Busing Shrinks, but Schools Remain Unshuffled

Busing Shrinks, but Schools Remain Unshuffled

By L. Franks

Oxford, Ohio—The Feb. 23 board meeting had been going for nearly two hours when board President Pat Meade finally commenced the meeting’s public participation section. Quickly, audience members formed a line at the microphone that stretched to the side doorway. 

A high-stakes proposal by the Board of Education had drawn an audience of unusual size to the monthly board meeting. Following the approval of an extensive list of budget cuts in December that aimed to keep the district functioning over the next three years, the BOE proposed additional cost cutting measures that would save the district $400,000. The district’s blog said these savings could be used to reduce Pay to Play fees, retain athletic directors and lunch/recess monitors, and to preserve art, music, and PE “specials” in elementary schools along with extracurriculars at the high school.

The plan, which Meade called a “two-part proposal”, was presented in the powerpoint slideshow prepared for the meeting. The first piece, grade banding, would rearrange the district’s three elementary schools by grade, with kindergarteners and first graders at Bogan Elementary, 2nd and 3rd graders at Marshall Elementary, and preschoolers, 4th graders, and 5th graders at Kramer Elementary. 

The second piece, one tier busing, would adjust the start times of all five buildings to fall within 30 minutes of each other, using the middle school as a hub from which students would be transported to their corresponding elementary schools. 

“It is conceivable that, you know, the board after listening more will accept one part of this and not the other part,” Meade said. 

Now, in the thirty minutes allotted for public comments, fifteen district residents took the floor to offer their perspectives on the proposal. 

Teresa Sutter, the parent of four Talawanda students, said the proposal presented logistical issues. “I’d like to speak on two of those logistical issues tonight, and one of them may seem fairly minor, but we know that Talawanda, as every district everywhere, has really been struggling to be staffed with substitute teachers,” Sutter said. 

 Changes to transportation, she suggested, would worsen the shortage. “A lot of the substitutes in our districts are parents of children in our district,” Sutter said. “It’s going to be logistically really difficult for our staff who are parents.” 

“I want to reiterate what Teresa said — you will lose substitute teachers,” said Jen Timmerman, the parent of two Kramer students, adding that she had also worked as a substitute. “I’m afraid if we make both of these decisions now, we can’t undo them. And we’ll be stuck, and it’ll be a huge nightmare that our town is not prepared for, traffic-wise and emotion-wise and community-wise. So I beg of you: please take time.” 

Kelvin Corbin, a parent of two, asked the board to consider how the proposal would affect marginalized groups within the district. “There are communities in this school district that lack the privilege of vehicular transportation, the time to get their kids to school, or even the financial means to find an alternative. For some families, the children get themselves ready and walk to school. And if they live within two miles of Bogan or Marshall especially, the infrastructure is not in place to ensure safe walking along those roads,,” he said.

In addition, Corbin said, one tier busing could worsen racist bullying. “I’ve already heard about incidents of racism on the bus from teenagers impacting the children of my friends”, he said. “In one particular case, when racist bullying was reported to the district, the response was essentially ‘I’m sorry that this happened,’ and ‘I have people close to me that are black as well,’ with no meaningful steps taken.”

Kramer parent Jessica Stoicho expressed similar concerns: “At least three — probably even more — clusters of low income communities will be affected,” Stoicho said, adding that “Over 26% of our students are economically disadvantaged” and that “some of these kids will have no structure in their lives if they can’t make it to school.”. 

Amy Shaman introduced herself as an Oxford resident and parent of a Kramer student and urged the board to make decisions based on “research and facts, not guesses and gut reactions.”

“I ask each of you: what are the numbers of high school students who do not have their own transportation to school after the buses are removed? How many of them live within walking distance? How many parents with two jobs and one or two cars cannot stop working to give transportation to a child? How many families have parents who don’t drive?”  Shaman asked. “Once you know the numbers, ask yourself: how many students are you okay with dropping out because they don’t have access to transportation?”
Emily Moore, the parent of a middle schooler and a fourth grader, said six years of experience working in childhood mental health and an additional ten years with children in the foster care system had taught her “how crucial relationship building is for children’s resilience, growth, and learning.” 

During the presentation given earlier in the night, Superintendent Edward Theroux suggested that grade banding would help students establish relationships at an earlier age. “Some parents and teachers have criticized this proposal, stating that it will cause harm to students from a mental health perspective and that kids won’t go to school with their neighbors,” Theroux said. “In fact, students will develop relationships with all Talawanda students starting in kindergarten as opposed to coming together in first grade. It will break down those barriers.”

Moore argued that relationships with staff are just important to consider. “Having children transition every two years will impede their ability to form meaningful relationships with teachers [and] building staff, including with the principal, individual aides, office staff, and others who provide consistency and familiarity,” Moore said. 

Other parents said students’ wellbeing could be best protected by preserving specials at the elementary school and extracurriculars for older students.  

“In regards to the mental health discussion, I’m very concerned about mental health. I do not like the banding, but I want to remind everyone that in the December meeting we cut our music and PE”, said Jenny Fisher, the parent of two Kramer students. “My children will be devastated if that comes to play. The mental health implications of that far outweigh them not being together.” 

Pam Hodgson, the parent of three students, echoed these concerns. “I’m really concerned about the mental health of high schoolers. If we cut sports and activities, my boys will be devastated — and so we need to start making cuts right now where we can”.  

In a February 27th letter to parents, THS principal Scott Davie provided the following graphics to lay out what the future of athletics, extracurriculars, and specials could look like with savings from grade banding and one tier busing taken into consideration. 

The letter also listed other potential changes that the plan could bring to the THS bell schedule, including the replacement of study hall periods with a daily tutorial period, dedicated weight room time for student athletes at 7:30 AM, and a “zero bell” that would open the cafeteria at 7:00 AM to students unable to meet the proposed later start times. 

A series of community meeting sessions at the three elementary schools on March 6th, 7th, and 8th gave parents and community members an additional opportunity to ask questions and request information regarding the proposal. 

Shortly before the BOE’s March meeting, the district blog posted notes and Q&A from the meetings, links to Ohio campaign law updates, a history of Ohio school funding, school funding basics, and a summary of House Bill 920, which can be found under the district website’s “Resources” tab. 

At the board prepared to vote on the proposal at the March meeting, community members — including several of the previous month’s parent speakers — once again raised concerns about the fast-paced nature of the decision.

“I just want to know… if we grade band, does that actually save specials?”, Jen Timmerman asked. “I understand that our cuts are potential, that we might be able to save specials, but it’s not a guarantee, and that grade banding this year does not guarantee anything in year three”. 

Teresa Sutter suggested that certain details of the proposal, like long bus routes or staff necessary to help with arrival and dismissal, could result in additional costs not projected in the $400,000 savings estimate. “The bottom line is, I think, that we are not ready for this”, Sutter said.

THS junior Eliza Sullivan said she’d come to the meeting “firmly in support of voting on grade banding,” but that the concerns raised during public comments led her to reconsider. “I think I agree with other people when I say that we do not have all the information to make a fully informed decision,” Sullivan said. 

In addition, Phil Stoutz, the parent of two elementary schoolers, asked for “the vote to be delayed until we have some more discussions about the impacts of what this means”. 

“I make my living as a data scientist and work in geospatial intelligence”, Stoutz said. “I don’t see the evidence base”. 

As the meeting came to a close, the board moved to vote on the proposal’s two parts. Pat Meade acted as the tie breaker on one tier busing, allowing it to pass with three votes. With one tier busing passed, the board moved to vote on grade banding. The motion failed, receiving zero of the five votes, and was met with applause from the audience.