The Blue Ribbon School Tragedy

I am so heartsick over the fate of Bonham Elementary, one of DISD's few Blue Ribbon Schools.  For those who don't know, last Thursday the Dallas School Board voted to close and consolidate 11 schools.  Among them was James B. Bonham Elementary. Here is a report on Bonham's award by the Dallas Morning News.  I guess this means the National Title I Distinguished Schools award isn't going to come through.  I mean, if there's no school to give it to...

For the last few months, there has been a big campaign from the communities of many of the 11 schools to oppose the school closings.   Many petitions with hundreds of signatures were turned into the Board last Thursday for many of the schools. 

But Bonham and its community was the leader of them all.  With it's national recognition, academic  successes, and consistent community support, surely the Board would look at other options?  As one Trustee says often, our outdated public school system is not designed to teach poor children how to succeed.  To that I say - my friend, Bonham did that very well.  And you closed it.

It is heartbreaking to me to see this decision for another reason.  Now we know beyond a doubt that in DISD a school cannot be "good enough" to have its program saved.  It takes a lot more than mere academics and student success to stay alive in a WADA based system.

And another bad thing - the Bonham community got zero compromise or guarantees.  That is especially shocking to me.  They came on "long and strong," as another Trustee is known to say.  They started speaking at Board Meetings and Board Briefings in the Fall.  (Speakers at Board Briefings are not that common.)  They offered alternatives that made sense based on the information given them.  They had Trustees at their community meetings.  They were even willing to discuss compromises they didn't like, such as moving but keeping the teaching and leadership staff largely intact (as one parent suggested, per this article) . 

After all, isn't it the team and not the building that really makes a program thrive?  "Copy it, don't kill it!" is a paradigm shift the magnet communities have been preaching for years.  Bonham supporters urged it, too.

We'll have to keep preaching.  The Board hasn't seen the light yet.  Despite their many assertions that the building doesn't make the school, the Board didn't give an inch on Thursday.  They gave no promises whatsoever that even one teacher would follow the children to the new school, much less all of them.  So much for preserving what works. 

DISD shot one of their prize horses for glue, but he's not quite dead yet.  Bonham is open through the end of this semester.  Between now and then, Bonham parents and neighbors need to press hard to get as much of their program and staff transplanted with the children as possible.  And, if the Robert E. Lee Elementary parents want their school to be a Blue Ribbon School, too, they'll help!

Parents have to keep preaching, or at the end of the day it will still be just all about the money.