FALMOUTH — It was dinnertime at Brandi Santos’s home on Nov. 7 as a handful of parents gathered in her living room to discuss “Navigating the Future Together,” a collection of five proposals that the school district unveiled on Sept. 16.
As children shrieked with laughter in the next room, Santos told the Times that the parents are members of Save Our Schools. The group had begun meeting regularly to discuss what she called detrimental aspects surrounding the district’s proposals.
“Superintendent (Lori) Duerr has been selective to answer questions and the trust between the district and the community has really been destroyed,” said Santos.
Teaticket Elementary School in Falmouth. The school district has put on hold various initiatives, including shifting Teaticket students to East Falmouth Elementary School, because of criticism from parents.
According to the “Navigating the Future Together” website, the proposals were created to focus on challenges like early childhood education, declining enrollment, and aging buildings. The first proposal, according to the plan, would be to convert Teaticket Elementary School into an early learning center. Proposal two would merge Teaticket Elementary students into East Falmouth Elementary. Proposal three would take the Morse Pond building off-line as a school to be repurposed by the town. Proposal four will reconfigure grades for schools serving grades five to eight. And proposal five calls for renovations to the Lawrence School.
Families feel the merge will contribute to overcrowding and make learning worse for students at East Falmouth, said Santos. Save Our Schools is also upset that the district hadn’t engaged parents and others before the proposals were drafted, and didn’t launch a feasibility study to gather data specific to the Falmouth school district.
Responding to the public backlash, Duerr announced on Oct. 28 that she would pause any district changes until after the 2025-2026 school year.
On Tuesday, the School Committee unanimously voted to submit a letter of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a grant that could help finance renovations at the Lawrence School.
Throughout the fall, Duerr held informational sessions designed to find out what the public thought about the proposals.
“I heard what the community had to say so we’re leaving everything the way it is for next year,” said Duerr during a Nov. 1 phone interview with the Times.
Dominique Kirk, a parent of children at Teaticket, said those community forums haven’t lessened her fears.
“There’s been so much yelling, fighting, and backlash,” said Kirk, who also works in specialized student programs at Teaticket. “We’ve had more questions leaving the open forums then when we walked in.”
Why the backlash?
In October, parents formed Save Our Schools and wrote a petition to protest the proposals. As of Thursday, the petition has 908 signatures.
Group members said that condensing schools would violate Individualized Education Program or IEP laws. According to DESE, East Falmouth students are 70% high needs, and 65% of students at Teaticket are high needs.
In addition, the merger would impact art and music rooms, said Santos. And if Teaticket is solely serving pre-kindergarten students, only half of the classrooms will be used.
“Why does the merge affect only one part of town?” said Santos. “I feel like much of Dr. Duerr’s data is based on assumptions and ideas – not concrete facts.”
According to the district, enrollment has declined over 25 years. Since 2020, the student population has declined by about 13% — from 3,351 to 2,904 students, according to the district’s website.
As the district serves fewer students, some of the buildings have become underused, said Duerr.
Mallory Lavallee, a member of the Building Needs Committee, a group that makes recommendations to the School Committee, told the Times in an Oct. 22 email that Duerr has offered to add modules at East Falmouth to meet the need of the overflow. But Duerr won’t consider spreading out the preschools — or initiate a redistricting process, Lavallee said.
Duerr told the Times that redistricting has never been on the table.
Save Our Schools has urged the district to evenly distribute needier students without disrupting other students, with the ultimate goal of not closing any elementary schools.”It’s important that the decision-making process takes into account the least disruptive solution possible, balancing the needs of all students, and maintains the high quality of education our children deserve,” reads the Save Our Schools petition.
What’s the rush?
Mike McCarthy of Teaticket told the Times in an Oct. 22 email that it seemed irresponsible to proceed with district changes without studying assessment plans, housing forecasts for the area, health and safety data, traffic assessments, building conditions and classroom conditions.
“It leaves me asking, what’s the rush?” said McCarthy.
Without a feasibility study, Kirk, said the district is limiting itself.
“This is an opportunity to look at the bigger picture and find solutions. If we are asking the community to spend millions to renovate Lawrence, transparent data is needed,” she said.
Duerr told the Times on Tuesday that a feasibility study for the district isn’t being considered — mostly due to its $2 million price tag. A feasibility study for the Lawrence School will be done if renovations move forward, she said.
Duerr has also approved a needs assessment study, which is being conducted by the New England School Development Council. The Council will analyze enrollment projections, facilities use, and will present a report that includes a series of options for consideration, said Duerr. The assessment will cost the district about $19,000, she said.
Duerr also assembled a Building Needs Task Force, she said.
Based on the findings and recommendations of the Council, the School Committee and administration, in consultation with the Task Force, will establish a schedule for additional public engagement and decision, said Duerr.
Can the district rebuild trust?
Parents are in favor of a universal free pre-kindergarten program and renovations at Lawrence, but Kirk said it seems like everything is moving too fast.
“It seems like Dr. Duerr is chasing her budget and her legacy and doesn’t care about the children in between,” said Kirk.
The process surrounding the proposals has been challenging, said Kirk, but she’s proud of the strides Save Our Schools has made.
“Our families have built our lives around Teaticket’s unique educational atmosphere,” said Kirk. “We just want a safe and nurturing environment that we can trust.”
Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Falmouth school district proposals spark protest and petition
