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Hawthorne supporters make pleas to school board

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BY MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007 - 12:10:24 am CDT

Samuel Stanley, a third-grader at Hawthorne Elementary, had a question Tuesday night, in the school auditorium crowded with parents, school staff and neighborhood residents.

So he made his way to the front of the room, near the Lincoln Board of Education members sitting at a long table, and spoke into the microphone.

“Why do you want to close Hawthorne?”

Story Photo
Hawthorne Elementary, 300 S 48th St.

Related Link(s):


See the district's boundary plan (.PDF format)
See the petition

Go to

www.petitiononline.com/hawPTO/petition.html



If you go

The Lincoln Board of Education will hold two public meetings to gather input on proposed boundary changes and school closings.

* 7 p.m. Tuesday, Hawthorne Elementary, 300 S. 48th St.

* 7 p.m. Monday, Dawes Middle School, 5130 Colfax Ave.

 Samuel was among well over 120 people who crammed into the unairconditioned auditorium to let the school board know what they think of a proposal to close the elementary school at the end of the school year.

Samuel’s feelings echoed nearly everyone who took the microphone. He doesn’t like the idea. At all.

“I think it’s a really good school,” he said. “I would be separated from a lot of my friends and I do not want that to happen.”

The meeting was punctuated by applause after many of the speakers questioned the board’s reasons for considering closing the school.

A school board subcommittee has proposed closing Hawthorne as part of two proposals for redrawing school boundaries districtwide, an effort spurred by voter passage of a $250 million bond issue last year.

The proposals recommend numerous changes, particularly in the outlying areas of Lincoln where new schools are being built. But the most controversial suggestions are to close Hawthorne, 300 S. 48th St., and Dawes Middle School, 5130 Colfax Ave.

Suzanne Borovich, the parent of an Eastridge student, said the effects of closing Hawthorne go beyond Hawthorne.

Eastridge and Randolph schools would be more crowded and people who transfer to those schools for day care or other reasons might be unable to do so anymore.

“You’re not just affecting one school, you’re upsetting the whole darn apple cart,” she said.

 Several neighborhood residents said they didn’t think the census information accurately represented the housing situation in the neighborhood.

Larry Frisch said many of the older families whose children are grown will be moving, and families looking for affordable housing will move in. The location is perfect for working families and day care is available, he said.

“We’ve seen a steady march of young people moving to the suburbs,” he said. “But ... I think they’ll be drawn back to this neighborhood by economics and the American dream of home ownership.”

Chip Stanley, another parent and neighborhood resident, said supporters would go door to door to get more accurate information for the district about how many young families are in the area.

Erik Hubl, a neighborhood resident, said when supporters distributed fliers to all the homes in the attendance area they counted 30 for sale.

“This school is symbolic of the heart of the neighborhood,” he said.”

District officials said about half of Hawthorne’s 250 students are English Language Learners bused to Hawthorne, many from the Hartley area. LPS would open an ELL site at Hartley if Hawthorne closes.

Fahima Nashir, who is from Afghanistan and whose daughter is in the ELL program, said her older daughter attended a different ELL site and she much prefers Hawthorne.

“It’s terrible,” she said before the meeting. “This is the only school that I have seen that they are so friendly.”

Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com.


