Redistricting Greenwich: Options Unveiled

It was nearly a full house in the Greenwich High School 800-plus seat auditorium as parents, teachers, school administrators, town and state officials listened to the nearly 2 1/2-hour presentation from consultants Milone & MacBroom, who are being paid $55,000 to help the district resolve its racial imbalance and facilities use issues.

Since February, Milone & MacBroom have been analyzing the district’s current and projected student enrollment and racial composition, developing what School Superintendent William McKersie described as “options” to deal with racial imbalance and how to best use the district’s schools where some are at or close to overcrowding including New Lebanon and others are under-utilized such as Parkway School.

Since 1997, the district has been cited by the state Board of Education for having racially imbalanced schools. In attempt to reduce the racial imbalance, the district created magnet schools at Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon schools, Board Chairman Leslie Moriarty told the assembly. “Recent demographic and housing trends show that New Lebanon has 67 percent minority student population, 72 percent at Ham Avenue while the district wide minority average is 32 percent,” said Moriarty, a Democrat.

The board will hold a series of public forums  this week and next week  for discussions on the options. (For the full schedule, please see the attached PDF.)

• Full redistricting: redrawing of all elementary school boundaries.

• District-Wide Choice: offer parents 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of elementary schools.
• Partial Magnet: create 3 magnet elementary school zones district-wide.
• School Reconfiguration: create 3 kindergarten through 5th grade magnet schools with remaining schools reconfigured to Pre-K through 2nd  grade and 3rd through 5th grades.

(For details on each option as presented to officials, and a school-by-school enrollment and racial imbalance analysis, please see the attached PDF.)

In a press briefing before the 3 ½-hour hearing, McKersie said that he and Special Projects Manager John Curtain, met this week with state Board of Education  officials who told them that the “condition in Greenwich are uncommon, if not unique in Connecticut.” He said that changes would not be implemented until the 2014-15 school year.

The Process—What's Next? 

“June 20 is a key date—the board decides what sense of direction it wants to pursue for options,”  McKersie said. “The board will look at the options that make sense for Greenwich.” One of the many potential impacts that will need to be evaluated is transportation. Presently, school district transportation is not provided to students whose parents elect to send them to a magnet school outside their school district. However, that would have to change with a district-wide magnet school program, McKersie said.

Chairman Moriarty said, “On the 20th it would be best to eliminate any options board members do not support …  and try to refine the universe of options we want to move forward to explore.” She also said school administrators will consult with legal counsel including the town’s attorney on the merits of challenging the state on its mandates to create racial balance in all schools.

Republican board member Peter von Braun drew raucous applause from the crowd when he suggested the board survey the community on its redistricting desires. “We’re trying to use numbers to define human behavior… it is time for us to do substantial human research.,” von Braun said. “If we were in a corporation trying to introduce a new product we would do … consumer research of what the customers want. This room is filled with customers of the school system.”

McKersie cautioned against schools maneuvering on various options. "This is about us. It is not us versus them. It affects all of us. We will continue to meet with parents.”

The next meeting is scheduled for June 11 with a meeting at 6:30 p.m. for Hamilton Avenue and New Lebanon schools which are cited as racially imbalanced, followed by a public hearing on the proposed options at 7:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held at Western Middle School.

The Public Hearing

Following a nearly 2 ½-hour presentation and question-and-answer period, Moriarty announced 72 speakers signed up for the public hearing. The board was to conduct its monthly meeting following the hearing. So at nearly 9:30 p.m. Republican Steven Anderson proposed the board suspend its one-hour rule for public hearings rather than adjourn the hearing and reconvene it following the conclusion of the business meeting. The motion passed. But it may have been too little too late—as the crowd continued to thin as the hours grew late, a total of 24 speakers made remarks.

First Selectman Peter Tesei was the first speaker who pledged the town’s support to help with residency verification of all students to ensure out-of-town students aren’t swelling the enrollment and to research whether a legal challenge to the state’s mandates is viable.

Tesei, a fifth-generation descendent of Italian immigrants, said in reference to the racial imbalance issue, “When my parents went to Ham Ave, it was primarily Italian. Everyone turned out okay.” As the audience laughter subsided, he added, “Connecticut’s tourism motto is ‘Still Revolutionary.’ This (enrollment mandate) requires us to be revolutionary … It is destroying the fundamental basis of this town by diluting neighborhoods.”

(Following the meeting, Democratic Selectman Drew Marzullo said, the town should fund any legal action taken against the state. “I have asked Wayne Fox for a legal opinion as to what authority (if any) does the Board of Selectmen have when it comes to Board of Education-related lawsuits. The money and let's be real will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend. This should not come from the education budget. That will be a huge mistake with very serious consequences. The Board of Ed has in front of them a decision to make, so let's first hear what it is before the town goes down this road. Suing the state does not solve the problem.”)

A North Street school parent acknowledged that facility is under-utilized with 387 students enrolled for the 2012-13 year, as opposed to the 522 students a decade ago. She suggested, “What about offering a limited magnet school choice for schools that are under capacity? The military doesn’t start with a draft. It starts to a voluntary approach.”

Several parents offered their professional services including several lawyers and those who said they were willing to conduct surveys on redistricting choices or conduct letter-writing campaigns. 

Another parent suggested the school board take each of the four options “and all the mumbo-jumbo and put it on a ballot and put it up to a vote—including the option of doing nothing.” That would provide the board with a true sense of parents’ desires, she said.

For more information:

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

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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