Letter: A Parent's Final Plea to Save Mattison Avenue Elementary

Dear Wissahickon School Board Members,

It is with bittersweet emotion that I draft my final letter to you on the subject of the Administration’s recommendation to close Mattison Avenue Elementary School. Over the course of the last year, I have gotten to know many of you on a personal level. We have shared stories of our mutual interests, hobbies, your children and families.  In turn, many of you know my children, even my dog, and certainly my passion for Mattison Ave. In a few short days, you will cast a vote that may forever change the course and the future of the Wissahickon School District and the Ambler Borough community. My intention was to remain silent; I have spoken to almost each and every one of you. What more can be said? You’ve heard all I thought I had to say.

Yesterday, I viewed the district’s website and read the Agenda for Monday night’s meeting, as usual. I’m aware certain wording is required when referencing legal mumbo jumbo and School Codes. Nevertheless, it struck a chord.  Specifically, that "...the proposed permanent closure of Mattison Avenue Elementary School as recommended by the District Administration, including facts with respect to educational, physical, administrative, budgetary and related fiscal matters...as was previously presented at the public hearings...”.

As you know, much of my frustration with the proposed closing of Mattison has been Administration’s lack of ability or refusal to reveal the rationale behind this recommendation. I have spent countless hours with Admin, I still don’t have an answer. I believe they think it’s the right thing to do, I just don’t know why that is – and I sincerely hope the evidence my personal research has shown me is way off the mark.  Either way, the fact remains, they have not effectively proven their case – to you or to us. How do you cast a vote with that missing piece? I’m glad I’m not walking in your shoes, except maybe yours, Burunda – you do have the best shoes.

So I still, at this late date, wonder why this recommendation? In June, it was financial. A school that is less than one percent of the district’s operating budget? When 50% of the district’s budget is spent on salaries alone? Not to mention the top heavy, extremely well paid Administration. We’re talking about building a new high school to the tune of millions of dollars. So recommend that a school that represents less than one percent of the budget be closed. Can’t be so, and it’s probably not. So reason number one from Admin – unproven. Indulge me; I’ve got a few more for you…

Wissahickon School Board member voices support for keeping Mattison Avenue open

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

By Eric Devlin

Now it appears their efforts may be beginning to pay off as board member Dick Stanton offered his official support for saving the school during the Nov. 12 school board meeting. In a formal statement, Stanton said the decision to support saving the school was made after several months of testimony given regarding the issue. Stanton said he was offering his opinion on the issue because the board is supposed to be using the next few months to deliberate on the issue before reaching a decision. He said the recommendation to close the school was to allow students at Mattison Avenue to move from the current K through 3 grade system to the K through 5 system so as to increase student achievement. Stanton said he tried to base his decision solely on this fact.

Sorry to call you out here, Dick. You drew the short straw, just the order of my notes. Mr. Stanton states here that “the recommendation to close the school was to allow students at Mattison Avenue to move from the current K through 3 grade system to the K through 5 system so as to increase student achievement”. I read this to mean that Admin’s recommendation to the Board in regards to closing Mattison was to standardize a K-5 model throughout the district in order to increase student achievement. Based on my interpretation, the Board should be making their decision using the same criteria Dick used in making his.

Ambler Patch – Wissahickon Community Input Group Hears District Facility Study

September 25, 2012

As part of the facilities study, D'Huy Engineers gave the total capital improvements as a percentage of total renovations. In the elementary schools, Stony Creek Elementary is at 79 percent, Blue Bell Elementary at 72 percent, and Mattison Avenue Elementary at 67 percent.

One of the options presented by Breslin Architects is to close Mattison Avenue Elementary, a K-3 school, and integrate the Mattison Avenue students into Shady Grove and Lower Gwynedd Elementary Schools. The board and engineers claim there will be more efficient bus runs, better use of the excess capacity at Shady Grove, and potential redistricting for all elementary schools.

Breslin Architects and D’Huy Engineering estimates that Mattison Avenue Elementary will cost $7.1 million to renovate, while Shady Grove Elementary will cost $18 million and Stony Creek Elementary will cost $13.3 million.

President of the school board, Young Park, said "We do not close school to save money."

