Parents Seek Answers To Smiley Campus Uncertainties
Lack of Outreach Cited In Efforts To Address Middle School Needs
Denver Public Schools’ office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) has been holding meetings at Park Hill and Stapleton schools about how the Smiley building at 26th and Holly Street could be used to address capacity issues in the middle school enrollment zone.
Specifically, to address an increased need for middle school seats, DPS is proposing one of two scenarios to begin in Fall 2017:
1) Expand McAuliffe, which is housed at the Smiley Campus, to 400 students per grade or;
2) Have McAuliffe serve 250 students per grade and share the campus with a new middle school, with a population of 150 students per grade.
Both options bring the total number of students to 1,200.
With Venture Prep moving out of the building at the end of this school year, the Smiley Campus is already set to see a fair amount of flux.
Regardless of which scenario goes forth for 2017, DPS is stating that to meet immediate capacity needs, McAuliffe will increase its 6th grade this year from 270 to 350, increasing the current number of students from 832 to more than 900.
In addition, the new McAuliffe at Manual program will be incubated in the Smiley building for its first year, 2016-17, before moving to Manual.
Poorly communicated meetings
Park Hill Elementary families were given two days notice for the meeting on Dec. 7. Scheduled at 4 p.m., working parents could not attend. The meeting targeted 3rd and 4th grade parents, which angered 5th grade parents who will need to submit their middle school Choice forms in the coming weeks.
There was no outreach whatsoever to 3rd and 4th grade families who have children attending schools not in the Park Hill or Stapleton neighborhoods. DPS should not on the one hand tout Choice, but then exclude those families from community meetings.
The Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. neighborhood association has repeatedly asked DPS, both in person and via official communications, to keep residents informed of meetings that affect the neighborhood. GPHC was not included in any communication regarding these meetings.
With a staff of 53 members listed on its website, one has to question why FACE cannot communicate more effectively.
‘Killing the thing we love’
Bad communication aside, the meetings also took the community by surprise, given an earlier meeting held last May 11. The two options listed above were then floated to the community at a meeting that attracted more than 200 individuals from Stapleton and Park Hill. DPS Board members Landri Taylor, Mike Johnson and Happy Haynes were also present.
It was clear to anyone present that co-locating two schools in the building was not a welcome proposal. McAuliffe is by far the number one choice for both Park Hill and Stapleton communities. It is rated blue (exceptional performance) and in high demand.
A stunned parent asked, “Why add a new school and decrease the size of McAuliffe since there’s more demand for McAuliffe?”
Now parents are asking that same question, again.
Another parent asked at the May meeting, “What we love about McAuliffe comes with a certain size. We could be killing the thing we love.”
And parents are voicing the same concern, again.
Jim Hoops, a former teacher and active community member, stated then, “Right now, McAuliffe is packed and I tutor in the hall. DPS needs to think about what capacity really means. I’ve never seen a co-location that works.”
School Principal Kurt Dennis at the time cautioned, “If DPS and the community decide it’s in our best interest to grow, we want to do it intentionally to be successful.”
Indeed, the number of seats DPS is aiming for, 1200, seems to be at odds with what the building can handle and what Dennis feels is intentional growth.
On Dec. 15, Veronica Figoli, head of FACE, told the Greater Park Hill News that smaller, school-based meetings allow some parents to share ideas and ask questions in a more comfortable setting. More meetings are scheduled at Hallet, Stedman, and Smith. (See the FACE website for an updated calendar at face.dpsk12.org.)
“We know people are open to a large McAuliffe but Park Hill has the largest middle and high schools in DPS,” Figoli noted. “We need to make sure this is not too big for some of our kids.”
Not having answers
At the Dec. 7 meeting, FACE representative Amber Callender did her best to respond to questions, but admitted to not having answers to many of the parents’ concerns.
Callender repeated that the goal of the meeting was “to know what families value.” Indeed, a worksheet about “values” was handed out and attendees were urged to fill it out.
Parents asked why a meeting had not been held first with McAuliffe principal and families to ask them how they wanted to move forward. Callender noted that the McAuliffe community did not want to meet until after the New Year, a statement refuted by McAuliffe parents. “I’m a parent at McAuliffe and there’s been no conversation with us,” said one.
Callender also had to explain why one power point slide featured results from a Stapleton United Neighbors survey when the enrollment zone included a much wider swath of population that was being left out of the presentation. Callender moved on, saying, “We’re just going to skip that slide.” The slide has since been removed from the presentation on the FACE website.
Impact on McAuliffe
McAuliffe parents generally expressed dismay and one stated it was irresponsible for such a presentation to be made without talking about the impact such decisions would have on the school.
“Teachers will need to be fired,” noted one parent. “The logistics of co-location are very difficult. Sharing a building means needing a partner that has no art and sports or McAuliffe would have to cut out certain programs. At 1,080 [students] we’re squeezed already.”
Following the meeting, McAuliffe posted some information on how both proposals could impact the current program. It can be found on the school’s website, mcauliffe.dpsk12.org, under “FAQs Document.”
Most distressing seems to be the demanded increase to 350 6th graders next year, followed by a possible drastic reduction in size the following year. The document states, “A dramatic cut in size like this means we would have to hire new 6th grade teachers and then fire them at the end of the school year, no matter how great a job they’re doing. A cut to our programming would also be necessary […].
“The impact would be felt not just for one year but through at least three years trying to move this ‘bubble’ of students through the school grade by grade.”
Noted Principal Dennis, “We are reluctant to accept additional 6th grade students in 2016-17 if we are going to downsize the following school year. Hiring staff to accommodate growth and then having to terminate teachers in order to downsize would have a significant negative impact on our staff and our school community.”
‘Community is everything’
For parent Leanne Weinshenker, access to the only middle school in the Park Hill neighborhood is important. Her 6th grade daughter was placed at Bill Roberts for middle school, even though her first choice was McAuliffe.
Weinshenker says she has nothing negative to say about the school itself; the teachers there are great, she says. But forming a new community was daunting for her daughter, who joined kids who had been together for years during elementary school. Instead of their daughter walking or biking to school, the family was constantly driving her to Stapleton. That impacted their ability to take part in the Park Hill Elementary community, where a second child attends school.
Weinshenker’s daughter was able to transfer to McAuliffe following fall break when a spot opened at the school. This has impacted the whole family for the better. “Her community is everything to her,” says Weinshenker.
Park Hill’s community has seen the Smiley building go through co-location, neglect, dislocation, relocation, again and again. The creation of McAuliffe and the middle school enrollment zone were supposed to address capacity issues for years to come. Yet here we are, at the drawing board, again.
McAuliffe has only been in the building for 18 months, and its program is thriving. Meeting after meeting the message is clear: Park Hill wants a comprehensive middle school, accessible to all Park Hill families who want to attend. The DPS leadership and school board members may not want to hear it or may not be listening but the message is loud and clear: ENOUGH instability.
Another meeting is scheduled for Jan. 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at McAuliffe. It behooves all Park Hill parents and concerned community members to attend to make their voices heard.
Lynn Kalinauskas is the Education Chair for Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.