School Committee to take redistricting vote

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on October 23, 2009

The Amherst School Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a new map to determine what elementary school children will attend next year.

No one expected the process of forcing a third of all the students to change schools to be easy, but committee members have received an extraordinary number of complaints and very little support. While some critics have addressed issues specific to their children, others have spoken on behalf of geographical and ethnic groups.

The schools must redraw the district lines because Mark's Meadow School will close next year. The School Committee also wants to equalize the percentages of children from low-income families in the three remaining elementary schools.

Many speakers at two public forums this month criticized the redistricting plan because it would break up clusters of Cambodian and Latino students, groupings that they believe are beneficial. Others have spoken on behalf of residents of apartment complexes in the East Hadley Road area, those living between Amity Street and Northampton Road, and on Leverett and East Leverett Road.

Last week, the group working on the map responded to some complaints by coming up with several options for redistricting. On Thursday, after Bulletin press time the School Committee was slated to discuss the pros and cons of these maps and take public comments.

The most recently proposed plan would move children living on Leverett and East Leverett roads from Fort River School to Wildwood School, thus keeping all current Mark's Meadow students together. It also proposes that children living at The Boulders move to Fort River, joining children from nearby Mill Valley Estates.

Some believe this would not satisfy the goal of equalization. Under this plan, Fort River would have 40 percent children from low-income families, compared to 30 percent at Wildwood. The previous map had approximately equal percentages.

The redistricting group will probably recommend two maps to the committee, said Irv Rhodes, a member of both boards. The committee will be free to choose one of the two maps or approve a different one, he said.

"All have pros and cons," he said. "None are perfect, and none will please everyone."

Meanwhile, the school district has received a lawyer's opinion that calls into question the legality of grouping students by ethnicity, in response to some parents' expressed preference. In an Oct. 7 opinion requested by the Amherst school district, Carolyn Lyons - citing state law - stated that it is not permissible to treat any student differently based on national origin or ethnicity.

"Clustering students based on their ethnic group, allowing open enrollment for only those students who have a certain ethnicity or national origin, or providing free busing based on their ethnicity or national origin would directly violate these laws," she wrote.

She cited the Massachusetts General Laws, which says that students "shall be taught English as rapidly and effectively as possible."

It also says, "Local schools shall be encouraged to mix together in the same classroom English learners from different native-language groups but with the same degree of English fluency."

The breakup of cultural and language clusters would be necessary even if redistricting weren't happening, said committee member Catherine Sanderson.

The schools have been in violation of state and federal laws in such policies as busing Cambodian children to Fort River but not others taking advantage of "open enrollment," she said.