HOLYOKE — The city’s public schools are moving forward with a rezoning of elementary and middle schools, transitioning from a less confusing model to one that will have distinct middle and elementary schools by fall 2023.
In a video released last week, district leaders spelled out the reasons why they are working to return Holyoke Public Schools to the organizational model that prevailed in the 80s and 90s before the district moved to a K-through-8 system in the early 2000s. School receiver-superintendent Anthony Soto went so far as to say that that reorganization contributed to the state’s takeover of the district in 2015.
“Many people I hear from today … all agree that it would be great and better to return to separate elementary and middle schools,” Soto said. “I think the prior decision to move to K-to-8 schools contributed to HPS being placed in receivership.”
Soto said he had been part of the team studying the district’s organization, gathering feedback from many who felt that distinct elementary and middle schools were preferable to the current system.
“Some wanted their 12-year-olds to have more learning opportunities and more independence at school, they wanted their 5-year-olds to have appropriate learning spaces for art and music and to be assigned to schools designed for their age,” Soto said.
In the video, Mayor Joshua Garcia noted that the district is in the process of working toward building a new middle school after voters rejected in 2019 the idea of bonding for two new middle school buildings.
The new middle school would not be ready until at least 2026, though, and Garcia said the district needs to move more quickly than that to rezone schools. He said the School Committee has unanimously supported making that transition as early as fall 2023, adding that the district’s dual language program has already expanded so much that Holyoke Public Schools has had to rent extra space for those students.
Erin Linville, the district’s chief of strategy and turnaround, said that the new configuration would have two middle schools if the new building is built, in addition to six elementary schools. That’s significantly less confusing than the current model, she said.
“For this school year we have schools that serve pre-K to 3, pre-K to 4, pre-K to 5, grades 4 to 8, grades 5 to 8, grades 6 to 8, pre-K to 7, pre-K to 8 and pre-K to 5 plus 8,” Linville said. “This is clearly not ideal.”
Jackie Glasheen, the district’s executive director of school leadership, said that the restructuring will accomplish four goals: better preparing students socially and academically, ensuring continuity of programing for dual-language learners and special education, creating a more equitable district in access to resources and opportunity, and better using resources in the classroom rather than on operations.
“When we spread students out across too many buildings, the cost of electricity, pest control, custodial services and other expenses is higher,” Glasheen said. “When we have more students in the same grade level within each building, we can build more effective teacher teams to support students.”
Staff Writer Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.