Cranford's Proposed School Shake Up Answers Few Questions

CRANFORD, NJ - The first of several planned community meetings on the "Reimagining Cranford Public Schools" was touted as a way for the district to provide answers to parents with concerns about some of the proposed changes. For many parents who attended the presentation at Cranford High School Tuesday, what they were seeking was in short supply.

"The Q and A portion of the meeting was missing one crucial component, the answers," said Meghan Falso, a parent in the district. "The audience was allowed to ask questions but was given no response. I was was hoping these questions would fill in some of the blanks that the presentation left, but with no answers, I left the meeting without one reason to support this current plan."

The meetings are said to be about a new Strategic Plan and will focus on the district's new mission, vision, goals, and action plans which will guide the next five years. Included in the proposal could be redistricting, the process of changing school attendance zones within a school district. This would mean students that currently walk to and from schools in their neighborhood, would have to be bussed to new schools further away. According to a change.org petition and emails sent to Patch, that is something that residents have already taken issue with.

"We need to make our voices heard before it is just a done deal and our little village is changed forever," organizer Megan Scanielo wrote on the petition website. "We are all grateful we have it so good here, most of us work very hard to have it, and chose our homes based on the feelings we had and how we imagined raising our families. I truly believe the fabric of this town, a large part of what makes it great, is based on the fact that our families and schools are so close knit."

Tuesday's meeting included presentations on the K-2 buildings with full-day kindergarten, comprehensive grade 3-5 school, comprehensive middle school, high school career academies, budget, and Q&A. Rubin said several stakeholders were consulted to determine the most productive way to deliver information while providing time for individual input.

According to Superintendent Scott Rubin, the meetings are, in part, about listening to the concerns of the residents and then getting them their answers.

"The community and school based meetings provide a great opportunity to present more information on the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools proposal and obtain feedback so that we, as a community, can collaboratively shape the proposal to ensure what is ultimately proposed will be in the best interests of our children and community," Rubin told Patch.

Parent Loryn O'Brien said that the meeting was not what it was billed as.

"The meeting was a sales pitch from four principals, teo out of the four who spoke will see no impact of the centralization of the neighborhood schools," O'Brien said. "The Q&A part was basically 90 seconds of residents voicing their concern, with absolutely no response from Dr. Rubin or the BoE."

Falso, who moved back to Cranford to send her children to school in town, said she went in to the meeting with an open mind hoping to hear a reason to make such a drastic switch to the already successful school district, but unfortunately left with even more questions.

"The presentation lacked specific details and seemed to have a lot of 'maybe we will be able to do this or that' and 'it might cost this' I would have liked to hear some possible alternatives to achieve Dr. Rubin’s goal without turning the district upside down," Falso said.

The lack of hard data was also a sticking point for parents who attended.

"I was very disappointed in this meeting. I expected more data to be provided. There has been very little transparency. They have absolutely no research to back up this proposal. The slide decks and pamphlet that has been provided by the Superintendent has been no more than a sales pitch on the plan," Angelina Pigna said. "Since almost the beginning of the proposal, they stated that they are looking at expanded busing to all residents. I believe busing is a bad idea for Cranford, however this meeting provided no additional numbers surrounding additional busing at all. There was also a study done regarding our current students and facilities use. I sent an email to Dr Rubin two weeks ago regarding this information being made public and I have yet to receive anything back from him."

The misfire appears to be in how both parties are defining dialogue.

"In an email to the public, Dr. Rubin stated that we would be able to publicly view a shared document of the audience's feedback, comments and concerns. This did not occur and that concerns me. It also concerns me that even though approximately fifty people were given 1.5 minutes to voice their questions that night, those questions were not answered," Christine Dyer said. "There was no dialogue or conversation about the questions or concerns. The panel took some notes and we were simply told that the questions will be addressed in future meetings. I'm left wondering how this process could be more transparent."

For his part, Rubin said is defining the dialogue as taking place over multiple meetings over time.

"I greatly appreciate the comments and feedback we received from the community last night and look forward to continuing the conversation," Rubin said. "I firmly believe that the best solutions result when people work together and multiple perspectives are considered and valued.

He also encouraged the community to view the presentation on Cranford TV 35. But parents were not pleased with that either.

"TV 35 filmed the presentation but shut off when the public was able to speak. I feel that this was a disservice to the community by not allowing the public to hear what the community members had to say," O'Brien said.

Jenna Langham said her disappointment was two-fold. First, she said there was no research or evidence to support such a massive disruption to the students and community.

"I was also disappointed to learn that tv 35 stopped filming after Dr. Rubin's presentation," Langham said. "It definitely does not benefit the community to not hear our questions and concerns. "

Julia Perrotta told Patch that at the end of the day, it all boiled down to what she described as a lack of substance.

"There were no details or research showing how this rezoning will benefit our children academically and/or socially," Perrotta said. "I was left wondering why shuffling children all over town in buses starting in 3rd grade and combining grades to go from 60 children per grade to almost 300 is the answer. Is this the best we can do? "

Rubin said all of this feedback will help prepare for the future meetings between the community and the district leadership.

"The questions and comments received during the public forum will be used to drive future school and community based meetings," Rubin said. "In order to ensure that all individuals who wanted to speak got their opportunity, I gave an overall summary response at the end. Additional information will be forthcoming at future meetings and through formal correspondence."

