A proposal to turn Marquette and Lapham into separate K-5 schools was not on the table during budget deliberations. The Board had to choose between consolidating the schools and keeping the status quo. For better or worse, they chose to consolidate.
I agree that K-5 at both schools is worth considering, but nobody asked the staff to analyze the expenses saved by this alternative, versus the added costs. For what it's worth, I don't think there's much of chance that you could un-pair the schools within the budget limits without cutting some other program or some other school. The budget counts on $237,000 savings from consolidating the schools. If you un-paired the schools instead, you could probably eliminate three bus routes and save about $130,000; nothing to sneeze at, but you'd still have $100,000 to cut somewhere else, and you'd probably have to spend additional money to provide services at both schools for younger kids and older kids. If the District called for a referendum to go over-limit to keep both schools open, I'd vote for it, but I think I might be in the minority. Finally... I'm sorry that Chuck's kid won't be able to walk two blocks to school until he's ready for middle school, but we should remember that this loss will be offset by benefits to third through fifth graders on the north side of the Isthmus who will be able to walk to school for the first time. That's why I said this change is a wash as far as walkability is concerned. As I said before, this is a time to look for creative alternatives to motorized transportation to school. Fourth graders won't ride in trailers, but most of them can ride bikes, and the adults of the Marquette neighborhood, which is thick with community-minded people, should be able to find a way to shepherd them across the isthmus. It might also be worth mentioning that the underpass across East Washington Avenue will be open by next August. Chuck Strawser wrote: > Mitch, my kid could have ridden in my bicycle trailer across East > Wash for K-2 at Lapham, and then walked the two blocks down quiet > residential streets to Marquette for grades 3-5. Now he's going to > have to be chaperoned through the fifth grade. And although this is > my first child, I'm guessing that 3rd through 5th graders won't > tolerate being towed in a trailer. > > As for suggesting what should have been cut instead, how about busing > the kids back and forth across the Isthmus? there was a proposal to > return Marquette to K-5, do the same with Lapham, and have the two > schools share one principal. By some accounts, that could have saved > hundreds of thousands of dollars (which is not that different than > what the district is "saving" by closing Marquette. > > That proposal would have resulted in kids at BOTH schools being able > to walk to school (though admittedly some Marquette students would > still have to deal with Willy St, and some Lapham kids would still > have to deal with E Johnson). > But I hardly call that a wash. > > I'm more upset over this than anything I can think of, ever. If we > can't have neighborhood schools on the Isthmus, in the most walkable, > bikable neighborhoods in the City, where and when will we have > neighborhood schools? And if our kids grow up being bussed less than > a mile, when and where are they going to learn that you can get > around without a motor vehicle? I'm not giving up on this. > > chuck > > At 07:06 AM 5/2/2007, Mitchell Nussbaum wrote: >>Lapham School and Marquette School are paired right now. Kids on the >>north and south sides of the Isthmus attend Lapham from Kindergarten to >>second grade, Marquette from third to fifth grade, and then O'Keeffe from >>sixth to eighth grade. >> >>There may be other reasons to oppose consolidating Lapham and Marquette, >>but from the standpoint of walking to school, the change is basically a >>wash; while a kid who lives on Jenifer Street will have to cross E. >>Washington Avenue for all six years of grade school (not just for K-2), a >>kid on E. Dayton Street will stay in his/her neighborhood until middle >>school. >>I hesitate to make a constructive suggestion right now, but this might be >>a good time to look for creative ways to encourage parents to let >>Marquette neighborhood students walk to Lapham; after all, the distance >> is >>not too bad for most kids in the neighborhood, even if the street >>crossings are terrifying. Perhaps this would be a good occasion to >>introduce the "Walking School Bus" >>(http://www.lesstraffic.com/Programs/WB/WB.htm) into Madison. >> >>I'm not happy to see the cuts that were made, but we have to remember >> that >>state law requires these cuts, and the School Board's job is to do the >>least amount of harm to the schools while cutting the budget. For the >>people who think we should keep Marquette open at all costs, I think it's >>fair to ask: what should we cut instead? >> >>Paul T. O'Leary wrote: >> > Get ready to wrestle with more deathmobiles if you live anywhere near >> > Lapham School. Last night the School Board voted to close Marquette >> > Elementary School, and transfer its students to Lapham. This means >> former >> > Marquette students will be crossing E. Washington Ave, and some will >> be >> > crossing BOTH E. Wash and Willy St. >> > >> > The whole skinny: >> > http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=131774&ntpid=1 >> > --------------- >> > Paul T. O'Leary >> > Desktop Insurgent >> > Madison, WI USA >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Bikies mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies >> > >> > >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Bikies mailing list >>[email protected] >>http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
