School visioning workshop draws 100 people to Moody School

JCJ Architecture held its first Public Outreach/Visioning meeting at Moody Elementary School this evening from 6 to 9. About a hundred parents and other members of the public came, as well as Board of Education members Corinne Gill, Ryan Kennedy, and Sheila Daniels, Mayor Giuliano, and teachers at Moody. All provided their input for the purpose of the District Wide Utilization Study that the Board of Ed has commissioned JCJ to undertake.

Attendees worked in 11 groups of about 8 people each, with JCJ staff as facilitators, to complete three evaluation sessions where individuals ranked nine categories in order of relative importance based on their personal preferences. Then, the group as a whole discussed the categories and developed a consensus ranking . Groups had about 25 minutes to complete their rankings, and very lively discussions took place on multiple issues.

Session 1: The school as a place of learning

Attendees considered school size, class size, technology, classroom/types, physical education, arts programs, grade configuration, non-school amenities, location/travel time. Every one of the 11 different groups ranked class size as the #1 most important, with location/travel time coming in second for most groups. Non-school amenities (health center/day care/community use) were ranked last by most, and everything else was somewhere in the middle.

Session 2: The school as a municipal asset
The features of schools as a municipal asset that were ranked: sustainable, cost to operate, cost to build, indoor/environmental quality, age of building, number of buildings, tax

impact, location, symbol/identity. "Indoor/environmental quality" was ranked in the top two by all groups, perhaps not surprising at Moody School, which only recently eliminated a mold contamination which had caused health problems for teachers and students alike. The other feature that was very highly ranked (1st or 2nd by almost all groups) was "Location". The least important feature for most groups was the school as "Symbol/identity".

Session 3: The school as a community asset
Various possible features of the school as it might contribute to a community in ways beyond education were ranked: health center, daycare, public use, after school programs, preschool/Head Start, parent/adult education/job training, location, community information centers, partnerships with the community. The vast majority of groups again chose "location" as the most important feature, followed by "after school programs," and "pre-school/Head start."

Overall, the meeting was very productive as parents seriously considered what they believed to be most important about the future of education in Middletown.

After the conclusion of these 'visioning' sessions, parents asked the lead JCJ Planner, Greg Smolley, questions about the study and its possible outcome(s). Parents were extremely anxious about the possibility that redistricting would change the school that their children attend. Smolley explained that parents' input from tonight's session would play a major role in their report to the Board of Ed, but he also encouraged concerned parents to attend Board of Education meetings to express their opinion and concerns.

Board of Ed member Ryan Kennedy echoed those sentiments, and further encouraged residents to speak with individual board members, via the contact information for each that is available on the School District's web pages. Four of the nine board seats, including that of the chair, Ted Raczka, will be up for election this year.

Smolley said that the initial report with recommendations to alleviate the severe overcrowding at Moody will be sent to the Board in May. The final report, which will address district-wide issues, will be done early in the next school year. He said that when both the mayor and the School Board facilitate wide-spread community involvement in the process, it reduces the potential for decisions to be hijacked for political purposes. He applauded Middletown's efforts so far, saying that the turnout was greater than they had seen in some other communities.

JCJ Architecture will be at Macdonough Elementary School Thursday evening, March 26, from 6 to 9PM, to repeat this process.

by Jennifer Mahr and Stephen Devoto