Public Weighs In On School Overcrowding at BOE Meeting

The Board of Education met last night for a regular meeting. Here’s what happened:

Proposals for Franklin School Space Issues: “Today, kids at some of the schools move to another classroom to do art, “ said board member Ed Mokuvos. “At Franklin [children] would get on a bus, that bus would go to one of the other schools where there would be a dedicated space for art or music.” Mokuvos stressed that it was only one of several options on the table for consideration to deal with a lack of space for arts classes at . The board continues to seek feedback from the community on options to handle the problem of overcrowding at Franklin via a survey on the school’s website (HERE).

Franklin’s PTA president Jenny Hodges stood up during the public comment period of the board meeting to weigh-in on the space issues at her school. She said feedback from parents was very much against two potential options that were raised at a recent PTA meeting this week. The options what were put on the table (part of an initial brain-storming session) included creating two first grade classes at Wilson and relocating two upper-grade classes from Franklin to another school, as . “There would be an awful lot of resentment if you push through those two solutions,” Hodges told the board.

Parent Pledges $50,000 to Franklin: “My wife and I value public education and we’re willing to make up to a $50,000 commitment to get you a third of the way to the $150,000 for the trailers,” said Franklin parent Woody Welden. He said he was concerned about the use of capital funds for a short-term solution to the school’s space problems and use of carts for computer and arts classes. The board said the idea of bringing in one trailer was just a potential solution on the table at this point and thanked Welden for making the pledge.

School’s Out-of-Code Library Still a Priority: Hodges and another parent also raised the issue of renovating Franklin’s out-of-code library, which came in at a proposed renovation cost of around $400,000, a “surprise” to the board, which was expecting the cost to be closer to $200,000. The firm hired for the project is re-evaluating the cost. The board said bringing the library up to code was a priority.