Action Taken At Sparsely Attended Budget Workshop – Parents Were Notified By Handout At GES The Next Day
by Phillip Zema
A number of residents are vehemently displeased with the Berlin Central School Board of Education’s decision to close Grafton Elementary. In what was seemingly an ordinary budget workshop on Tuesday, March 9, the Board elected, 4-3, with Board Members Tom Morelli, Beverly Stewart and Paul Greene voting against the proposal, to close the Grafton Elementary School in June. While Superintendant of Schools Charlotte Gregory cited enrollment decline and economic issues as the reasons for consolidation, many residents believe the District should have considered other options.
On Sunday, March 14, a number of concerned citizens of the Berlin School District met to discuss the District’s decision to close Grafton Elementary. Those in attendance, which included Board Member Beverly Stewart, John Nash and Andrew Zlotnick, claimed that the Board’s decision did not reflect the District’s overall best interest. Stewart indicated that there were 3 or 4 other plausible options that were never seriously considered by those who favored consolidation.
Furthermore, in so far as District residents voted nearly 4 to 1, roughly 800 votes to 200, against the $19.7m school bond referendum – which included a nearly $12m plan to renovate Berlin Elementary, many felt the Board’s decision did not reflect the community’s collective interest. It was also suggested that the Board should have allowed the District to vote on the consolidation issue.
Procedural Questions
Not only were they upset with the decision but they found the Board’s procedure flat out distasteful. Its actions have only further exacerbated the community’s animosity towards the administration. At its March 2 meeting, the Board told the public it was having a budget workshop. Nobody knew the Board would make any drastic decision, however. Stewart claimed that at the “budget workshop” there was absolutely no discussion of the budget. The Board simply voted to consolidate Grafton and add two modular buildings to Berlin Elementary. The Board made several other crucial financial decisions as well.
Stewart feared that the public would have no say in the decision. She said, “The Board of Education should put it on the ballot so people have a choice.” People are clearly upset with the administration and Board; many Stephentown and Grafton residents, Stewart argued, want their community schools to stay open. Furthermore, consolidating Grafton may not serve the best interests of the children since the Berlin Elementary School building suffers from a number of structural problems and safety issues, and, unless the building is renovated soon, student health may be jeopardized.
Andrew Zlotnick provided a laundry list of problems with Berlin Elementary. For example, many of the school’s bricks are noticeably chipped and falling apart, the ventilation system is flawed and covered in pigeon guano, lead-base paint is peeling, the roof is leaking (which may lead to mold and rot) and the building still contains asbestos. In his opinion the building is a dangerous money pit, and while Grafton Elementary requires some renovation, Berlin demands remarkably more. It was mentioned that at one point last year, teachers were advised to keep the windows closed and students inside for recess. As one person jested, “The students who end up in the modular buildings might be the lucky ones.”
At the meeting it was claimed that NY State law requires classrooms to be at least 900 square feet. The modular classrooms, however, would only be 750 square feet; the school can, in special circumstances, get a variance for this law.
People were also skeptical about how much the District saved by closing the Stephentown Elementary School. The District claimed to have saved at least $450k yet when one considers maintenance costs, faculty payroll and benefits and other costs, it is not clear to those attending how much the District saved. There was widespread concern that the administration was not accurately portraying the financial reality of the school.
A Tempest At The BOE Meeting
Many of these concerns were accentuated at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, March 16. At the meeting, Berlin’s auditorium was crowded with residents opposed to the closing of Grafton Elementary. During the public session Heinz Noeding chastised the Board and administration for failing to be fiscally responsible. He thinks there are a number of economic issues (e.g. increased expenses, declining state aid and tax revenue) that the District is not prepared to weather. Moreover, he claimed the Board has failed to create a financial model that reflects what the community actually wants; the District’s leaders are simply making unpopular, unattractive decisions. Worse yet, Noeding was appalled by the Board’s behavior, especially at the last budget workshop. Amidst disagreement, some Board members resorted to unprofessional behavior, as if they “were auditioning for ‘Survivor’ or ‘The Gong Show’,” he said. At its lowest point, Berlin’s representatives told each other to “go to hell” and exchanged other mean-spirited comments, he reported. The audience cheered after Noeding finished addressing the Board. Atsushi Akera, an RPI professor and Grafton resident, also disapproved of the Board’s decision. He was upset to see the school close Grafton even though a majority of the District opposed consolidation.
Even though the Board voted at its budget workshop to close Grafton Elementary, State law requires the Board to hold a SEQR vote before finalizing this decision. The SEQR vote, which is intended to express that the Board, as lead agency in the environmental review of the project found no adverse environmental impact of having two modular buildings added to the Berlin Elementary school property, passed. Shortly after, the Board once again voted 4-3 to close the Grafton school. There was plenty of debate over the merits of this decision, however.
