Parents Irate Over Canceled Fifth Grade Move

Several parents of students are fuming after Tuesday night's meeting of the Malverne Board of Education.

They say the district's leaders broke a promise they made to them in the fall to move Grade 5 out of and into Davison elementary school starting in September/ Their biggest gripe though is that the decision to change these plans was made much too late, now forcing them to scramble to try to provide a proper graduation for their kids.

This past fall the district had consolidated all of its Kindergarden through Grade 2 students into and sent all third and fourth graders to Davison Avenue, with plans to add the fifth graders the following year.

A capital improvement project, which residents approved in November 2010 through a bond vote, would help the transition by giving the district funds to rennovate the Davison Avenue school building, expanding its cafeteria and adding a new wing. However, the State Education Department has yet to approve the plans, holding up the project.

"I know there were many fourth grade parents that remember being told their children would be housed in Davison with or without the bond issue," said board member Gina Genti, who is also a parent of a fourth grader in the school.

If it wasn't for Genti bringing up the subject at the May 10 meeting, the board would have continued to keep parents waiting for a final decision on the move.

"Davison PTA especially has been waiting several weeks for this decision," Genti told Board Vice President Marguerite O'Connor, who was presiding over the meeting in the absence of President Patrick Coonan. "I know for a fact, several of the PTA officers were told the decision would be forthcoming at tonight's meeting."

"I don't have it on my agenda and we don't have a full board," O' Connor said.

Superintendent James Hunderfund spoke up, saying that he recently asked Davison Avenue School Principal Edward Tallon to plan for a moving up ceremony for the current fourth grade class to "graduate" and attend Herber Middle School in the fall.

Hunderfund said he and Tallon, along with some administrators and board members, met with the Davison Avenue PTA in early April to discuss both options - keeping the students at the elementary school or sending them off to Herber as had been in the practice in the past.

"At that time, we had a mixed set of opinions and inputs with regards to pros and cons for either plan," said Hunderfund, adding that the administration spent the past month conducting extensive research on the matter.

He explained that due to the delays with the approval of the construction plans, the earliest the district could possibly start working on the project would be September or October. They had been hoping to begin in the summer, completing most of the interior rennovations before school resumed, but will now have to start with the external work, putting off improvements to the inside of the building.

"The cafeteria seems to be the biggest drawback right now because of the minimal size," Hunderfund said. "Either plan can be implemented...[they] can fit in [Davison] but it's going to be a can of sardines."

Hunderfund asked O'Connor to poll the board so they could give some guidance to the administration.

"Unless the board directs otherwise I plan to bring the fifth grade for one year, to keep them at Herber middle school," he said. "The one year hiatus will give us time to complete the neccessary building plans to have the new wing completed and have internal rennovations completed, so we do not have the problem of anticipated drawbacks of bringing the students in."

Deputy Superintendent Richard Banyon agreed with Hunderfund's plan, as did the board, although Genti urged the administration to stop making empty promises to the residents.

"Knowing what I know now...I agree we should house the fifth grade in Davison next year," she said. "My issue is what I was told and what community was told as far back as September or October of this school year. There are many parents who voted for the bond issue based on the promise that their children would be at Davison."

Genti explained that many of these parents did not feel comfortable with sending their 9-year-old to a Middle School environment and were sold on the plan of keeping them in the elementary school for one more year.

"I would hope going forward," she added, "before we make promises to people who pay our salaries and pay for supplies...let's make sure we know what we're talking about."

Some parents were outraged that the district waited till the school year was nearly over before making a decision.

"It's a disgrace," one father shouted out.  "You had no contingency plan. You waited until May and you weren't even going to vote today. What about the kids and the parents? We have to plan for graduation and you had no clue on what you were going to do."

Most were concerned that their fourth graders would now get jipped out of a "senior" trip, yearbook and other graduation-related festivities.

Davison Avenue PTA President Laura Avvinti gave them some peace of mind.

She requested the board send letters out immediately to all of the parents of fourth graders as soon as possible to give them adequate time to prepare their children "emotionally and mentally" for the now sudden move.

We are going to do everything possible to give them a proper send off," she said. "I  will try to do a yearbook, we will have graduation party and moving up ceremony. I will do whatever I can, because that's what the kids deserve."

Stay tuned for more stories pertaining to the May 10 school board meetings in Malverne and West Hempstead.