On Monday, January 12, a group of passionate individuals spoke at the Jefferson City Schools' monthly Board of Education meeting about overcrowding at East Elementary School.
Currently, the building's fifth grade section has an enrollment of 29 students in each classroom. It was noted that some classes meet in substandard spaces. Due to the age of the building and increasing student enrollment, space has been in short supply at East School for some time.
Local media accounts inaccurately suggest that the board is insensitive to or unaware of this situation, but we assure you each board member recognizes and shares the same concerns voiced by parents and community members last Monday night, but those concerns are for all 18 buildings within JCPS and all 9,000 children we serve every day.
This is not an East School issue. It is not a 5th grade level issue. But rather, this is truly a district issue as we are experiencing capacity concerns at nearly every elementary building and in various grade levels, every school year.
In 2013 the School District established a long-range facilities planning committee to study space issues across the district. The group was tasked with developing recommendations for a 20-year facility plan and was comprised of more than 35 community members, district staff, and included four school board members. The results of the committee's work and the studies completed by architectural firms show a clear and pressing need for space and capital improvements, not just at East School, but at many buildings in the school district.
Despite these needs, a recent poll conducted by JCPS indicated there currently isn't the necessary support in our community to pass a bond/levy proposal on the April 2015 ballot. This being the case, the board has declined to move forward, citing 2016 as the next potential opportunity to pursue a ballot proposal. Facility improvement and space issues exist in schools across the district, but with the help of our community we believe they can and will be addressed.
As a board, we are committed to providing quality learning environments to all of our students, but we can't do it alone. The truth is that there are some exceptional things taking place in every school. Board members are gathering information regarding the honest and ongoing evaluation of the district's challenges and making plans for necessary and needed improvements.
Improvement of communication is a top priority. We are working with administration on finalization of a 3-year strategic plan, which includes five goals/objective areas: building effective relationships; ensuring high quality staff; ensuring high quality instruction; closing the achievement gap and creating data driven/accountability systems.
The work to make us better as a school district is ongoing and we still have much to do. To address the space challenges we face today, the administration is working with building principals to conduct data analysis and to establish guidelines and protocols to address larger class sizes and the overcrowding issues, as district enrollment continues to be on the upswing.
To address the educational challenges we will most certainly face tomorrow, we're going to need your help to undertake the work that needs to be done. Our community has high expectations of its elected officials, and we as a board of education accept and embrace that. Likewise, each one of us expects the very best from our teachers and our students, but we can't expect them to do the great things they are capable of without all of our support.
Dennis Nickelson is president of the Jefferson City School District Board of Education.