Each Board member was given two opportunities to publicly express his or her opinion. Paul Greene, who voted against the proposal, wanted more time to judge whether consolidation would serve the District’s best interest. He said he would feel better about the issue if the Board had a five-year assessment plan with a projection of the various economic impacts the Board’s decisions would have on the District. Elizabeth Miller voted in favor of consolidation. Miller said that she weighed the options but could not find a plausible alternative. If they exist, Miller would be willing to entertain them. Yet she felt that unless the District consolidated, other educational programs such as sports, art, music and kindergarten would be compromised. Jeffrey Paine, a Grafton resident, also voted in favor of consolidation. He argued that, contrary to widespread opinion, Berlin Elementary can be renovated and used for at least another fifty years. Paine claimed that a new school building would cost $30m, and he argued that the Grafton school building needs anywhere between $1.5m and $2m in renovation. A few audience members clapped, but these expressions of approval were drowned by the audience’s boos. Gina Goodermote did not offer an argument in favor of her vote but seconded Miller’s explanation for closing Grafton.
Stewart claimed there were other options available to the District. Some of these alternatives required consolidation as well, but the administration made it appear as if there was only one reasonable course to take. She believed the public should play an integral role in the decision making process. The vote simply did not reflect the public’s preferences, she said. Moreover, Stewart feared that consolidation was merely a short-term fix to a long-term problem; that is that the school, like so many others, is entrenched in difficult economic times and given the District’s financial situation and the health concerns posed by Berlin Elementary, which may require a multimillion dollar referendum to fix, the problems are not going away. At the end of her speech, the crowd roared with approval.
Board Member Tom Morelli was also vehemently against the proposal. He claimed that in many respects, the proposal neither solved nor assuaged the District’s economic problems. Morelli was skeptical that the District actually saved money by closing Stephentown Elementary, and he doubted the accuracy of the District’s financial projections. Morelli felt that the Board needed to consult with the District’s residents, administrators and faculty, whom he referred to as the diamonds in the rough. Doing so, the Board would develop better long term solutions and become more in tune with the District’s needs. He was repulsed by the idea that many students would be educated in a “trailer.” Such an educational atmosphere might be demeaning and detrimental to one’s education, he said. Morelli’s speech was given a round of applause as well.
Board President Frank Zwack justified his vote on the grounds that consolidation served the District’s best interest. In deciding how to act, he stressed the importance of not letting sentiment interfere with one’s choice. He said that while closing the community schools is difficult, the District needs to do so in order to survive.
Superintendent Gregory responded to many of the concerns expressed by Morelli, Greene and Stewart. She claimed that the District will lose $1.4m in State aid for the upcoming year. Unless the District closes this gap, cuts to many educational programs will be necessary. While the District will receive roughly $500k in federal stimulus money, the District is still short $900k. The Berlin School District has reserve funds but is hesitant to spend all of it. Given the economic environment the District may need it in the future, she said. By closing Grafton, the gap dwindles to $400k, she claimed. Reserve funds may have to be used to close the rest of this gap, however.
Gregory also argued that Grafton Elementary, if opened next year, would only enroll 67 students. Over the past three years, its student population has declined by about ten students per year. At this rate, she claimed, Grafton would hardly have any students within five years. Stewart objected and criticized Gregory’s reasoning saying that not only was this reasoning unsound, but it was “a self-fulfilling prophesy.”
During the second round of discussion, Stewart once again voiced her disapproval with the Board’s decision. While Stewart feared that consolidation was not in the students’ best interest, she was also concerned that the proposal would compel the school to make other unattractive choices. By moving the students into Berlin Elementary, the State would force the District to comply with expensive renovation mandates like meeting ADA and state building regulations. As reflected in the failed bond vote, however, the community is opposed to investing millions in the school. So the Board’s decision may only delay future problems.
In the end, the Board voted 4-3 to consolidate Grafton and insert two modular buildings at Berlin Elementary. The two buildings will be leased for five years, and, during this span, they will cost the District approximately $500k. The two buildings will be located on the north side of the school and rest adjacent to the tennis courts. An outdoor septic tank (which must be emptied periodically) will be placed near the modular classrooms. The cost of this proposal will be factored into this year’s budget. Unless the budget is rejected, the decision to consolidate is final.
Plans To Sell The Stephentown School Building
The District is making plans to sell the Stephentown school building. Representatives from Winn Morrison Reality talked about their interest in helping sell the building. If permitted, they intend to sell the building for $989k. Although the figure seems high, the representatives claimed that unless “you aim for the stars, you will never hit the moon.” They also claimed to have success selling school buildings. Morelli asked them about their marketing plan, and one of the representatives responded, “I shoot from the hip; I don’t get paid until I close.” Presumably, this response means he will be aggressive in his negotiations.
Misleading Figures?
The meeting closed with a budget presentation from Berlin’s Business Manager, Sandra Owens. Morelli was skeptical about some of the presentation’s conclusions, claiming some of the monetary figures were misleading. The ongoing debate did not achieve any closure, however. The discussion will likely be resumed in the coming weeks.