By Jarret Liotta
Frank words from Superintendent of Schools David Abbey drew admiring applause from parents — as well as some apologies from the Board of Education (BOE) Monday night — when he criticized its handling of the redistricting issue aimed at bringing balance to the two middle schools.
BOE Chairman Mark Mathias (l) listens to Superintendent of Schools David Abbey voice his frustration with having felt handcuffed by the board. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
“In the best of times redistricting or rebalancing … is not an easy proposition,” he said. “If we’re going to do this in public and if we’re going to be transparent, we’re going to have bumps along the way.”
“I feel like you put handcuffs on the administration and then you asked us to play the violin,” he told the BOE, “and then you’re surprised that it’s not a beautiful sonata (and) then you ask us, ‘Why did you put on handcuffs?’”
Abbey then drew applause when he called a continued look at the most current redistricting scenarios “a fool’s errand” and said it would lead down a path “which is unsatisfactory educationally.”
“I think the board needs to take a look at the guiding principles and see if they’re in the best interest of this process,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to completely put this back on the board,” said BOE member Candice Savin, noting at this point that they could all acknowledge the scenarios — which have been presented over the past several months by consultant Milone & MacBroom — were not working.
“Frankly, we heard what the community is saying,” noted Chairman Mark Mathias.
“Inadvertently I think the board did hamstring you,” Savin told Abbey, however, by not allowing an exploration of a split feeder pattern at any one elementary school in order to balance numbers.
“Dr. Abbey, I do feel your frustration,” said BOE member Vik Muktavaram, who reiterated his own frustrations with the board in this process in terms of clarity of the numbers and its analysis of how redistricting will impact different areas.
“As we went down the path, there was never the right solution because the right solution was never defined,” he said.
Muktavaram then presented the board with his own redistricting analysis rooted in relocating a smaller number of students — around 50, rather than 100 — which he said are all that would be necessary over the next few years in order to allow two full four-teacher teams at Coleytown Middle School (CMS) and three at Bedford Middle School (BMS).
“Our options for rebalancing these two schools actually opens up,” he said, noting it would result in authentic parity, though it could potentially cost more money to run five teams.
Muktavaram said he believed that, given lower-than-expected enrollment numbers, students could be grandfathered in, but over a two- to four-year period there would be a steady migration toward balance.
Other board members raised the question of costs, noting that with the town having just approved $32 million, it was unlikely they could justify the added expenses.
Kristin Schneeman, a Representative Town Meeting member from District 9, called some of Muktavaram’s plan “magical thinking” in terms of families potentially choosing to redistrict themselves, but spoke favorably of supporting educational costs.
“We didn’t approve $32 million to rehab (CMS) and expect you to stint on the quality of what’s going on in it,” she said.
Abbey said he wants to take a closer look at Muktavaram’s ideas — and will be speaking with him privately — and also intends to examine the ramifications of a split feeder pattern at one or more schools.
He said he intends to report back to the BOE at its Oct. 21 meeting.
“I just want to apologize on behalf of our board,” said Vice Chair Jeannie Smith.
“Your opinions have a lot of weight with us,” she said, noting they didn’t necessarily understand all the changes that went into balancing the schools.
“I never would want to be critical of the board,” Abbey said. “We’re in this together, but we need to be in it together.”
“I’ve already lived to regret that handcuffs remark,” he said.
