The Albany City School Board hired Educational Legacy Planning in September to provide advice on the "problem" of rising enrollment in the city's public schools. The Board met with Robert Hendriks of Educational Legacy Planning, who has advised the district in recent years regarding the new high school proposal, on October 20 and November 19 to discuss the situation.
Hendriks told the Board that when considering short-term solutions (meaning ones that would go into effect starting at the beginning of next school year, in September 2015), it should look for viable “low impact” options that affect the fewest number of students. “Low impact” solutions should also be ones that don’t exacerbate existing problems.
According to Hendriks, having some 6th graders in elementary school and some in the middle school is a recipe for disaster. This causes issues in 7th grade because half the population is new and not familiar with the way things are done in middle school, and these kids only have two years to assimilate. Middle schools that only cover 2 grades just don’t work, according to Hendriks.
Hendriks commented that Hackett is a very large school, with 150,000 square feet. He said that typically, a 750-student school would only have 110,000 square feet. He said although a middle school with 750 students might be tough to manage in terms of discipline issues, the physical plant at Hackett is definitely large enough to accommodate that many kids.
However, Hendriks said that currently, Myers and Hackett do not have the space to hold all of the district’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
But Hendriks warned that opening a new middle school is a long-term solution, not a short-term solution. He said the Board would probably want a new middle school to serve the city’s north side, but that the 50 North Lark building was “not really ready for prime time now.”
Hendriks commented that the 50 North Lark building had “way too much capacity” we don’t need. He does not think it would make a good elementary school at all. It could be remodeled to be a middle school with one team per grade and “lots of elbow room,” if interior walls were knocked down.
In terms of grade configuration, Hendriks said that K-8 schools can be successful, but not when the district only has one “lone wolf” K-8 school, as is the case in Albany with North Albany Academy. Transiency issues in urban districts mean that typically, only about 20% of students who start attending a K-8 school in kindergarten would still be there in 8thgrade. However, the K-8 configuration can work well if there are multiple K-8 schools in a district.
On the other hand, according to Hendriks, K-8 schools are the most expensive option overall. He also said that middle schools are the most expensive buildings to operate.
Hendriks encouraged the Board to reflect on whether the district should continue to keep small school size as one of its top priorities. Hendriks said that some of the highest-performing elementary schools in the state have as many as 800-1000 students, and pointed out that a large school could still have a low student:faculty ratio simply by adding more staff members.Hendriks told the Board that when considering short-term solutions (meaning ones that would go into effect starting at the beginning of next school year, in September 2015), it should look for viable “low impact” options that affect the fewest number of students. “Low impact” solutions should also be ones that don’t exacerbate existing problems.
According to Hendriks, having some 6th graders in elementary school and some in the middle school is a recipe for disaster. This causes issues in 7th grade because half the population is new and not familiar with the way things are done in middle school, and these kids only have two years to assimilate. Middle schools that only cover 2 grades just don’t work, according to Hendriks.
Hendriks commented that Hackett is a very large school, with 150,000 square feet. He said that typically, a 750-student school would only have 110,000 square feet. He said although a middle school with 750 students might be tough to manage in terms of discipline issues, the physical plant at Hackett is definitely large enough to accommodate that many kids.
However, Hendriks said that currently, Myers and Hackett do not have the space to hold all of the district’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
But Hendriks warned that opening a new middle school is a long-term solution, not a short-term solution. He said the Board would probably want a new middle school to serve the city’s north side, but that the 50 North Lark building was “not really ready for prime time now.”
Hendriks commented that the 50 North Lark building had “way too much capacity” we don’t need. He does not think it would make a good elementary school at all. It could be remodeled to be a middle school with one team per grade and “lots of elbow room,” if interior walls were knocked down.
In terms of grade configuration, Hendriks said that K-8 schools can be successful, but not when the district only has one “lone wolf” K-8 school, as is the case in Albany with North Albany Academy. Transiency issues in urban districts mean that typically, only about 20% of students who start attending a K-8 school in kindergarten would still be there in 8thgrade. However, the K-8 configuration can work well if there are multiple K-8 schools in a district.
On the other hand, according to Hendriks, K-8 schools are the most expensive option overall. He also said that middle schools are the most expensive buildings to operate.
According to Hendriks, the “sweet spot” for ideal size of a K-8 school is 600-750 students – this is the scale that allows for specialty programs like art, technology, and athletics (some of the things currently not available to 6th graders at the elementary schools) to be financially viable.
In Hendriks’ experience, it typically costs a district between $750K - $1M annually to open (and operate, in subsequent years) a new elementary school, and $1.5 - $1.8M annually to open and operate a new middle school. He commented that “opening a school is an expensive proposition,” and suggested the district at least consider putting the money into people and programs instead. Hendriks’ initial opinion, based on his visits to Albany’s schools this fall, is that we “could solve our problems without opening a new school.”
Hendriks plans to speak to school principals and further refine his estimates of how many students each school could comfortably accommodate. He will present some ideas for the Board to consider at their December 11 meeting.
Here are the slides from each of the district’s grade configuration meetings so far. Note that the October 20 presentation is principally a summary of the administration and Board’s opinions, and the November 19 presentation contains statistical information on each individual building.
October 20 grade configuration presentation: Strategic Conversation
November 19 grade configuration presentation: School Capacity and Grade Configuration Analysis
Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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