Eugene weekly., July 19, 2012, Page 12, Image 12

TODD COOPER
One fi nal problem with large schools is that they cannot effectively
operate as neighborhood schools to which most students can walk
and in which the school becomes a center of community life.
Edison Elementary
accessible by wheelchairs. To fi x all of
these problems, the consultant estimated a
$21.9 million cost. A replacement school
would cost $32 million.
Like Camas Ridge, teachers and parents
at Edison have created an excellent learning
environment for the school’s 346 students
despite the building’s supposed fl aws. Built
in 1926, Edison’s deferred maintenance has
led to the following problems identifi ed by
the consultant: older windows are single
pane, some doors need paint and have old
hardware, some toilet partitions are at end
of their service life, classroom cabinets are
showing some wear, some drain lines are
slow, the boiler is at the end of its service
life, the stair lift is slow, many classroom
doors have large areas of glass, and
many areas are not directly accessible by
wheelchair. The consultants also claim that
the main building has unspecifi ed seismic
concerns, which is not surprising for an older
building. Engineers and architects have the
technology to make appropriate and fi scally
responsible seismic upgrades. Edison has a
replacement cost of about $12.6 million and
a repair cost of approximately $5.7 million.
I could go on describing the various
Camas Ridge Elementary
Built in 1949, Camas Ridge is admittedly
no architectural gem, but that has not stopped
teachers and parents from creating a very
positive learning community. The depth of
the consultant’s analysis is almost laughable
when used to justify demolition. The
417-student school’s roof may have a leak
over the gym, the single pane windows need
to be replaced, some carpeting and paint are
worn, the main electrical service, water lines
and fl oor tiles are at the end of their service
life, the boilers are old and energy ineffi cient,
there is no air conditioning, many light
fi xtures are old with yellow lenses, and “a lot
of walls with wood paneling” are a problem.
To fi x the problems with Camas Ridge,
the district would need to spend roughly
$5 million. Replacement would cost about
$12.3 million.
University of Oregon
Edison
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Hendricks
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Camas
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JULY 19, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
rates. Educational researcher Kathleen
Cotton analyzed 103 studies of school size
and found that the data overwhelmingly
supported small schools because they have
higher attendance rates, higher student
achievement and less violence. She found
that “small schools are superior to larger
schools on most measures and equal to
them on the rest. This holds true for both
elementary and secondary students of all
ability levels and in all kinds of settings.”
Researchers in New Mexico found
that small schools improve graduation
rates and student achievement because
they counteract alienation, isolation and
disconnection in part because such schools
have less violence, crime and classroom
disruptions. They also found that small
schools enable low-income students to
succeed at the same levels as students from
more privileged backgrounds, which helps
to narrow the achievement gap.
Myth: New and bigger buildings
improve performance
Educational researcher Susan Black
found that small schools create more
opportunities for participation per capita
— more students participate in more kinds
of activities. And another study found
that because small schools need a large
percentage of students to fi ll each activity,
they “engage a broader cross-section of
students, helping reduce social and racial
isolation.” In addition, researchers from
Ohio University and Marshall University
found that students who participate in
activities and feel connected at school have
higher achievement, are less likely to drop
out, have higher self-esteem, attend school
more regularly and have fewer behavior
problems.
Reality: The two new consolidated
elementary schools proposed in the study
are much bigger than the ones they may
replace. These schools would each enroll
about 600 students — more students
than any elementary school in Eugene.
However, research into small elementary
schools, which are generally defi ned by
the Education Commission of the States as
enrolling no more than 300-400 students,
clearly demonstrates the value of smaller
schools over their newer and larger
counterparts.
Many districts are now returning to the
small school model given the enormity
of evidence in support of such schools.
In early 2012, for instance, New York
City School Chancellor Dennis Walcott
reported on a study of 105 small schools
and concluded that these schools “changed
thousands of lives in New York City,
across every race, gender and ethnicity
— not only helping them graduate, but
graduate ready for college. When we see a
strategy with this kind of success, we owe
it to our families to continue pursuing it
aggressively.”
Academic Performance
Edison and Camas
1-mile radius
12
problems at the other schools the report
recommends replacing, but there is no need.
The problems are all about the same. They
are generally issues of maintenance that
should not be used to justify replacement.
If the community passes yet another bond,
it will act as an enabler and the district will
be back again asking for more money to
replace even more schools it has failed to
maintain.
To determine which buildings should be
abandoned or demolished, the consultant
established an arbitrary baseline using
an arbitrary weighting of four criteria:
building condition, educational suitability,
site condition and technological readiness.
If a building scored below 70 (whatever
that really means) then that building
should be replaced. But if that baseline
were changed to 60, then only one building
would need to be replaced and that would
be Roosevelt. Who determined 70?
A more realistic metric is to determine
if it is a good investment to fi x a building
rather than replace it. On most buildings
owned by the U.S. government, for
example, replacement is justifi ed only
if the repair costs exceed 70 percent of
the replacement value. An even stricter
measure has been used by the state of
Washington, which has used 80 percent
as the cutline for its schools. Using
these metrics, 4J could not justify any
replacement since the repair costs for any
of the buildings does not exceed 70 percent
of the replacement cost (see fi gure 2).
While socioeconomic factors play a
primary role in academic performance, a
study of 293 public schools by the National
Center for Education Statistics found that
school size was the second best predictor
of student performance and graduation
Teaching Performance
An extensive study of school size by
educational expert Stuart Grauer found
that small schools offer better teaching
conditions. In small schools, teachers use
a broader range of teaching styles, have
greater connection with parents, have
more opportunities to collaborate, and
they have “higher job satisfaction and
sense of responsibility for ongoing student
learning.” Creating positive environments
for 4J teachers should be a top priority.
Student Participation
Parental Involvement
Numerous studies have found that
small school parents are closer and have
higher levels of parental involvement,
which is a critical factor in student success.
William Bogart of Case Western Reserve
University concludes that one effect of
consolidation may be that, by making
it harder for parents to get involved, it
harms the quality of schools: “It makes it
more diffi cult for students to participate
in after-school activities relative to the
case where they can walk to and from the
school.” Bogart also found that closures of
neighborhood schools results in a property
value decrease of 9.9 percent. This is a
signifi cant fi nding: The 4J proposals may
reduce property values and much-needed
property tax revenues.
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