plan to bring it in line with the two schools stated above?
■    What is your plan for cross pollinating teachers from Cumberland Hill     to Ashton if the plan is approved? 
■    Why can’t we improve the test scores of the other schools first, and then propose any new/potential changes?
■    How many students would be moving to and from Ashton in the new proposal?
◦    Bus schedule:  Our children already spend too much time on the bus, and this proposal would only increase the amount of time they spend traveling to and from school each day.
•    Community (not the school):
◦    Many parents bought their homes specifically to be part of the North Cumberland School System and to be part of the community they live in.  This proposal will be taking many of us away from the area we bought our homes in.
◦    There is a tremendous amount of pride in the Cumberland Hill School and what has been accomplished there over the past several years.  Many parents who are being affected by this proposal have volunteered their time to the school and their children’s classroom to help better the school, form relationships with the teachers and with one and other.

While I support the vision of elevating the performance of all Cumberland Schools and agree to the benefits of full day kindergarten, I am not in support of the current proposal if it means we will be redistricted to receive it.  Outside of offering full day kindergarten, I am struggling to see the benefit of the current proposal for my children in grades 1-5, as classrooms sizes are remaining largely the same, they are being redistricted to a lower performing school and they will have to spend more time on a bus to get to there.

 Thank you in advance for your consideration to my feedback above.  Please feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions or feedback.