Bob Shiles
Staff writer
LUMBERTON — Parents of students at Tanglewood Elementary School say that kindergarten classes at the school are overcrowded, but according to the the system’s superintendent, steps are already being taken to fix the problem.
“For the second year in a row, we find ourselves in need of a fifth kindergarten classroom,” Angela Bono-Severy, president of Tanglewood’s PTA, told members of the Public Schools of Robeson County school board during their meeting Tuesday. “Our kindergarten classrooms were overcrowded last year, too. Last year the board was able to provide a teacher to Tanglewood, but not a place for her to teach. The school is out of space.”
Bono-Severy, who has two children at the school, a third-grader and a kindergartner, was one of four speakers to address the board concerning overcrowding at the school. All the speakers said that there needs to be a fifth kindergarten classroom established quickly.
“We, as a PTA, ask that you provide Tanglewood Elementary School with a teacher, an assistant and a new mobile unit,” Bono-Severy said. “This is the only reasonable solution.”
Johnny Hunt, the school’s superintendent, said after the meeting that he was told Monday by the school’s principal that a large conference room at the school is going to be turned into a classroom. A teacher is already available for the class, he said.
According to Bono-Severy, the student population at Tanglewood has increased from of 501 students in 2009 to its current enrollment of 574.
“In 2010, we gave up our music room to accommodate a new class. Teachers, in turn, gave up a work space to make a new music room,” she said. “The children now have music in what amounts to a large closet. Tanglewood has reconfigured and rearranged classrooms until no more options are available. We are officially out of space at Tanglewood.”
Matthew Rich, pastor of First Presbyterian Church and the father of a Tanglewood kindergarten student, told the board that the 27 students in three of Tanglewood’s kindergarten classes and 28 students in the fourth classroom exceeds the state requirement that no more than 24 students be maintained in a kindergarten classroom.
“Studies show that small class sizes, less than 20 children, in each of the first four years of school increase graduation rates for all students and nearly doubles the graduation rate of low-income children,” he said.
Rich told the board that not having the adequate space and resources for kindergarten students makes the students feel they are not wanted at the school.
“(The message is) you are not wanted here. We are not going to provide you what you need to succeed,” he said.
Josh Whitley, the father of a kindergarten student, also told the board that 27 students in a kindergarten classroom without proper resources makes it impossible for the students to receive a quality education.
“There are not enough computers available for 27 students,” he said. “All of the students cannot eat lunch together because the tables only have room for 24 students. There are less opportunities for hands-on instruction.”
Mike Smith, the school board’s chairman, said after the meeting that overcrowding at Tanglewood and other schools in the district will be addressed.
“There are other schools in similar situations,” he said. “I feel confident the administration will do its best to correct the problems.”
Board member Dwayne Smith, whose district includes Tanglewood, told The Robesonian after the meeting that the complaints raised about overcrowding and lack of resources at the school were “very legitimate.”
“I’ve seen the problems,” he said. “All they (parents) want is help.”
In other business:
— School board members were informed that the district’s Early College High School has been named as a national Blue Ribbon School for 2012. The school was one of nine in North Carolina to be receive this designation. Only 269 schools in the nation received this honor for the most recent year.
— Approved a new K-2 report card that is designed to make it easier for parents to follow their child’s academic progress.
Stuff like this causes children to become angry and resentful at an early age. Those kids from the poorer schools come and see "other" kids with nice shoes and clothes they go home and tell mom they want the expensive nice shoes moms says no, kid gets mad. When a small group of angry kids whos moms wont buy em the shoes gang up, they're mad at "Billy" cause he's got those shoes and they start picking on "Billy", calling him names and if he's a straight A student, they call him a NERD,..well then he looses his self confidence starts avoiding those mean "new" kids, quits doing his homework and participating in class and his grades start to mimick the "new" kids. At least they wont pick on him so much now. Watch very carefully.....
"You, yall, they, them", are the same as the ones YOU refer to as "us,we, our", so don't get so bent out of shape when you hear those words...
There's a larger issue of the school buildings in the country being old and out dated. They all need to be renovated, and many need to be expanded.
Using this guideline, the proposed classroom would need to be between 966 square feet and 1,150 square feet (computed using 23 students.)
I applaud Tanglewood parents for addressing the School Board to seek adequate staffing and facilities for their children. As a community, we should all be concerned with under staffing and overcrowding in our schools. In fact, we should demand the best for our county's children - not just "adequate."
JoAnne Branch
I apologize for giving you any attention as your comments always reflect a need for ATTENTION!!!
Make this school a "no free lunch or breakfast school" and your numbers will go back down.
At a parent meeting last year, with less than 10 people, I had to single file into the conference room to work our way around the conference table. Cubbies, supply storage, reading space, group space, teacher desk, students desks, technology. How's that work?
Please don't set up the principal for failure or as a scapegoat. First, as of this morning no teacher has been hired. My understanding is that the position was to be posted yesterday but there is no link on the PSRC site yet. Second, the principal was given no choice beyond you're the principal, you fix it. This is a board, or central administration (depending on with whom you talk), created issue and they limited the solutions by taking a mobile unit off the table - the best solution beyond having not created the problem in the first place. The real choice was to pick the lesser of two evils: create combined classrooms from kindergarten through fourth grade disrupting every level within the school or convert a conference room. No educator worth their salt would disrupt an entire school even if it means 'choosing' a poor choice. The principal has been hog tied and asked to get out. I imagine construction has to be approved by someone beyond the building too.
Lastly, I'm unclear how 108 students (4 classes, 27 each) spread across 5 classes (new average class size of 21.6) gets Tanglewood below the state requirement of a class average of 21 with no more than 24 in any single class. It certainly does not get enrollment numbers below the threshold described by Dr. Rich. I'll concede that was never a possibility, but it should be an expectation and a goal for both the board and central administration.
Disappointing effort. Perhaps a lesson in politics too.
No worry though, the Tanglewood community - the administrative staff, teachers, family members, and students will come together and make this work. We shouldn't have to but we will. Perhaps if you've read this far you'll volunteer - in Tanglewood or any other PSRC school. They all need your support.
Make it a good day.
Mike Severy
Robesonian; give us some statistics!