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Community Corner

Princeton Plan Debate: Parents Say Not in Sayville

Parents voice their concerns at superintendent's community forum.

It was standing room only at the Middle School cafeteria on May 24 as close to 275 parents came out to voice their opinions on the implementation of a Princeton Plan in the Sayville School District.

With a two-percent tax looming, it’s going to mean drastic changes for the 2012-2013 school year. The Princeton Plan is just one cost-saving measure that was put on the table.

A pure Princeton Plan would mean students in kindergarten and first grade would be housed in one building, second and third graders in another and fourth and fifth graders in yet another building.

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With the tax cap, the district would have to cut roughly $3 million, accounting for 30 to 34 positions on average. “The tax cap will change education as we know it today. We are very limited in what we can touch,” Schartner said. “The things we would like to touch we can’t. But there is a lack of balance in the elementary schools and the Princeton Plan would address that.” There is no talk of mandate relief or added funding for mandates, so the goal is to minimize the loss of program by maximizing resources.

Some of the benefits of the Princeton Plan include curriculum integrity, special education housed in one place, common grade level planning and class size balancing. Throughout the three schools, class size varies by seven students per class in some cases.

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“This would unify all the grade levels in one place,” Schartner said. “The teachers would be able to have grade level meetings, a cohesive planning of curriculum. It would be even better for the special education students because their resources would all be housed in one building.” It would also help save the district money, at least $700,000 by eliminating seven full-time positions.

However, to most parents present at the meeting, the cons outweigh the pros. After listening to parental concerns throughout the evening, Dr. Schartner agreed that a pure Princeton Plan in Sayville was a dead issue.

“This is a drastic change to the very culture of this district,” said parent . “After getting more than 250 emails from parents, I would say that nobody in this district would choose to uproot their kids and go from school to school vs. having three or four extra kids in their classroom.”

One major concern was transitioning the elementary students every few years. Another was that neighborhood children wouldn’t be in the same schools together. Siblings could be in different schools, causing logistical concerns for parents as well. Other parents felt the mentoring the younger students receive from their older peers would be lost.

A modified Princeton Plan is another option, one that Schartner said he is leaning toward. There would be two buildings of kindergarten through third grade and one intermediate building housing the fourth and fifth graders. Yet another option would be returning to a shared area, which will help to balance class size and keep mentoring in place but possibly add transportation costs (as could both versions of the Princeton Plan).

“This is just the start of these discussions. I wanted to be proactive, rather than reactive,” Schartner said. “These are just options. No plan is perfect. That is why Sayville is so special. All of these parents are willing to come out and discuss this issue. Decisions will have to be made and we will have to make this work for the children.”

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