John Fletcher acknowledged the elephant in the room - Bill Lacey

On a blustery night that has included a shift in the new, broad understanding of America, I look back to Monday evening’s School Committee meeting with a renewed sense of optimism.  There, before an audience of teachers, community leaders, citizens and curious onlookers, John Fletcher acknowledged the elephant in the room. Citing his inability to vote for a proposal that all but creates a separate and unequal system of education by way of including the Esperanza and Renaissance Innovation schools, Fletcher gave notice that he would not vote in favor of hybrid “school-within-a-school” innovation models. He did, however, leave the door ajar for the possibility of creating separate Innovation schools in New Bedford, but I’ll be happy to note why that won’t happen later in this piece.

In the days following the meeting, I’ve been stopped by numerous colleagues, messaged on Facebook by folk, called and emailed by others to thank me for exposing the dangers in these two proposals.  I’ve replied using those same words I recounted in a piece long since past: “You’re welcome. Hey, we’re all in this together…”  During the course of this debate I’ve been asked countless times why I took such a keen interest in a subject matter that did not directly impact me. You see, I have no dog in this fight… I neither work at Gomes nor Roosevelt. I’m able to count my time to retirement in units far smaller than most of you. I’m in a pretty good place, thanks.  Prior to getting my gold watch, however, I’ve got a new fight to wage, and if you’ve been following my thoughts here (or on the NBEA Blog) you can probably jump to a fairly safe conclusion, but first…

In the last few years we have elected to examine our needs and concluded that students are our primary business. To that end we chose to shutter three elementary schools, the Dunbar, Ottiwell and Phillips Avenue.  It was not that true, deep and meaningful education was not taking place in those facilities; it was that the facilities themselves no longer made sense. The melding of students, teachers and staff in the new composite DeValles School made good, sound economic sense. Having spent teaching hours in the new Lincoln school last year, I am able to confidently say that students are in its wheelhouse. So what’s the difference?

Oil.

Electricity.

Gas.

Patches, fix-its, band-aids, flotsam and jetsam.

Pulling away, nickel by nickel, have been the constant repair requisitions that cripple our budget.  Yes, I love the concept of small neighborhood schools, but I have to accept the fact that those same schools are a century old. They are beautiful reminders of our past. And they are the oil spots on the driveway that remind us our cherished AMC Rambler isn’t smart transportation any longer. And there lies the singlemost significant reason why our city leaders cannot support a standalone Innovation school. By my count there are 7 empty school buildings in our city. They are the Dunbar, Phillips Ave. and Hannigan on the public side. Matching them are four closed parochial schools: Mount Carmel, St. John’s, Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph’s (New Bedford). Not one of them makes smart sense to revitalize as a standalone Innovation school. Beyond the fact that all would require infrastructure embellishment, all seven would still have to be oiled (heated), energized (electric supply) and liquefied (water/sewer). All this fresh money spent after our negotiating team worked yeoman’s hours over the course of two years to secure a less than 2% raise. This won’t happen…

Am I canceling my subscription to “The Bat Sh*t Crazy Times”..?

No. I’ll still be right here watching. But any School Committee member who wants to entertain the next, standalone proposal will find me again reminding them of their primary duty, that of responsible fiscal oversight of our city’s already existing facilities.

At the onset of this evening’s thoughts, I unveiled the fact that I am preparing to wage a new war.  If you thought the Innovation debacle was divisive, you can’t believe where I’m going next…