Lack of response delays Edgewood decision

Only 36 percent of the families of Pre-K through fourth-graders have indicated whether they want their children to attend Meadow Lane Elementary or Edgewood Developmental School this fall, school officials say.

Wayne County’s Exceptional Children’s Program manager Sonja Emerson told the school board Monday that of the 22 responses, 19 parents have chosen Meadow Lane.

But the board was unable to answer critical questions about just what reality children on both campuses would face next month — or if any Pre-K through fourth-graders would attend Edgewood — because such a large number of undecideds remain.

Emerson said she told parents that students who transfer to Meadow Lane would still ride “Edgewood buses,” that there are seven classrooms available for Edgewood students on the Meadow Lane campus and that an additional classroom would be used for “all of our physical therapy equipment and our specialized equipment.”

She also noted that Meadow Lane would not offer a wing dedicated solely to Edgewood students — that five kindergarten classrooms would be located on the same hall.

Board member Jennifer Strickland said during Monday’s meeting that she believes many of the parents who have not responded “are probably ignoring you because they don’t want to move.”

Rachel Radford, an Edgewood advocate who has been an outspoken critic of plans to alter the status quo on the Peachtree Street campus, agreed.

“If they just don’t turn the paper in, they think that’s a ‘no’ — that by not turning that paper in, it’s an automatic ‘no,’ to Meadow Lane,” she said. “They have no idea that not responding is the worst thing they could possibly do.”

Why? Because based on discussions held among board members during the meeting, should the families not respond — and respond quickly — their children could be automatically relocated to Meadow Lane. And if the number of students who choose to remain at Edgewood stays low, the board could force them to move to avoid situations where several staff members would be required, by law, to remain at Edgewood to serve only a handful of students.

“When you’ve contacted everybody you can contact, if you’ve got one first-grader who wants to remain at Edgewood, is that what’s best for that student, to be the only student in that classroom?” board chairman Chris West asked Emerson.

“No sir,” she replied.

“So, at that point in time, if we can’t get in touch with whoever, or we only have one, would it be your recommendation that we just assign those kids to Meadow Lane?” West continued.

“Yes sir,” Emerson said. “We assign those students to Meadow Lane or we hold an IEP meeting with that family and say, ‘Based on what your child’s needs are, if you choose not to go to Meadow Lane, then another separate classroom at these schools could possibly meet your child’s needs with the additional support staff that we would need to put with your child.’”

Emerson explained to the board that based on state “intensive support classroom” requirements, one teacher and a minimum of one assistant are required for every six to eight students served.

“So, if you don’t choose to go to Meadow Lane, are you going to be provided with the proper staff at Edgewood Peachtree for those parents who choose to not relocate their kids?” board member Patricia Burden asked.

“Yes ma’am. We would have to. That’s the law,” Emerson replied. “If the board continues to allow parents to make a choice between Meadow Lane or Edgewood, then we would have to … serve both locations.”

With that said, because more than 30 families are currently unaccounted for, it is unclear at this time which teachers would transfer to Meadow Lane and which would remain at Edgewood.

But Radford contends that part of the reason several parents agreed to move their children was because they were assured their regular teachers would be joining them.

“If you have half of your children at Edgewood and half of your children at Meadow Lane, are you going to split your teacher in half and put half in one place and half in the other? You can’t make those promises to these parents,” she said. “And I feel like that’s why many parents said ‘yes,’ because they were promised their teacher would be there, when in actuality, there’s no way they know. The Board of Education just said they didn’t know.”

The future of Edgewood has been a topic of conversation for many months, with every option from closing the school down to allowing all students beyond fourth grade to remain at the facility on Peachtree Street discussed.

At the board’s June 25 meeting, Superintendent Michael Dunsmore backed off the latest proposal to require Pre-K through fourth-grade students to attend Meadow Lane, recommending, instead, that only new Pre-K students be mandated to leave Edgewood. Under the current plan, parents of Pre-K through fourth-graders would be given the choice of where to send their sons and daughters.

Until that happens, no additional plans can be made.

Radford, however, has an idea of how to end the debate once and for all. She plans on attending the next meeting of Wayne County Commissioners to ask for funding for a new Edgewood — “to finally do what Edgewood has deserved for decades.”