WESTFIELD – An ad-hoc committee entrusted with finding a home for the students of Juniper Park Elementary School for the 2015-2016 school year laid their first, second and third choices out for the full School Committee last night.
The School Committee unanimously approved the ad-hoc group’s first choice – moving the school’s students into the vacant Russell Elementary School which sits 6.1 miles from Juniper Park’s Western Avenue address.
The city of Westfield is set to vacate Juniper Park in June 2015 at the termination of the lease for that property with the state.
The building will then go to neighboring Westfield State University, who will then begin converting it into a center for the arts.
Ad-hoc chairman Ramon Diaz endorsed the Russell option and thanked the parents of Juniper Park students who were instrumental in selecting Russell over the second and third options of renting and placing modular classroom units at the Greater Westfield Boys & Girls Club or South Middle School.
“I was able to go on a tour of the school and it is fully functional. It’s a great school,” said Diaz. “From what we saw, it was clean for a school that hasn’t been occupied for a couple of years. It’s got the amount of classrooms we need, with a gymnasium and a cafeteria set up.”
Diaz also cited the low annual costs for moving students into the Russell Elementary, which the ad-hoc estimated would cost the district $260,000 per year over three years, far less than the estimated $765,000 and $1.1 million it would cost at the Boys & Girls Club and South Middle over that same timeframe, respectively.
Startup costs for Russell were also lower in comparison to options two and three, which would run $1.6 million and $2.6 million at the Boys & Girls Club and South Middle, respectively, according to Diaz.
Regarding concerns previously held by parents about the emergency services to the school, Diaz stated that the town of Huntington’s ambulance company would respond to any medical emergencies at the school and that the Russell State Police barracks is also nearby.
“We also took a look at busing, since the school is 3.9 miles from Westfield city limits and 6.1 miles from Juniper,” he said. “The Superintendent has stated that she will look at those routes and will add buses if necessary.
“Another big concern was weather with Russell being more rural and we found when we looked at snowfall, it’s been plus or minus three inches over the last years,” added Diaz. “So we don’t believe that to be an issue, but if the Russell school was closed, it would be a snow day for the entire district.”
Ad-hoc member and School Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan also voiced his endorsement of the Russell option, citing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) take on the crossing of city line.
“The state jumped right on it and said it was no issue, it has happened several times across the state in emergency situations where kids have had to be transported over town lines,” he said. “The state was onboard and understands the situation 100 percent.”
“I’m good friends with the Business Manager out in Gateway (Stefanie Fisk) and six years ago, she came to me and said ‘oh by the way, we have an empty elementary school, so if that becomes an option or something you want to look at, let’s talk.'” said Sullivan. “This was not a quick, knee-jerk reaction. The administration, both now and six years ago, had a litany of options on the table… Given the alternatives, I think it is our best option.”
Ad-hoc committee member and School Committee Vice Chair Cindy Sullivan stated that she hadn’t made up her mind until the morning of the committee’s vote last week.
“I would like the kids to be in a school. I know there are some issues with taking them out of town. I have the same issues and concerns, but I feel the administration did a nice job addressing everything,” she said. “Six years ago, if this idea was brought up to the Juniper parents, I think they would have jumped at it. I feel comfortable – as a parent and as a committee member – to say that I’m fine with kids going to the Russell School.”
Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion was questioned about the amount of classroom space available in the Russell School and she replied that it is the same as Juniper Park.
“It has 12 classrooms, full size and four special ed classrooms and the capacity to partition off a few oversized rooms,” she said.
Scallion added that the town of Russell stated that they would replicate the contract the city had with Westfield State University at Juniper Park Elementary, with the consumer price index factored in annually.
Westfield Mayor and school committee chair Daniel M. Knapik invited commentary from the 15 or so parents of Juniper Park students in attendance in the City Council Chambers to address the committee.
“The most important thing is our kids are together and they’re not that far away,” said Ellie Meyer, a Juniper Park parent. “The buses, of course, are an issue, but we’ll figure it out. That’s just something that needs to be ironed out in the end.”
Knapik then elaborated on the over $30 million the city will be spending within the next few years to upgrade it’s educational infrastructure and spoke of how the Russell School’s compably low startup costs would free up money for other projects.
“Clearly, Mr. Diaz stated that, if we did something more expensive, there would be something that would have to fall by the wayside,” said Knapik of other projects. “It becomes a capacity of how much the city can bear moving toward the future.
“This a very cost-effective and rather novel idea and I think it does satisfy something that didn’t unfortunately happen six years ago, which was to keep the school together,” he added. “It is your kids, it is your school and it has to be done that way.”
Knapik said that recent court challenges, the majority of which have been decided in the city’s favor, has been a delaying tactic by neighborhood opponents who have hoped that a new school project would collapse and go away.
Knapik said “in the end there will be a school” at the intersection of Ashley and Cross streets, but added that the delay has cost taxpayers millions of dollars because of the lost construction time.
Knapik said the city had warnings dating back to 2008 that Westfield State University wanted the Juniper Park building back to satisfy its own education needs.
Following the unanimous decision to approve the Russell option, another roll call vote was taken to empower the administration to enter into negotiations with the town of Russell, which also passed unanimously.
