The Syracuse City School District’s proposed budget recommends that Elmwood Elementary School close due to budget deficits and the school’s history of poor academic performance.

The district is currently facing a $35 million budget deficit and does not have the funds to provide the school with the resources necessary to improve its performance. Closing Elmwood Elementary would save the district $3 million, said Commissioner of Education Michelle Mignano.

In the 2010-11 academic school year, only 22 percent and 20 percent of third-graders were proficient in English and math, respectively. Fourth- and fifth-graders performed worse in both subjects, according to an April 10 article by The Post-Standard.

Given the circumstances, Mignano said she agrees with the suggestion to close the school.

‘I support giving those children the best fighting chance at a quality education by putting them in places we have supports for them,’ she said.

The school district has tried to close Elmwood in the past, but was met with opposition by parents and community members. This year, though, the community has been generally supportive. Those who attended the parents’ meeting held by the superintendent found that the data and reasoning behind the closing was made much clearer to them this year than last year, Mignano said.

‘I think it’s too early to suggest that the bulk of people are completely on board,’ she said. ‘I believe there’s a better framework now to understand why and to manage it both emotionally and communally.’

Another factor in the closing of Elmwood is that it is not the home school for about half of its students, meaning that these students have a school closer to them they can attend. The other half will be given priority in the lottery the district holds each year for students who wish to transfer to a different school in the district. The lottery is subject to space availability at the various schools, said Syracuse Common Councilor Nader Maroun.

Commissioner of Education Calvin Corriders said he believes the other schools in the district have the capacity to handle the students from Elmwood. Enrollment numbers saw a slight spike last year but have generally been on the decline for the past seven or eight years due to new charter schools and various other factors, he said.

‘There will be an increased enrollment at some of the other schools,’ he said. ‘But if you look at our student population, we’ve lost enough students to close two or three schools.’

The Syracuse City School District Board of Education will vote on the budget April 18. If the budget is approved, then by extension, the school will close, Corriders said.

In the last two years, the school district has struggled to balance its budget as costs continue to exceed revenue. More than 700 positions have been cut, and the district was forced to use $10 million from its savings account last year. To prevent more layoffs, Superintendent Sharon Contreras proposed the district borrow $24 million against future state aid, a process known as chapter 1 accrual, said Commissioner of Education Bill Bullen in a statement.

‘This helps us avoid deep cuts this year, but it potentially moves our district closer to financial insolvency and sets us up for disaster next year if the state does not change the way they finance our urban school districts,’ Bullen said.

Maroun said the Syracuse City School District needs a lot of improvement and cautioned that such a big turnaround cannot happen all at once. However, he said he believes Contreras is working hard to put the school district on the right path.

‘I believe that she and her team are moving us in that direction and that will be significant for our community and for our kids to have the best education possible,’ he said. ‘We’re going to get there.’

jliannet@syr.edu 

Published on April 18, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta