The “parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s education” crowd is going to have a real conundrum on their hands in Appleton soon. As the district prepares its next referendum package, the closure of Columbus Elementary School is on the table. The school is dealing with declining enrollment within its attendance boundaries, the building is aging, and it doesn’t really fit the demands of modern education anymore.
And yet, the only public speakers at an Appleton Board of Education meeting a couple of weeks ago–called strictly to vote on lifting the mask mandate–were there to talk about keeping Columbus Elementary School open–which wasn’t even on the agenda. And that is really how we at WHBY found about the discussion of closing the facility–as in our previous interviews with AASD officials, they chose only to speak about all of the investments that would be made in existing facilities, and the construction of a new northside school.
So now, I expect every Appleton School Board meeting going forward to feature at least a few “concerned” Columbus parents taking part in public comment to advocate for keeping their building open. Many will come armed with studies conducted in other school districts around the country that show smaller classes benefit elementary students. They will point to the perceived negative impact on low-income students in having to change the way they are educated. They will point out that they are taxpayers too, and their kids deserve the same educational opportunities as everyone else in not only Appleton but surrounding districts.
And the more that they “make their voices heard” and seek to increase public pressure on district officials and school board members, the more they will become like the anti-masking and anti-virtual learning parents that complained to the school board and administrators for the better part of two years. And the more they will sound like the people still complaining that “Critical Race Theory” is being taught to six year olds.
You can also expect outside groups with their own agendas to get involved. In fact, one of the speakers at the early morning board meeting a couple of weeks ago did not have a child at Columbus. She works for a social justice group seeking to “organize the community”. She claimed that Columbus is the “heart of the Central City Neighborhood”–which seems a bit odd since fewer people living in that neighborhood are actually sending kids there. In fact, the developments being pushed for the central city will appeal to more singles and couples without children than traditional single-family home developments being built on the northside of the district–thus requiring an additional school in that area.
But not even the most liberal of state lawmakers will take to Twitter to tell the Columbus Elementary parents to pound sand and pay to move their kids to private school or home-school them if they don’t like what AASD is doing. More likely, they will tell us that the voices of those families “need to be heard”–and that the Appleton School District needs to consider “all perspectives” when it comes to important issues like how and where a child is educated. Since it is an election year, they may even show up at the inevitable protests outside the Scullen Center on school board meeting nights to tell those parents how “brave” they are for standing up for what they believe is best for their children.
Given the makeup of the Appleton School Board, there will lengthy discussions in open session about the recommendation from Administration. A majority of the board will question the data and the logic used to recommend closure–instead of just one member questioning some recent data points and recommendations on other topics. And there will be spirited debate over whether the demands of a few outweigh the benefits to the entire district. Who knows, we may have another record year for School Board candidates the spring after a vote to close Columbus–and we will hear about how those candidates were “inspired to run by the feeling that the District doesn’t listen to them”.
It’s only right that those who say–and tweet–that “parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s education” are made to backtrack and apologize for that statement. We all know that what they really mean to say is “SOME parents shouldn’t have a say in their child’s education”.
