Parents Start Petition, Website to Fight Greenwich Redistricting Efforts

As the Greenwich Board of Education continues its fact-finding mission before deciding how to deal with racial imbalance and the use of the town’s elementary schools, there’s an online petition organized by parents who want to ensure the board is aware of parents’ concerns and desires.

“Essentially, the objective is to canvass and see what people of Greenwich really want and present it to Board of Education so they can act in the interest of Greenwich rather than the interest of anything else,” said Cos Cob parent Kevin Foley.

According to the petition, that became available on the website  greenwichschoolkids.com last weekend, signers agree that they do not want the Greenwich school board to “force redistricting or involuntary reassignment on any family.” The petition wants to the board to address “overcrowded schools through choice-based solutions.”

So far, there are more than 180 signatures on the petition, primarily from residents of Riverside, Old Greenwich and Cos Cob.

Foley, who has a school-aged child in the district, said the petition was borne from the fact that “all of the options before the Board of Ed allow administrators to assign children to schools regardless of what their (attendance z) zones are.”

The Board of Education will continue its series of public forums on four options presented by its consultant Milone & MacBroom at 7 p.m. June 19 at Eastern Middle School. The board is scheduled to decide June 20 which options to pursue. Options range from full-scale redistricting of all 11 elementary schools to choice-based magnet schools that would have mandatory attendance assignments if not enough parents elect to send their child outside of their neighborhood school zone.

The school district has been cited by the state of Connecticut for having racially imbalanced populations in the New Lebanon and Hamilton Avenue schools where nonwhite students comprise more than 50 percent of the student body. New Lebanon also is overcrowded and does not have the room to expand its classroom space to deal with the growing enrollment. Some classes are held offices converted to classrooms. Other schools including Cos Cob and Old Greenwich are near capacity and the Parkway School is at about 50 percent of its capacity.

“I think the biggest frustration is that I feel a little duped or taken advantage of,” says Riverside School parent Elizabeth Barth who organized the greenwichschoolkids.com website. “We’ve been out of balance since 1996 and have had (state) sanctions since the early 2000. They have grand plans that make zero sense and they are looking at the same things that didn’t help. In five years, we would have more magnet schools, spend more in taxes and nothing’s changed.”

Board of Education Chair Leslie Moriarty has reiterated at several of the public hearings that choice-based magnet schools organized in recent years have not solved the racial imbalance and school space issues. Moriarty said at a June 14 hearing held at Greenwich Town Hall, “My goal is that at the next meeting on June 20, the board reach a consensus” on which options will be investigated further during summer recess with the board continuing its public review in September with a target date to make a decision in October. The board is under a state mandate to “show we are making progress to achieve balance” by the 2014 school year, Moriarty added.

Moriarty did say the board also will considering expanding the district’s residency verification program that currently applies to all kindergarten and ninth-grade students. That plan would require parents provide residency verification for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The cost of the program has not been released.

School Superintendent William McKersie also said at the June 14 hearing that drew more than 100 parents and local officials, “We have begun to list all of the suggestions we’ve heard. People should be able to say ‘Hey, they got my point.’ The (state education) commissioner has asked ‘where are the parents on his, where’s the community on this.’ We can now say we have heard the community … We’re working to set up the right decisions and go to the state board with the fullest sense of conversation.”

To that end, Foley said he and other parents plan to present their petition to the school board.

Benjamin Bianco has three children, one of whom attends the North Street School, also is working with Barth and Foley in their efforts.  In a letter to the school board, Bianco, who is a Manhattan-based lawyer, said, “The guiding principal (should be) that no child will be forced to attend school outside their zone. Parents do not want redistricting … we all bought our homes based on what school our children would attend.”

Bianco has suggested an annual enrollment review for elementary schools and allowing students to seek transfer to underutilized schools. “This would not resolve the racial balance issue but it would help,” Bianco said at the June 14 hearing. He also challenged the legality of the state mandate and described it as being racially discriminatory.

McKersie has said the board is reviewing whether to mount a legal challenge to the state’s mandate.

Barth said several parents have approached her on whether a legal challenge should be organized. At this point, Barth said, “I say what are we taking legal action against. This is not fun, this is a pain for everybody … the overwhelming response in terms of legal action is to force the Town of Greenwich’s hand in some capacity to deal with the state.”

Barth said she “is going to keep my optimism until Wednesday and Thursday” when the board decides which options to pursue, in hopes it will listen to the community outcry that parents do not want redistricting. “I chose my home because of the school and honestly, most everybody has, we all chose to be where are,” Barth added.

For more information:

Here are links from the Greenwich Board of Education website on the facility utilization and racial imbalance reports.

To view a Vimeo broadcast of previous meetings on the issue, click here.

For the district’s online public comment process, click here. 

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