Jefferson To Become K-5 School

In a 3-2 roll-call vote, the Redondo Beach Board of Education voted Tuesday night to change into a K-5 school for the 2012-2013 school year, eliminating Jefferson's sixth-grade class.

Board members Anita Avrick, Drew Gamet and Todd Loewenstein voted to make Jefferson a K-5 school; Laura Emdee and Jane Diehl voted against the measure.

• Previously:

Jefferson was the last of the elementary schools with a sixth-grade class, and the after the 2011-2012 school year, presented in January, was met with outcry from parents of current fourth-grade students.

After a in May, the board decided to revisit the issue at Tuesday's meeting, and asked Assistant Superintendent Frank DeSena to prepare a presentation about why staff recommended Jefferson become a K-5 school.

During the staff's presentation Tuesday, district officials discussed the benefits of Parras Middle School's programs for the students—more time spent in classes, more opportunities for electives, etc.—and the district itself; however, people also spoke about the effect the issue was having on the school's atmosphere.

Jefferson Principal Kara Heinrich spoke about how the controversy about the sixth grade seemed to hover over the school, to the point where she said that nearly 70 percent of her time has been focused on fielding questions and comments on the situation.

The sixth-grade issue has spilled into social situations, and accomplishments by the school have been "overshadowed," she said.

"[This] diversion of focus has taken away from the innovation, from staff development and from the other … grade levels" at Jefferson, Heinrich told the board.

"I only want Jefferson to be the best—I know we all do," she said. "We want to restore our focus and bring us back together with our community."

In his closing remarks to the board, DeSena reiterated Heinrich's concerns.

"I've heard from parents … who are very, very worried about this situation and who would tell me that their child was very anxious about what to do for their sixth-grade year," he said.

"This has taken a toll, I think, probably on parents, possibly on students, certainly on staff and certainly on Kara Heinrich, too," he said.

In her remarks to the board after the presentation, parent Sandra Fuchs said she understands "what everyone's been going through"; however, she also said that in most years, there was no anxiety involved in the decision to stay at Jefferson or send a child to Parras.

"Unfortunately, [the issue] really did cause a lot of heartache within our school," she said.

Once the presentation was over and Fuchs had spoken, Emdee told attendees and presenters that she had "spent a lot of time on this issue."

"Oh my gosh, I've gotten a lot of calls from parents that are handwringing over the choice," she said. "They tell it to me with, 'Please don't ever say my name' because that's how intimidated they are."

She also said board members and parents should set aside the issue about whether children would get a better education at Jefferson or Parras because "the education is similar at both schools."

The Public School Review got it right, Emdee said, when it noted that "the real answer as to where a sixth grader belongs depends on the particular sixth grader."