School Board holds out for more options on Montessori
About 80 parents, educators weigh in at Tuesday meeting
Juneau School Board members decided to broaden their search Tuesday for a home for the district's Montessori program.
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Supporters say the program needs its own home, instead of being spread out among various schools around the district. Parents of students not in the program have said they don't want their children's schooling disrupted by any potential move. And the School Board is trying to figure out a situation that works for everyone.
The solution Tuesday, after about 80 parents and educators crammed into a meeting room at the Juneau Fire Hall downtown to voice their opinions on the matter, was to look at previously ignored options.
"We have to expand the scope," said Sean O'Brien, a School Board member who chaired the meeting.
The Facilities Committee, which convened the Tuesday meeting and is made up of School Board members, directed district staff members to come up with other options, which include looking at classrooms outside the Mendenhall Valley or renting space.
School Board Superintendent Peggy Cowan said previous school boards had decided years ago to house the Montessori program, which is optional and uses a lottery system to select students, in the Valley because the district's other two optional programs were in downtown Juneau.
Using public funds to rent space for the Montessori school when empty classrooms exist in other parts of the district seemed impractical, said School Board member Destiny Sargeant. But, she said, the opposition to the current options showed that new ideas were needed.
The current suggestions include moving Montessori classes to either Mendenhall River Community School or Riverbend Elementary School, or keeping the program as is, spread out at various schools in the district, and limiting its expansion.
"None of the options that are on the board right now are pleasing to the majority of the people," Sargeant said. "I'm suggesting we actually open it up to some new things that previously were not allowed."
Finding a home for the Montessori program has been an issue since it first became a public schooling option for parents in 1994. The district's Montessori program has about 100 students in first through eighth grades and stresses small learning groups and community teaching.
Parents on both sides of the issue said they were pleased by the decision to look at other options. Stephanie Allison, who has two children in the Montessori program, said she was happy a decision wasn't made without more discussion with everyone involved. She said the limited resources of the district means that everyone's desires can't be completely met.
"It is a balancing act and I do believe that some compromises will have to be reached," she said.
Christine Bryson, co-chairwoman for the Mendenhall River Community School site council and who opposes expanding the Montessori program at that school, said she also was pleased to see the board take a broader approach.
"That's the best way to move forward," Bryson said.