Forum sparks spirited exchange on future of school facilities

Robyn and Perry Bancroft made it a point to talk with Grand Forks School Board member Amber Flynn at the presentation on the future of school facilities Monday at South Middle School.

"I want to see more opportunity for input, a better survey and more involvement" by the community, Robyn Bancroft said.

She and her family moved to Riverside Park neighborhood almost five years ago "partially because of the school," she said, referring to Wilder Elementary where they have a child who's enrolled in third grade and another will start kindergarten this fall.

Among the scenarios presented at the forum were three that involved consolidation of West, Wilder, Winship, and Lewis and Clark elementary schools and building a new elementary or middle school.

Another option calls for renovation and expansion of Ben Franklin and Viking elementary schools.

The Bancrofts were not confident that a survey, which the forum attendees were asked to complete to gather public input for facilities planning, would accurately reflect their views.

"I'm afraid my answers are going to end up in a pie chart that's going to support one of those scenarios," Robyn Bancroft said. "(The survey) did not ask what we value."

The Bancrofts are pleased with their child's education at Wilder and the benefits of a small neighborhood school, they said.

"We know our neighbors; we know the kids in our daughter's classroom," she said.

The intended format for the forum was, after the JLG presentation, to invite people to talk with School Board members, school administrators and JLG employees in small groups at tables placed throughout the room.

But Jerry Waletzko mounted the stage and asked that the microphone be turned back on.

"I thought I was coming to a public discussion," he said.

"I'm a firm believer in neighborhood schools," he said. "I'm irritated that the School Board has chosen to diffuse our point of view by not allowing" people to speak via microphone to the assembled crowd.

"I appreciate the board wanting to save us money, but there's got to be a point where you have to have some value beyond the money," he said.

Some in the audience were heard to say, "Yes."

School Board President Doug Carpenter joined Waletzko on stage and agreed to depart from the planned format. He invited comments and took the mike to those who wished to speak.

Patti Eider said, "To the Rs that have been mentioned, I'd like to add an R-and that's "relationship."

"I don't think relationship can be as good in a school of 750 kids," she said. "The relationship with teachers, students and principals is way better in a small school."

West Elementary, where her grandchildren attend, "is a community where they all help each other, because they know each other," Eider said. "That just can't happen at large schools."

Carpenter emphasized that the board is in the beginning stages of a process of gaining public input and facilities planning that is likely to take months and possibly more than a year.

Several parents said they came to the forum to learn more about the facilities assessment and the various scenarios being considered.