Lawrence district plans to close another school

A restructuring plan that calls for closing the Number Five School in Cedarhurst will be presented at a Lawrence Board of Education meeting on Monday at 8 pm at the Lawrence Middle School, 195 Broadway in Lawrence.

Instead of selling the building, as it did with the Number One and Number Six schools, Lawrence would retain ownership, and lease space in it to an agency or institution that caters to special-needs students.

“We’re looking for a partner that would have the most lucrative arrangement for the district,” said Superintendent Gary Schall.

Third- and fourth-graders from the Number Two and Number Five schools would be moved to the middle school, where a lower school — third through fifth grade — and an upper school — sixth through eighth grade — would be created. The middle school would be renamed. The proposal is based on the Princeton Plan, which assigns students to schools based on grade levels rather than geography.

Leasing the Number Five School is expected to save the district approximately $800,000 annually, Schall said.

Number Five School Principal Rina Beach would be principal of the proposed lower school, while Willis Perry, the current middle school principal, would head the upper school. Teachers and staff from Number Five would move to the newly created lower school. The plan calls for separate entrances for the lower and upper schools. The upper school would use the new gym, and the lower school would use the old one. Also under discussion is a proposal to have school uniforms for first- through eighth-graders, Schall said.

Lawrence Teachers Association President Lori Skonberg said the organization is “neither in favor of or against” the restructuring, and doesn’t think the changes will have any impact on academic achievement. “The same teachers will be teaching the same students, only in a different location,” Skonberg said.