Not commenting on this one, simply repeating Mr. Park’s statement that the Wissahickon School District Board of Directors will not close a school to save money.

Wissahickon School District holds first hearing on future of Mattison Avenue Elementary

Published: Wednesday, October 03, 2012

By Eric Devlin

In the summer of 2010, the board commissioned an enrollment study conducted by the PA Economy League, and in the spring of 2011, D’Huy Engineering Inc. and Breslin Ridyard Fidero Architects conducted a facility feasibility study. After months of deliberation, the board made the recommendation to close Mattison Avenue at its June 11 meeting.

According to the board, there were five categories of criteria that went into the closure recommendation: elementary enrollment, facility feasibility, educational framework, student achievement and other factors, including finances and elementary building capacity. The district cited lower scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) tests compared to the rest of the district and focused on the idea of addressing an achievement gap among students from Mattison Avenue compared to the other elementary school students in the district.

Here we are told that there are five factors of criteria that went into to closure recommendation. Doesn't match the legal speak for Monday night's Agenda...

And then we hit October. From the presentation handout distributed at the October 1st hearing…

Decision Criteria:

Elementary enrollment – decreasing population

Unproven. I’m not going to reiterate all of this. The Ambler Borough has a greater than average number of renters. It is not an accurate indicator compared to the other areas in the district. In fact, Mattison is at capacity. So we heard another story, again…

Facility Feasibility – capacity

‘Nuff said. We know the limitations of the building. No arguments. Not a reason to close. Unproven.

Educational Framework – the effect of elementary transitions, elementary grade configurations, size of school, program opportunity, pre-kindergarten programming

Where should we start? Transition issue? Who was asked? How did we determine this? Former Mattison principals who were put on the spot and apologized to us later for their statements? Former Mattison students? We’ve heard from them. Unproven. Elementary grade configurations, size of school, program opportunity – OK, let’s go. For every study that says one thing, there’s another 50 more that say otherwise. The truth likely lies in the middle. Can you find it? You’d have to come here to see what works here. Thank you to those that have. Sized of school – same deal, not an indicator of success. Unproven. Program opportunity – I love this one, really. At Mattison, we have more opportunities than any other elementary school, aside from the educational ones we’ve been stripped of. We have more exposure to community involvement and the benefits of that are huge. Unproven. Pre-kindergarten programming? Huh? We have Head Start at Mattison. The district has maintained there is no need for any pre-k program or model, as we have full day kindergarten, which we’ve been repeatedly reminded, is not required by law. Yay, WSD. Thanks for full day kindergarten. You and lots of other districts, you’re offering what should be required by law. 

Student Achievement Results – PSSA, MAP

Not touching this one. The horse is dead; I’m not beating it further. I have my kids’ test scores and report cards.

Other Factors – finance, elementary building capacity

Finance? I think I covered that already.

And lastly, also from the same October 1^st handout…“It is important to note that the primary reason for the administrative recommendation to close Mattison Avenue Elementary school was educationally based.”

I got nothing. I’m lost. I haven’t a shred of proof.

But, Admin was able to pull some other relative facts…”We estimate that the Mattison Avenue Elementary School closure would reduce staffing costs by approximately $800,000…The facility’s cost savings for Mattison Avenue Elementary School for a school year are approximately $97,000 if closed….Transportation costs represent another variable, which must be considered. If two (2) additional buses were needed for elementary runs, the cost would be approximately $45,000. – Wait, I have to stop here. TWO buses? Have you seen our bus situation? Come on transportation people, look alive here, we’ve got some work to do.

And finally, again from the October 1^st handout…”An appraisal was obtained for the Mattison Avenue property stating an estimated value of $1,890,000.”

Clearly it’s not worth closing a school for money, Mr. Park – not in this case anyway, not Mattison Avenue.

Good luck Monday night. I hope you remember that it’s NOT about money. It’s NOT about the misinterpreted testing scores, although we do pay a lot of money in salaries to gather that data –  you’d think professional actuaries would agree on at least some level with Admin’s assessment on test scores and bogus achievement gaps. But I digress. It’s about the education of every child you were sworn in to serve. Vote accordingly. And please, our children are watching, be kind to one another. We could all stand to learn something from the students and staff at Mattison Avenue Elementary School.

With kind regards,

Amy Joyce