SOUTHWICK – About 30 to 40 people rallied together on Monday night on the sidewalks near the Powder Mill School, which houses the administration offices of the school district. The rally was going on while the school committee held their meeting inside.
The people were rallying in regards to the school utilization study that is being done on the school district. On Nov. 29, a public forum was held to discuss the options on the Granville Village School. During that forum NESDEC (New England School Development Council), the consultant hired by the district to conduct the study, gave their presentation. Several members of the Granville community, including parents and former teachers, voiced their feelings on the possibility that the school could close.
According to Superintendent Jen Willard, at this point in time, the vote by the school committee on the decision, is set to be on Feb. 7. The two options are to either close the school and have the building for another use, or leave the school as is.
With a majority of the people holding up signs being from Granville, there was a mixture of Southwick residents, parents, as well as former teachers, and current and former students of the Granville Village School.
People rallied together on Monday night right outside the school district office to support Granville Village School. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Holding signs, while others chanted, “Save our school”, the people rallying are concerned that the school may indeed close.
“There’s a lot of history in that school and that school is the heart of the community,” said Granville resident Lauri Schlosser, who taught at the school for 33 years.
A main concern from the Granville Village School supporters is that they want to see more than two choices in regards to what will happen to the school.
“We were only offered two options,” said Schlosser. “We’d like to see a third option.”
If the school closed and the district went from four schools to three schools, Tracy Flarida was wondering how money would be saved.
“There’s no breakdown of how it’s going to save money,” said Flarida.
Another concern came from the transportation issue for students coming from Granville if the school indeed would be closed. Schlosser is worried that kids from Granville will have to wake up even earlier than ever before.
“Some of these kids are getting up at 6 a.m. to catch the bus,” said Schlosser.
Students from Granville also spoke up. Tyler Flagg, currently a seventh grader and former student of the Granville Village School, said he sees a negative effect on transportation if the school closed.
“That means everyone from Granville would have to take the bus to Southwick,” said Flagg.
Ruby Francis, who is currently a student at the Granville Village School, doesn’t want to see the tight bond with the students and teachers break away.
“The teachers (at Granville Village School) try to form a bond with the children,” said Francis.
Devan Fox, another student at the school, wants to see more clubs at the school, in comparison to the schools in Southwick.
“How many clubs does Granville have?” said Fox. “That makes Southwick seem a lot better.”
Jenny Francis, a parent from Granville, assured what the main objective was for gathering outside the school district building on Monday night.
“We wanted to make sure that our voices were heard by the school committee,” said Francis.
Schlosser noted that everyone on the sidewalks wants to work with the rest of the school district.
“We want to work together, we don’t want to make a wedge between the towns,” said Schlosser. “We want to be a part of the district.”
The majority of the Granville Village School supporters said that they plan on holding up signs for the next school committee meeting, which will be on Dec. 20.
