Clash over Lawrence school plan

After making a public announcement in September, Lawrence School District officials found themselves responding to parents’ questions and trying to find an entity to lease the Number Five School.

The district’s plan is to close the school, at 305 Cedarhurst Ave. in Cedarhurst, and rent it to an organization that caters to special-needs children, while the district retains ownership. The school’s top floor would accommodate the 105 special-needs students who now attend schools outside the district. 

Officials said that an estimated $350,000 could be generated from leasing the building.

The restructuring is based on the Princeton Plan, which aligns school districts based on grade levels rather than where people live in the community. “The realignment, as presented, represents a sea change to the paradigm in this district,” said Murray Forman, president of Lawrence’s Board of Education. Forman added that the plan would proceed unless a “fatal flaw” is discovered, but he said he doesn’t foresee that occurring. 

District officials plan on dividing the middle school building in two, with separate entrances, schedules, cafeterias, gymnasiums, main offices and principals. There is enough space to create 23 new classrooms, and there are plans for a music and art suite as well. 

The district held a public meeting on Oct. 29 to hear residents’ comments. Audrey Scott, a parent of a Number Five School student, spoke for many when she said, “With third- and fourth-graders in [the middle school] building, you’re losing control from them being in a smaller building. They’ll be exposed to older kids.” 

Middle School PTA Co-president John Loughlin admitted that when the plan was first explained to him and his fellow co-president, Gregory Wright, they had concerns of their own. “We still believe a lot more can be done, but there is enough communication between the elementary schools and middle school so the students are prepared when they get here, and this restructuring will be one of the solutions,” Loughlin said, that will help the district improve student performance.

A longer report appears in this week’s Nassau Herald.