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Well............. wrote on September 4, 2007 5:54 am:
" Here we have a school that folks actually care about. Why do they want to close it? SO they can add all those ugly trailers to other schools? There is an elementary school in south Lincoln that was designed to add "pods" when the population in that area grew. Did they add these? NO! All they did was drag in some of these trailers and put them to use. And what about when they closed Whittier YEARS ago? Excuse? Asbestos in the paint and the walls. How many years has this place sat idle? One would think that, after all THIS time, SOMEONE would have figured it would be cheaper to refurbish this majestic building and put it to use for SOMETHING. Apartments, offices, here's a thought....A SCHOOL!But then that's just a thought... "
wlg wrote on September 4, 2007 9:14 am:
" I commend Ms. Strand on the petition drive. I do not want to put a dampner on it, but when the board was talking about closing Havelock school, we parents did the same thing. It didn't matter. They still closed Havelock. Good Luck Ms. Strand I hope you succeed where others have failed. "
courious wrote on September 4, 2007 9:17 am:
" I have substituted all throughout the district, Hawthorne is without a shadow of a doubt the best elementary Lincoln has to offer. They have a strong staff with a great support system, oh ya and they also have school pride (something that is unseen in almost all elementary schools). "
parent wrote on September 4, 2007 9:30 am:
" The old Whittier Jr high school is no longer LPS's problem. THe University bought that some years back. As for Hawthorne I am a parent of a student. We will fight to keep this school opended for as long as we possibly can. We hope the public will come out in support of keeping a good, quality school open. How many schools can you go into and the teachers and staff know exactly who you are and will call you by your name? Hawthorne has been proven to be a great school for the last 80 years. Please help us keep this tradition alive. "
What the? wrote on September 4, 2007 9:56 am:
" The PTO is trying to drum up participation by having pizza at their meeting to save the school? Sounds like folks don't really care that much about the school, but, hey wait, they are having pizza, let's go! "
Doug wrote on September 4, 2007 12:27 pm:
" I'm curious as to how you know that almost all other elementary schools don't have school pride. What do you measure school pride by? My kids went to Hawthorne and while a fine school I would say it is far from the best Lincoln has to offer. It is a run down building in a blighted neighborhood. You have no idea how great other Lincoln schools are. In fact, the BEST schools in lincoln aren't any of the Lincoln PUBLIC Schools. "
Thanks wrote on September 4, 2007 6:30 pm:
" I want to thank the school board for looking at schools that maybe should be closed. I would rather see some close than continue to poor taxpayers money down a "rat hole" and not having the guts to do the right thing. From all I can read, which has been a lot, close Hawthorne and save a lot of dollars. Thanks school board for having the courage to make the correct decision. "
best schools wrote on September 4, 2007 6:35 pm:
" the best schools in Lincoln aren't any of the Public schools? - hey Doug I've been in plenty of the parochial schools in town (had a daughter in one and transferred her to LPS because she wasn't challenged at all at the church school) and they have tons of issues and problems - they just don't get the press that the public schools do. If LPS was so bad, we'd have a large competing structure of private (non-church) schools in town. As for Hawthorne, I don't have enough information to make an informed opinion, but that doesn't stop most LJS online whiners from stating their version of the truth. "
Shane wrote on September 4, 2007 10:45 pm:
" The problem with closing schools is that: 1) Lincoln Public Schools sold their bond on the fact that Lincoln schools were overcrowded or would be. Now, before any new schools are built they are already planning on closing two. 2) How much money will they save? They are closing NO schools and cutting NO employees so how are the saving any money? These schools are being "closed" so that the buildings can be repurposed into a home for Bryan Alternative High School and a new Alternative Middle School. 3) Why didn't they tell the public they were going to close schools when they asked them to pass the school bond issue? Seems to me that established neighborhood schools are getting the shortend of the stick so that schools in new developements can get all the latest bells and whistles. The public needs to speak out about this breach of trust on the part of the Lincoln Public Schools. "
Neighbor wrote on September 5, 2007 6:23 am:
" Smaller schools are better schools. We moved here from Colorado just after Columbine, and I looked for a school where not just the teacher, but every staff person would know my childrens' names. Too bad the same idea doesn't aply to the high schools here, which apparantly have to be huge so that they can compete with other huge high schools in football. "
Terry wrote on September 5, 2007 3:20 pm:
" Good luck to the parents and students of Hawthorne. If LPS has been watching State Government, they'll go ahead and do whatever they want to do regardless of the will of the people. The socialists running the government schools have no interest in quality education, or "economy." What they want is indoctrination and uniformity, and the citizens be damned. Look what happened in this state with the Class I schools! The voters of Nebraska repealed the law that shut 'em down, the State Supreme Court said if that law was repealed, they'd be back in business. They're still shut down, because the educrats want it that way, and the Governor, Attorney General, and Education Commissioner refuse to abide by the law. Keep fighting, Hawthorne folks, and if you have to, recall the entire school board. Elect people that represent the voters, not the School Administrators. "
Kathy wrote on September 9, 2007 1:22 pm:
" Hawthorne neighbor and parent of two Harthone grads... I always felt Hawthorne Elementary was a "hidden treasure". For years, Hawthorne has been used to support other progams in addition to providing high quality education to our neighborhood children. One program it supported prior to ELL was Special Ed. My children had such a great opportunity to attend a school with such diversity at a young age. They used to "take a number" as to who would get to help a child in a wheel chair to the cafeteria. My oldest daughter has gone on to teach in a non-subarban school in the Omaha area. Hawthorne made a huge difference in our children's development and outlook on life. Now....we are talking of closing a school that provides opportunity to celebrate diversity. Yes, there are other diverse elementary schools in Lincoln. But losing even ONE is a setback to those that choose diversity. LPS will save 0.1% of their annual budget by closing Hawthorne!! (Info from Board of Education Boundaries SubCommittee member). "

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