Disruption, Segregation Biggest Concern in ESL Magnet Program Proposal

The word of the evening was “disruption,” as residents expressed their concerns Wednesday about the side effects of moving students from their primary schools and putting them all in if a proposed one-site ESL magnet school program is implemented.

“The word that has stuck out was disruption,” resident Vince Cirianni said. “I clearly feel for families of the ELL program. Clearly I see this also as a segregation.”

The district held an open public session for parents of English Language Learner students Wednesday to discuss the proposed that would take English as a Second Language students from their primary schools and bring them all to Bradley Gardens, while intermediate school students will all be bused to .

“This is not just about children learning to speak English, it is about learning academics,” said Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder. “This is the essence of what we are trying to accomplish.”

The program was discussed at the last two board of education meetings, and a vote on it is expected at the June 14 meeting.

The recommendation is to create a magnet program to service the estimated 112 students needing the services in kindergarten through fourth grades, and 12 students in fifth and sixth grades.

The change would allow for the creation of cluster classrooms and sheltered instruction observation protocol [SIOP], which are not currently offered.

SIOP classes are those with 22 students who are all ELL students together with a grade-level teacher and an ESL teacher all day. Cluster classrooms are the ones currently used throughout the district with ELL students spread out in the different grade levels—those classrooms have both a grade-level teacher and an ESL teacher.

With the one-site option, students would receive 40 to 60 minutes of ESL instruction every day in cluster classrooms, and 200 minutes per day in the SIOP classes.

About 50 parents of both ELL and other students were present at Wednesday’s meeting to discuss the program and the options available. Many residents focused on the fact that the district has also proposed a three-school program, in which kindergarten through fourth grade students would be split between , and John F. Kennedy Primary.

Schilder said he would recognize this and the one-site option, but would be against leaving the ESL program as is, with students spread out among all the primary and intermediate schools, and seven teachers required to drive among the schools, while students only receive 30 to 40 minutes of instruction between one and five times a week.

This method, Schilder said, is hindering student achievement, and would require the hiring of at least one other teacher in order to be compliant with state regulations.

The one-site method would only require $80,000 in additional travel costs to move students around the district, while the three-school program would require more than $300,000 worth of costs for some travel and a need for 4.5 more staff members.

The biggest problem with the current system is the fact that students are not achieving, Schilder said.

“I don’t consider the status quo an option because we are not in compliance, and, most important, it is not working,” he said. “We are trying to increase student achievement, and that is the purpose of this proposal. The model we have now is not working.”

“The number of students [who are proficient or advanced proficient in yearly tests] has to increase each year or a district is considered in need of improvement,” said Cheryl Dyer, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “We have a long way to go to meet the required benchmarks.”

But the biggest concern for residents at the meeting was the fact that their children will have to be pulled out of their neighborhood schools to go somewhere else.

“I still don’t see the advantage of this,” one resident said. “I know my daughter would not have wanted to be pulled out of school. And when children come out of cluster classes, they come out of Bradley Gardens and then go where? I don’t want any child shuffled around.”

Schilder said the intention is not to shuffle students around, and that parents will have the choice of whether to allow their children to stay at Bradley Gardens if they leave the ESL program, or to return to their neighborhood schools.

“The parents would control that,” he said. “There would not be the shuffling back and forth.”

One parent said he would prefer to move forward with the three-site proposal because there would be a more minimal disruption.

“The current distribution of students is one of the problems,” Dyer said. “We would have to add a teacher in Milltown, and there are more children in Milltown who are at the higher end of language acquisition. It varies year to year.”

But the possible disruption, Schilder said, is the main disadvantage to the program. Still, that is outweighed by the benefits.

“The concerns are that students will have to leave their neighborhood schools and have to be acclimated to a new school,” he said. “But we don’t feel the concerns are insurmountable.”

“Obviously we feel this is worth it,” he added. “We feel the benefits outweigh the negatives.”

Segregation was also a big word for residents, as they expressed concerns about removing ELL students from their schools and putting them in one place.

“You think you’re not isolating children, but you’re taking them away from their neighborhood schools, off the bus routes and away from their annual activities,” said one resident who declined to be named. “They’ve established all these relationships, but you are taking them away and putting them in another school. I think it’s against the law to segregate the children. Option one does that, you’re telling them they’re different.”

She said she was appalled by the option, and, while appreciating the need for increasing student achievement, she believes something should have been done in the past to service the population properly.

“It is not segregation in its true form because children are in the building with other students who are not in the ESL program,” Schilder said.

In response to concerns that the district should not be focusing so much on money, Schilder said parents must remember the costs are not just “chump change.”

“The cost of the three-site model is about $300,000,” he said. “And to keep the students in all sites is a lot more money.”

“I agree money should be spent on children with special needs,” he added. “But by just adding staff, in a way we are throwing money at a broken model.”

Schilder said these changes are being made now to the program because of changes to the state standards and the population of the district itself.

And providing the best education for the children requires some alterations to the program as the district’s students change.

“With the design of instruction, we can’t run a SIOP class with one student, and we can’t run a cluster class for two kids in one class,” said David Matonis, supervisor of special programs in the district. “Do we provide the best education for the child? We can’t do it the way it is.”

Some residents also questioned what will happen to those students whose parents opt not to be part of the ESL program because they don’t want their children to be moved out of their neighborhood schools.

Schilder said the decision has to be made by individual parents.

“Every ESL parent has the right to sign a form and waive the services,” he said. “That’s one of the disadvantages.”

But for children who are part of the program, Matonis said, they can remain at Bradley Gardens once they are out of it if the parents so choose.

And in answer to other questions, Schilder said that although they are calling this a magnet program, there is no intention of bringing in students from outside the district. The program will be for Bridgewater-Raritan students only.

For the residents at the meeting, the biggest concerns are the possible disruptions to the students and the concept of segregation.

“I have to say I’m appalled,” one resident said to applause from the audience. “I think it’s admirable that we want to increase student achievement. But this is a place where we can’t skimp. We have to spend the money.”

The next public meeting will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Bradley Gardens Primary School for parents of Bradley Gardens students.

A vote on the proposal is expected at the June 14 board of education meeting, to be held at 8 p.m. at the .