At the urging of the Gateway Towns Advisory Committee, the Gateway School Committee voted to send a letter to our legislators asking for clarification about the legislation that allows Worthington to withdraw, unilaterally, from the district. While there are significant arguments that can be made on each side of this issue, and certainly potentially significant impacts on all of the students involved, the letter simply asked for the reasoning, goals, and protocols behind the legislation. We all know that this is an unprecedented, groundbreaking, and potentially disruptive change to the current way of doing things. However, as John F. Kennedy wrote, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
I think we all understand that change is difficult, or as Frederick Douglas wrote “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” In this change to the district’s configuration we see a wide range of actions. There are some who wish to stop the change via questioning the legal validity of the legislative action, others who wish to question the appropriateness of the process, many who question the financial impact, and some who question the wisdom in terms of educational viability for both the district and the Town of Worthington. On the other hand, there are those who feel the ending is inevitable and want to ensure that the withdrawal is done fairly, is equitable to everyone, and provides answers to the many questions raised as the process is unfolds. There are also those, particularly in Worthington, who feel that the opportunity to have an elementary school in a town is the most important and pivotal question regardless of the costs.
No one is certain of the outcome, no one is absolutely sure of the impacts of the decisions being made, and no can accurately predict the course of action that will eventually be taken in the final implementation of this legislation, so it is important to ensure that we are all clear about the protocols and timeframe of this process. I suspect that there will be much discussion about the steps and close scrutiny regarding how they’re undertaken, as this could very well be the model for future actions throughout the state. Thus I don’t expect the process will be rushed, or that anyone will respond without thinking through all of the potential ramifications that responding inappropriately may incur down the line. I do encourage all of our constituents to follow this event as it unfolds and to bear with us as we work towards understanding the full picture.
For those interested in additional information, the following items are available on the Gateway website (www.grsd.org). The letter to the legislators, the school committee actions regarding the process, and Gateway’s educational plan for the district after Worthington withdraws (which was submitted to the DESE as part of the legislatively mandated process) are all located on the School Committee (presentations) webpage. Information about the process undertaken 5 years ago that led to the consolidation of Gateway’s elementary schools is also posted (News > News Archive> Elementary Advisory Committee).
