Monday, February 8, 2010
About 1,200 Lawrence residents marched through downtown Saturday afternoon as part of the Save Our Neighborhood Schools movement. Participants marched from Liberty Hall to South Park in an effort to urge the Lawrence school board to prevent the closing of local Lawrence elementary schools.
Video
Rally held to support local schools
Lawrence residents gathered downtown Saturday afternoon to protest potential elementary school closings.
Parents and their children shout as they march down Massachusetts Street to protest the massive budget cuts that threaten the closing of local elementary schools. More than 1,200 people attended the event Saturday, Feb. 6.
Because of low state revenues, the school board is looking to make cuts for a $4 million budget deficit. According to the Save Our Neighborhood Schools organization, the board is considering closing neighborhood elementary schools, including Hillcrest, Cordley and New York Elementary Schools.
Megan Greene, director of the Center for East Asian Studies, worried the potential school closings would deter students and teachers with children from coming to the University.
Greene, said one of the University’s biggest recruitment tools for faculty and staff is the community and downtown, both unique to Lawrence.
“That’s what draws people here,” she said. “If the schools disappear, it will be a much less appealing place.”
If the schools are closed, Greene said, families will be forced to move to different neighborhoods or areas of town, changing the dynamic of the community and its appeal to potential residents.
Hillcrest is known for its diverse student body. With more than 35 different countries represented within the school, it has been designated “where the world goes to school.” Hillcrest also offers English as a second language programs for non-native speakers. Many Hillcrest students are children of KU students living in Stauffer Place Apartments or nearby neighborhoods.
Marike Janzen, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, said she participated in the march because she was concerned about the effect closing schools would have on neighborhoods.
“Schools are the cornerstone of strong neighborhoods,” Janzen said. “Hillcrest has so many unique qualities I think are important.”
Janzen has two sons, one who is a third grader at Hillcrest, and one who will be starting kindergarten at Hillcrest in the fall. She said that the unique international student population at Hillcrest had played a large role in her son’s education and is very important to her. Beyond that, Janzen said she appreciated the strong academic records of the skilled staff at Hillcrest.
Among the members of the Lawrence community who marched on Saturday, Anne Patterson, lecturer in Architecture and Urban Planning, demonstrated dressed like a Viking.
“It seems like Vikings have a little fight,” Patterson said. “That’s what we need.”
All three of Patterson’s children attended Hillcrest. Patterson said she marched in support of the Hillcrest community, which played a large role in her children’s lives.
“The people that usually watch and attend the parades downtown are the people marching,” Patterson said. “These people make the town. We have to support these people.”
Shona Clarkson, a junior from St. Louis, and Aaron Stables, a junior from Derby, both participated in the march in support of Julian, a first grader at New York School.
Stables said he felt for kids like Julian, who would be affected by any school closings.
“It just seems like all the schools for lower income people are being threatened to be closed,” Stables said.
Clarkson, who lives in East Lawrence, said she hoped the march would make a difference in the way the school board makes its decision.
“If it doesn’t, it shows that people aren’t listening,” Clarkson said.
The next school board meeting is tonight at the Educational Support & Distribution Center, 110 McDonald Drive, Lawrence, Kansas, at 7 p.m.
— Edited by Becky Howlett
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Comments
Residents march to protest school closings
Where are the quotes from the other side of the argument? This article is pretty one-sided, and statements like this are unquestioned:
"If the schools are closed, Greene said, families will be forced to move to different neighborhoods or areas of town, changing the dynamic of the community and its appeal to potential residents."
No, families won't be "forced" to move anywhere. There will still be plenty of elementary schools, and Lawrence is still a fairly small town.
These people need to realize the cuts need to come from somewhere. Consolidating schools is a much better option than cutting programs. For example, I'd rather have 6 good schools with well-paid teachers and well-funded extra-curricular programs than 10 average schools that can't afford quality teachers and can't fund important programs.
Residents march to protest school closings
The issue here is small school versus big schools. All schools in Lawrence are doing well. Bigger schools are proved to be not good for children's development as they get lesser concentration from teachers.
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