While waiting for the next meeting, the district provided a list of frequently asked questions for residents to consider:

Why Now?
Providing students with full-day kindergarten is something that has been requested by the community for many years in Cranford. A full-day program would provide wonderful benefits for our students. You can read about some of the benefits here: https://www.nj.gov/education/ece/k/FullDayK.pdf. Currently, 92% of the districts in NJ offer students full-day kindergarten and a bill requiring New Jersey school districts to provide full-day kindergarten was introduced earlier this year.
While exploring full-day kindergarten options, the idea to Reimagine Cranford Public Schools emerged. Not only would the proposal provide full-day kindergarten in a fiscally responsible way, it additionally addresses many topics that have been repeatedly brought up by various stakeholder groups. See some of the benefits in the pamphlet located here.

Was the plan to Reimagine Cranford Public Schools part of the Strategic Plan or Strategic Planning Process?
No, the Reimagining Cranfo

rd proposal was not a part of the strategic planning process. While many of the areas that were identified as areas of growth during the strategic planning process are addressed through the Reimagining Cranford proposal, such as equity/inconsistencies, full-day kindergarten, social-emotional learning, post-secondary partnerships, and college and career readiness, the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools proposal was conceived separately from the strategic planning process to address these opportunities.

Who approves this proposal?
You, the community, will decide whether this proposal represents what we want for our children. The capital costs associated with this proposal can only be approved through a referendum and that would be voted on by the community, not by the superintendent or the Board of Education.

What will be a part of the referendum?
If the community desires to move forward with the Reimagining Cranford proposal, currently, the referendum would include 4 additional classrooms and additional bathrooms at Hillside Avenue School as well as interior renovations at both Hillside Avenue School and Orange Avenue School. Additional proposed referendum items could include:

• Updated Science Labs @ CHS
• Updated Media Centers Districtwide
• Enhanced Performing Arts Spaces Districtwide
• Explored accessibility options @ CHS
• Explored AC options

**We would partner with various stakeholders to develop the complete list.
Will I know all information pertaining to the referendum prior to a referendum vote?
Yes!!! If the community wants to move forward with this initiative, the District would work in collaboration with stakeholders to build/design the programs at each of the schools. All information from this collaborative effort, including all fiscal information, will be provided to the community prior to any potential referendum vote.

Opportunities for Athletics / Performing Arts?
Several members of the community have expressed a concern that there could be fewer opportunities for students in the arts and in sports if there was only one comprehensive middle school. This initiative is intended to provide greater opportunities, not fewer. We are committed to not reducing options for students. Moreover, stakeholders should be involved in deciding how to best provide options for students and in what manner. Although Middle School sports is not overseen by the School District, we would reach out to our community partners to engage them in conversation about what works best for our community.

Would you bus students who are under 2 miles from a school in grades 3-8?
The original plan was to provide busing for students K-8 who live over 2 miles from their proposed school. However, based on community input, we are now seriously exploring the cost for providing busing for all students K-8 who would be attending a cross-town school.

Is this plan in response to the proposed development at 750 Walnut Avenue?
This proposal was not created as a response to the 750 Walnut Avenue development. If 750 Walnut goes through, as it is proposed, it would create a great hardship on the District. Nevertheless, this plan would put the District in a better position to deal with the influx of ongoing housing projects as the District would be unified, grades 3-12. It is important for the District to be forward thinking. The Birchwood development is already here and currently being built. Although this proposal will not accommodate what is currently being proposed at 750 Walnut (it seems likely that a whole school would have to be built), it does, at the very least, set us up better for the future.

Does this eliminate the neighborhood school model?
No, the neighborhood school model will still exist at the K-2 level. In fact, on each side of town, there will be only three grade levels that change to the opposite side of town. Our community is approximately 4 square miles, which may be, in part, what contributes to that small and welcoming community feel no matter where you are.

What will the District do to mitigate traffic?
If the community is supportive of the proposal moving forward, the District will engage a professional traffic engineer and work in partnership with a newly created Cranford Transportation Task Force to ensure safety and minimize the impact on the community.

Additionally, it has been suggested that busing could alleviate traffic issues in Cranford. According to the American School Bus Council, "every school bus on the road eliminates approximately 36 cars." It could also make pick-up/drop-off a much smoother process as there would be designated bus pick-up/drop-off zones at the two additional schools that would have busing.

What are High School Career Academies?
Learn more about CTE (Career Technology Education) here: Career Academies. Additionally, "CTE provides students of all ages with the academic and technical skills, knowledge and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners. In total, about 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE across the nation. CTE prepares these learners for the world of work by introducing them to workplace competencies, and makes academic content accessible to students by providing it in a hands-on context." CTE programs are ranked among the finest schools in the State and Nation. Creating Career Academies at CHS would not restrict students from following a traditional CHS pathway should they so choose.

We have a high achieving district, "Why fix what is not broken?"
We have a great school district, but it is our duty and responsibility to work collaboratively to always enhance our school community. "Achieving success is hard; staying successful is even harder." --Frank Sonnenberg. Additionally, this proposal focuses on enhancing social-emotional opportunities as well as academics.
How are we getting the word out about this initiative?

We want everyone to be a part of the conversation regarding this proposal. In addition to holding meetings with groups, such as the Parent Teacher Council, the Joint Action Committee, and District faculty, we have also scheduled the following meetings:

Community Meetings:

Wednesday, November 28, CHS @ 7:00 pm
Monday, December 17, CHS @ 7:00 pm

Individual school meetings will be held: Tuesday, November 13, WAS @ 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 15, HAS @ 7:00 pm
Monday, November 19, LAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 20 - OAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 27 - BPS @ 7:00 pm
Thursday, December 6, BAS @ 7:00 pm *This date changed from the original meeting scheduled for Dec. 3.
Tuesday, December 4, CHS @ 7:00 pm

Editor's note: A previous person of this story incorrectly attributed a quote to Angela Pigna rather than Angelina Pigna. We apologize for any inconvenience this typo caused.

(Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

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