Board To Delay Vote on Racial Balance Issue in Greenwich Schools [UPDATE]

Updated: Oct. 9, 6 a.m.:

The Greenwich Board of Education has informally agreed they cannot move forward with a strategy on how to resolve the continuing issue of racial imbalance at two elementary schools until the Connecticut Board of Education decides whether the demographics in those schools' neighborhoods creates a "unique" situation.

The board of education is hoping the state agrees with Greenwich's contention that the demographics in the Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon school neighborhoods along with the predominance of multi-family homes create a unique situation that draws minorities to those neighobrhoods, thus creating school populations that exceed state guidelines for acceptable minority levels.

During a public forum Tuesday night at Central Middle School, the board informally agreed it needs a decision from the state board of education on whether the two schools should be designated as "unique" and therefore exempt from state racial balance quotas.

The Greenwich board is to meet again at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 when it is expected to move forward in determining how to better use elementary school buildings in the face of overcrowding at New Lebanon in Byram, and the anticipated growth and potential overcrowding at Cos Cob, Glenville and North Mianus schools.

"At this point, the board needs to get this letter from the commissioner. We are kind of in a holding pattern," Board Chair Leslie Moriarty said to about three dozen parents who attended the meeting. "The response is necessary to determine our approach for racial balance."

The board did reveal that they will now address racial balance and improving student achievement separately from the school facilities use issue.

The decision comes on the heels of a district-wide survey of elementary school parents in which 83 percent said they would prefer their children stay in neighborhood schools rather than choose to send them out of their attendance district to alleviate overcrowding in some schools by sending them to schools that are not near capacity.
 
The board also agreed that the continued overcrowding at New Lebanon School must be addressed before the start of the 2014 school year.

It remained unclear Tuesday night whether the school board will be in a position to vote on the racial balance issue before the new school board is sworn in Nov. 21. In the upcoming Nov. 5 elections, four of the eight seats are on the ballot. 

Lisa Harkness, president of the PTA Council, told the board, "We appreciate that you have decoupled the racial balance and facility use issues. As you think about facility use, we want to recommend a few criteria ... How does each option help increase student achievement? Concerning estimated costs, we think you should put boundaries on those costs. Are we talking a million dollars or several million dollars?"


Original story: Oct. 8.
The Greenwich Board of Education continues its fact-finding and public forums on how to reorganize Greenwich Public Schools to balance use of school buildings and equalize the numbers of minority students in certain schools.

A public forum for parents and the public to comment on the options before the board will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Central Middle School auditorium, 9 Indian Rock Ln.

The board is scheduled to vote Oct. 10 on how to balance minority student population at Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon elementary schools while calculating future use of school buildings. However, the board may postpone the self-imposed deadline to vote Oct. 10, if it does not receive a decision from the state Board of Education that the schools should be exempt from state school minority population regulations.

Board of Education Chair Leslie Moriarty reportedly said the board needs communication from the state on the board's request to designate the schools as unique, before any decisions are made on how to improve the academic performance of minority students in the two schools are made. 

The letter was sent following a proposal from Republican board members Peter Sherr and Peter vonBraun that sought that action as well as refocusing efforts to strengthen the magnet school programs at Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon. Both Sherr and vonBraun said the state's regulations are reverse discrimination that forces segregation. The two Republicans also suggest the district focus efforts on expanding English language immersion and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs at the schools and extend school hours for children of working parents.

At the crux of the matter is that the neighborhood schools exceed state guidelines on school minority population, despite reflecting the demographics of those two neighborhoods where there are high concentrations of non-English speaking families, many of whom receive reduced-price or free lunches. Von Braun and Sherr have said the state should not force schools to minimize its minority population by shifting students to schools with low minority populations. "It is reverse segregation," vonBraun said.

The board voted Oct. 3 to reject any plan that would force relocation of students outside their neighborhood school attendance districts.

When the board meets for a work session on Thursday, Oct. 10, also at 7 p.m. at Central Middle School, there is a scheduled review of a consultant's report on the survey of parents on school choice.

Nearly 75 percent of parents would prefer a neighborhood school if given the choice to send their student to a neighborhood school or a school outside their immediate neighborhood. Parents also said they were amenable to expansion of the STEM programs and of the International Baccalaureate program offered at the International School at Dundee, according to the consultants' report.