MONROE, CT — Several Monroe Elementary School parents, upset over first hearing that one school space option to meet the needs of growing student enrollment involves no longer using MES as an elementary school via a news article, aired their concerns at this week’s Board of Education meeting.
Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza acknowledged communication could have been better and welcomed public input for the study of school facilities and finding a workable solution.
“I appreciate everyone coming tonight. We have tried to make this as transparent as possible,” Kobza said. “I take to heart the comments being said about communication. I’ll own a piece of that for sure. We could always improve our communication and will continue to do so.”
The superintendent said the Board of Education, its Ad Hoc Facilities Committee and the district tried to make information as accessible as possible, though he agreed most parents do not read meeting minutes posted online.
Using the screen in front of the room inside Masuk High School’s media center, Kobza showed the audience how to find a landing page with all of the facilities study presentations, information and committee updates.
To access the landing page, visit the district’s website, scroll to the middle of the homepage, and click on the circle that says “District Facilities Study.”
Because the Board of Education’s public comment format does not allow for a back-and-forth conversation with board members, Kobza agreed to stay after the meeting to speak to parents.
He also shared an email address dedicated to the facilities study, facilitiesstudy@monroeps.org, that people can use for any questions or concerns. Kobza said it will go directly to him and Assistant Superintendent Sheila Casinelli and promised they will respond as quickly as possible.
Kobza reminded everyone that the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee is advisory only and the Board of Education will review and vote on whatever school space option it recommends. The committee will not make its recommendation without public input, he added.
Members of the public will have an opportunity to speak at the next committee meeting, to be held in the Masuk media center on March 13 at 6 p.m.
“I hear you loud and clear on the communication,” Kobza said. “We will be more clear as we move forward and make sure everybody’s in the loop. We want everybody to have a say. What I’ve constantly emphasized, there is no decision that’s gonna be made without public input.”
Airing criticism
Several parents expressed their concerns during a public comment session at the beginning of Monday’s Board of Education meeting.
“You’re not being criticized, as the chairman said today, for operating in secret,” said Jennifer Paniccia, a Monroe Elementary School (MES) parent. “You’re being criticized for not laying everything out on the table. Minutes and agendas on the website, to us, are not laying it all out there.”
“The moment school closings became an option, that should have been communicated to parents right then and there through the administration, not through our principal or through the news,” she continued.
Paniccia said the families are stakeholders, who should be part of the conversations, beyond comment portions of meetings, to create school space options that work for everyone.
“There are other great options being discussed among the parents. Please use us,” Paniccia asked. “We can have parent meetings and filter out the information. Please reconstruct the committee.”
“You wouldn’t let someone steamroll through your life and your career without having a say,” she said. “You’ve got our attention. You’ve got our involvement now. We can get this right if we finally feel like this committee and this decision isn’t getting away from us anymore. Then I’m happy to focus all my energy on your budget. Thank you for hearing me.”
Amy Lachioma, the mother of two MES students, walked up to speak with her son, fifth-grader, Braden, 11.
Braden told the board be won the Upstander Award for standing up for a friend who was bullied. “Today, I am here to stand up for what is right, which in this case is putting Plan B into action instead of Plan F,” he said of an option that continues using MES as an elementary school.
“Neither of these plans affect me,” Braden said, “however, these plans affect other kids, including my brother — and I don’t just care about myself.”
Lachioma said she was “a little disheartened” to hear about the potential end of using MES as an elementary school from a Monroe Sun article.
“The lack of communication not only created a sense of worry and shock, but also distrust,” she said.
She recalled how Board of Education Chairman David Ferris, who also chairs the committee, told parents at a Feb. 18 meeting that they “need to calm down” and that changes were years away. Then the Monroe PTO told parents no school will close, she said.
“Both of these statements are a clear misrepresentation of the situation,” Lachioma said.
Though any construction is years away, she said a grant application for a plan could be filed by this June and, though there is no option to close the MES building, one option does not include MES students going there.
Lachioma said her children are third generation MES students. “We purchased my husband’s family home, so that our children could have the same opportunity he did,” she said. “A neighborhood school that promotes feelings of community, safety and belonging.”
Surveys
Maria Daulas, president of the Monroe Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), attended Monday’s meeting with her partner. She said she was among the parents who felt “blindsided” by The Sun article, and who reached out to the board for “clarity, transparency and proactive communication with district leadership moving forward.”
She had emailed Ferris with several concerns and suggestions to improve the process, including adding parent liaisons to join the committee. But she said Ferris declined to add new members saying the committee has already been formed.
Daulas also said the superintendent told principals not to distribute SEPTA’s survey, because he told her it could cause confusion with a survey the district will be sending out.
Daulas said it should not take parents raising concerns for basic communication to happen.
“Every decision in this room affects them. Parents and community members have the right to be directly informed and involved at every turn — no exceptions no excuses,” she said. “We are not only parents, we are partners in our children’s education and we expect to be treated as such.”
Parents also put together another survey. Liz Modugno, the mother of a student who graduated from MES, one who still goes there and a baby who she hopes will go there, created it with her friend, Amy Lachioma.
“Rather than an emotional plea to save the school, Amy and I wanted to see what people wanted across the town,” Modugno said of their survey, which had a sample size of 500 people from diverse backgrounds in the community.
Of the results, she said 82 percent want to keep MES as an elementary school, and those choosing the other option did so to support having a therapeutic day school, enabling some outplaced students to remain in the district.
However, she said many parents commented that they believed the therapeutic day school could be elsewhere, possibly at Chalk Hill.
“Overwhelmingly, people want to keep Monroe Elementary School as a neighborhood school,” Modugno said. “That’s the biggest takeaway and I, as a parent, am also supporting that.”
Another survey finding is that most parents believe Chalk Hill should be a grade five and six school and that fourth graders should remain in elementary school due to a gap in maturity levels.
There are also concerns over traffic if too many students are part of the Jockey Hollow, Chalk Hill and Fawn Hollow campuses, which are close together.
Alan Vaglivelo, a board member, asked if Jennifer Parsell, director of student support services for the district, could give everyone a brief overview of what a Therapeutic Day Services program entails.
Kobza said he did not believe that was the appropriate time for it and Christina Cascella, who served as acting chair Monday, said Parsell can make a presentation at a future meeting.
The superintendent clarified that he is not opposed to parents’ surveys.
“People say, ‘you’re frustrated people are sending out surveys.’ I am not remotely frustrated,” Kobza said. “The one shared by Liz and Amy, that’s good information. We are going to send out a survey. The reason I didn’t want another survey out there is I don’t want people to have survey fatigue. I don’t want people to misunderstand that this is a survey from an outside organization and not the schools.”
He also said the Board of Education followed best practices when forming the facilities committee, which says to have nine or 10 members. “We tried to extend it to make sure it is as inclusive as possible,” Kobza said. “We have parents on it, we have administrators, teachers, members from other boards on it. But there is a limit to that and maybe that could be a topic for future discussion.”
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
And this is why I do not attend board of Ed meetings.