posted May 19, 2008
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. at McBrien Elementary School on Tombras Avenue there will be a meeting to discuss the closing of this school to merge with the new East Ridge Elementary.
The PTA at McBrien is opposed to this closing. The PTA at East Ridge Elementary is opposed to merging into a mega school. Comm. Curtis Adams has stated he favors building a new elementary school in East Ridge large enough to replace both East Ridge Elementary and McBrien Elementary.
Mr. Adams is County Commissioner and also the East Ridge City Manager.
An agreement with the city of East Ridge and HCDE states that if McBrien is no longer a school, the building and property become the property of the city of East Ridge. Mr. Adams said, “We would have a lot of uses for it.”
Some members of the East Ridge City Council have told me that there has been no public discussion of getting McBrien back nor have they asked City Manager Adams to go after the building and grounds.
McBrien PTA has stated that it does not want to shut down their school in order to merge into one large mega elementary school.
McBrien was not even on the list for closing on the facilities report by the school system, McBrien has not asked to be closed, it is the highest achieving elementary school in East Ridge, does not have a declining enrollment, is not one of the older buildings, has low staff turnover, and the building needs only cosmetic repairs. Located in the heart of the city next door to the police building and sits directly behind Pioneer Frontier, one of the largest playgrounds in the county.
There are at least 13 other elementary schools in the county as old or older than McBrien.
There are 18 elementary schools that have lower enrollments in this county.
The McBrien PTA has compiled 40 years of research that says smaller schools do better than larger schools in areas such as, safety, and academic achievement. Additionally, the studies show smaller schools increase public confidence and parent satisfaction, have fewer discipline problems, have better attendance, and, have higher parental involvement. Children are more visible and less likely to get lost in the crowd and students get more personalized attention.
It is widely known in this town that parents will camp out on the sidewalk of a school that is 86 years old to get their child in that school. Why? Because the school achieves. Parents want schools that function well and produce great results. This is a product of leadership, staff and development, not necessarily a new school.
In a city of 20,000 residents, three elementary schools with 500 each does not seem unreasonable. As of April 7 our three elementary schools were 133 students short of 1,500 total enrollment.
If our county commissioners want the school system to start closing down smaller schools to merge with larger schools as reported on May 8, in the Times Free Press, what would this mean to the parents of children at:
21st Century Academy, age 77- enrollment 237
Alpine Crest, age 51- enrollment 321
Birchwood, age 78- enrollment 157
CSAS, age 86-enrollment 381
CSLA, age 60- enrollment 248
Donaldson, age 13-enrollment 315
DuPont, age 49- enrollment 230
East Lake, age 8- enrollment 280
Falling Water, age 96- enrollment 238
Hillcrest, age 60- enrollment 261
Lookout Mtn., age 79- enrollment176
Lookout Valley, age 47-enrollment 313
McBrien, age 54-enrollment 483
Normal Park, age 69- enrollment 310
Orchard Knob age 96 (new school being built) enrollment-310
Rivermont, age 54-enrolllment 367
Soddy, age 69-(new school being built) enrollment 306
Woodmore, age 54-enrollment 359
The parents I've talked to at East Ridge Elementary and McBrien Elementary do not want to merge into one large elementary school. They do not believe bigger is better in this instance.
This school board has held to the position for years that smaller schools were better. I am afraid the closing of McBrien Elementary School in East Ridge is the beginning of the end of smaller schools in Hamilton County.
David Roden
* * *
Yes, this community has a say. During the school budget process when $12 million was cut and the number of teaching staff reduced, many educators and citizens called for organized parental involvement to stop what was certain to result in lower quality education.
Unfortunately, no parent organizations responded until individually they felt the impact of the budget cuts. Now that the impact is being felt, PTA's start to speak.
Where were you guys when budgets were being set and teachers being laid off, surely you did not believe that small schools could continue with drastic budget cuts?
Allison Graham
Chattanooga
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