Decision to Move Moon 5th-Graders Viewed As Disruption
Posted on: Friday, 16 May 2008, 00:00 CDT
By Sandra Fischione Donovan
Moon Area school directors narrowly approved a plan Monday to move fifth-graders to the middle school when secondary building construction and renovation projects are finished in four years.
Opponents on the board said the move would not be beneficial educationally and could lead to an additional $5 million in construction costs and the closing of either Allard or Hyde elementary school.
School directors Benjamin Bonham, Jeffrey Bussard, Carol Cellini and Mark Limbruner voted against the move, which would place fifth- graders in what is now the high school on Beaver Grade Road. That building has been slated for renovations into a middle school, and a new high school will be built behind what is now the middle school on University Boulevard. The current middle school eventually would be demolished.
"Our budget numbers (for the combined secondary projects) are over $110 million," Bonham said. "We only have $66 million. That leaves us short."
Joseph D'Andrea, a retired Moon Area secondary teacher, school director and Pennsylvania State Education Association president, said that "sociologically, physiologically and psychologically, some students may not mix well with others. On what have you based placing fifth-graders with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders?"
Superintendent Donna Milanovich said many students in fifth grade "are more like sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders than elementary students. We see how ninth grade fits into the high school scheme. I think we could structure a program that would be beneficial to fifth- graders." She said the move would "free up enough spaces so we could have our neighborhood schools."
She said that parents on the redistricting committee did not want their children bused from neighborhoods near Bon Meade Elementary School on the western end of the township to McCormick Elementary School in the east.
But Cellini said she feared either Hyde or Allard might be closed in the future and the students would be disrupted.
"Moving fifth-graders will create problems," Cellini said.
Daniel Engen of Eckles Architecture Engineering of New Castle said if fifth-graders are added to the building, the state's Act 34 cap, which limits construction costs of new buildings based on the amount of students who will attend, would permit the district to add approximately $5 million to the costs. That would cap the cost of renovating the high school into a middle school at about $41.5 million. Additional rooms would be needed for fifth grade.
"Allard and Hyde have never been addressed" in talks regarding renovations, said school board President Mark Scappe. He said the previous board's move to reopen McCormick this school year was not warranted in light of needed renovations to the other two buildings.
Cristy Meinert, one of the parents on the redistricting committee, said she was "comfortable" with the move if students in grades five and six are placed together on one floor and apart from grades seven and eight on the other floor.
She said the administration had promised more enrichment programs for fifth-graders, such as language study. Additionally, the move "pulls the sixth-graders back; they'll be with the fifth-graders," she said.
(c) 2008 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds