Yes, the Brick School should close as a classroom

I have not spent much time on the Brick School issue because I see it as a distraction from the real big issue facing Franklin. Today, Tracy MacLoed has a good letter to the editor of the Milford Daily News calling for the Brick School to close, so I'll add my 2 cents.

As a one room school, Brick is well past its usefulness.

Consider the disadvantage those kindergarters have compared to their counterparts in the other elementary schools. Yes, they have a fine teacher and assistant. Do they have in school access to the remainder of the school facilities like

• The gym, to play with others in their grade? No.
• The cafeteria, to mingle with others in their grade level? No.
• The library to explore for books and resources to use? No.
• Upper grade students who can "buddy" with them on collaborative learning projects? No.

Consider the safety factor. There are two adults with the class but they are separated from all other assistance normally provided for by the elementary school facilities in Franklin. Heaven forbid, some crisis situation occur there and the root cause analysis come back and say that the school should never have been operating as it was.

Franklin has set a record for operating a one room school. No one can take this from us. There is no need to continue. In today's environment, it is no longer a valuable experience to be educated in that room. I do not want to condone an imperfect education being granted to some students while a much better experience is provided to the remainder of their peers.

The Brick School build can be useful for some other functions but as a classroom to provide a quality education, the time has come to close it.

The cost of the Brick School is a drop in the bucket. The more important issue overall is how we handle the budget override. As you may be aware, I have written extensively on those reasons over the last several weeks. If you are not aware, you can read the Franklin Override Collection here.

Vote Yes, May 22

Vote in person or via absentee ballot