True Confessions of a PTO Mom

Question: What do you do after you hire an expensive team of consultants and then get their recommendations?

Answer: nothing. At least not during the summer. Then, in the fall, send out a questionnaire to parents to ask for answers to obvious questions.

Last year, I sat through multiple meetings to hear from a consulting firm, hired by the Waltham School Department to review the challenges that we have with space in our schools and to make recommendations based on their findings. The consultants were nothing if not thorough. I need to applaud the School Committee and the Superintendent for involving the parents and the community and the consulting firm for patiently answering questions from parents. The consultants went to each of the nice schools in the district and then held three separate meetings to discuss the needs at the elementary schools, middle schools, and the high school. Suggestions that could be implemented immediately included partitions in some rooms that aren’t used for a ‘full’ classroom; taking over the computer rooms and replacing them with laptops on carts; setting up modular spaces on school property; and putting forth a redistricting plan. Longer term suggestions included evaluating the space at the Fitch and Lawrence school and building a new high school.

Of the shorter term projects, which ones were implemented when the kids left for the summer on June 23rd? None of them. And yesterday, a questionnaire came home asking things that were obvious to anyone who went to the meetings or has been paying attention. Question #1: do you support redistricting? Of course not! What parent would? That’s why we have a School Committee and a City Council and a Superintendent and a Mayor to make those hard decisions.

Question #2: do you support larger class size and, if so, in which grade(s)? Well, in any grade except for the ones my kids are in, of course. The question was answered loud and clear at the meetings last year: Waltham values its ‘small’ class sizes and we have seen the positive results of them, with higher test scores and the Fitzgerald being recognized as a Commendation School. Does your property value go up when that happens? You bet it does.

The questions continued, reiterating everything that was addressed at the meetings in the spring: Should we repurpose dedicated computer rooms? Should a science specialist have a dedicated room? What about the drama specialist? Should Waltham find out how much it will cost to make the Fitch and Lawrence schools fit to house students? Should the Central Office be moved into office space and out of the high school?

So many of those questions were answered by parents two years ago, in late 2012.

The Superintendent is very data driven. So, apparently, are the School Committee members. Now, though, they have the data. And they have the answers to the questions. Some parents are going to be unhappy. Some schools will be impacted more than others. However, someone is going to have to put on their grown-up pants and make a decision to act. We shouldn’t have been given a questionnaire; we should have been given a plan and a progress report.

Here’s my question: what are we waiting for?