The Valley Central school board sought more data on several topics as it continued to discuss the future of Walden Elementary School at its January 13 meeting.
“I think future of Walden is going to be an agenda item on every meeting going forward so that we continue because we have a lot to talk about,” said Board of Education President Joseph Bond, who informally polled the board on a number of impacts that ultimately could impact any decisions on Walden and the district as a whole.
“What we’re going to do tonight is we’re going to go through this list to see if there’s a majority that would like central office to pursue gathering the next step of information,” Bond explained.
The first item on that list was to seek the cost of transforming the district’s Alternative Learning Center in Maybrook back into an elementary school. The Maybrook school emerged as an option in addressing the Walden building’s inadequacies at the board’s December 9 meeting. The district would have to make the building conform to New York State Education Department standards.
“I think there was multiple people that thought it’d be a good idea, looking at reusing Maybrook as an elementary school,” Bond said. “I propose that we ask them to look at what it would cost to use Maybrook as an elementary school again.”
Superintendent Evette Avila addressed the question of whether the state would aid the transformation. She said that would be a concern because the district’s facilities currently accommodate all of its elementary students.
“We have to prove to the state why we would need an additional elementary school,” Avila said.
Brad Conklin, School Business Official, said the district would have to show that it needs another school in order to receive aid. The board asked them to research the costs and time frame that such a transformation would require.
Bond was asked how this would relate to the Walden Elementary School.
“I think it relates to Walden because if Maybrook is an elementary school that might change the dynamic of the district and might change the decision that you make specific to Walden,” he explained.
The board also discussed the Princeton Plan whereby the district would assign all elementary students by grade, no longer by geographic district boundaries. PP would lead to more balanced class sizes and fewer full-time teaching positions. PP would have students change schools more often as they attended, for example, one school for grades K-2 and another for grades 3-4. The board asked the administration to provide a presentation on PP.
Several times Bond voiced his concern for district residents to get engaged in the solution, to understand that the Walden Elementary solution is a districtwide issue.
“If we do nothing and we put Walden up, it’s gonna fail because nobody pays attention until you put the dollars on the table and the vote is there and it’s gonna fail and we’re gonna waste a year,” Bond said. “All I’m saying is I would like to avoid that and look at some way to engage this community and raise awareness.”
The board also rejected the idea of doing research to gather information on the possibility of building a taller building on the site of the current school, getting statistics on how many new schools have been constructed in New York State since 1912, and homeschooling trends., all of which would utilize the resources of the central office.
While the board made no decisions with respect to the Walden School, it did hear from concerned residents speaking on its behalf.
“You talked about the capital projects and again this year, there’s nothing for Walden,” said Walden Village Trustee Becky Pearson.
"Walden’s in the state it’s in, it’s because Walden doesn’t get the attention that other schools get.”
Pearson also complained that Walden Elementary doesn’t have air conditioning.
“Every other school seems to have some type of air conditioning,” Pearson said. “….But again Walden seems like it’s being left out and left out.”
The board will next meet on January 27.