As chair and vice chair of the Amherst School Committee, we urge you to vote yes on Question 5.
Its passage will provide us with $34 million of state aid, about half the money needed to replace the deteriorating Fort River and Wildwood schools with a beautifully designed, healthy, and energy-efficient building that will connect two clearly separate small schools, each with its own administrations, teachers, classrooms, and playgrounds; a building that will save the town almost half a million dollars in operating costs annually and support teaching and learning for all of our students and teachers.
Unfortunately, the advantages of this plan have been distorted by misinformation disseminated by opponents. Here, then, we want to address the most common myths about Question 5.
Myth #1: The process was rushed. In fact, the proposal to build the new schools began in 2007 and was deliberate, careful, public, and collaborative. Dozens of open meetings were held and the plan was reviewed at every stage by teachers, administrators, and community members. At the end of this arduous process, the plan was supported by four of five Amherst School Committee members, and unanimously by the Select Board.
Myth #2: The teachers don’t support the plan. In fact, most teachers do support the plan and an early survey showed that the vast majority agree that Wildwood and Fort River can no longer support teaching and learning.
Myth #3: The new school building at the Wildwood site will destroy our “neighborhood schools.” In fact, we don’t have neighborhood schools now. Many students cannot walk to their schools, either because they are too far away or their location is not readily walkable. In addition, in the new schools, all neighborhood children will go to school together.
Myth #4: If Question 5 is rejected we can easily go back to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) with a new plan. In fact, there are no guarantees or a timeline to get back into the MSBA process.
Almost 100 schools across the state apply for the MSBA’s limited pool of funds every year. Less than 10 percent of these schools are invited into the process annually. Even if Amherst starts back at the beginning and submits statements of interest for both buildings and eventually gets invited back a few years from now, the cost would be substantially higher and the funds may only be for one building. Our students and teachers deserve new schools now.
Myth #5: The new building will be a “megaschool.” In fact, the two connected schools will each be smaller than our current K-6 schools – 375 students each. They will provide quiet, intimate classrooms with natural light and good air quality, all of which our current buildings lack.
Myth #6: The separate schools will soon be united into one giant school. In fact, the legal contract signed with the MSBA forbids such a change. According to the legal department of the MSBA, the funding is only approved for the design of a building with two co-located schools.
Myth #7: Voting yes on 5 will not enhance educational equity. In fact, it will allow 30 more pre-school seats for low-income families at Crocker Farm and it will put an end to the unfair relocation of low-income and special-education students to school buildings away from their neighbors. This configuration is the only one that addresses this issue of equity and was one of the guiding principles for the school committee’s vote to reconfigure the buildings.
Myth#8: Children will be on buses for hours in this new plan. In fact, busing studies show that the longest ride lengths will be two minutes shorter in the morning than they are now and the same length as they are now in the afternoon.
The Amherst School Committee’s vote was an effort to put the needs of all Amherst school children in the fore, not just for students now, but for many years into the future.
Let’s make sure that all Amherst children have access to the best possible schools that support teaching and learning. Let’s make sure that we support our youngest students by providing preschool for every child regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Now is the time to take advantage of state funding and low interest rates to build new schools that will enhance learning and achievement for all our students. Please vote yes on Question 5.
Katherine Appy is the chair and Phoebe Hazzard is the vice chair of the Amherst School Committee.