Closing Calabro School is Unnecessary- Letter to the Editor of the Hudson Reporter (April 30, 2019)

The following is a recent letter to the editor at the Hoboken Reporter. It concerns the possibility of closing the doors of Calabro School. As I have pointed out previously, Calabro is the highest performing school not only among all of Hoboken's traditional public schools but also the highest performing public school in the entire city of Hoboken. 

It is puzzling and bewildering to me why a school district and Board leadership so entangled with poor performing schools that have not improved in over a decade would choose to shut down the one school that is performing at elevated levels not only in the city but statewide. If money is the problem, all the Board of Education and the Superintendent need to do is simply add the additional money into the budget. If the amount exceeds 2% from last year, the budget would come up for a public vote. Let the good people of Hoboken decide on the school budget in order to save Calabro. Instead, the Board of Education acts as if it is handcuffed from going over the 2% cap. This is not true. The 2% cap simply means if a district keeps their budget at 2% or under from the previous year, the school budget does not need to be publicly voted upon. -Dr. Petrosino 

Note: Calabro School recently scored in the 96.39 percentile among all New Jersey Public Schools (traditional public and charter). This is the highest academic scoring school in all of Hoboken based on NJDOE criteria. 

Students from Calabro School- Hoboken, NJ 

Dear Editor:

Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson is recommending Calabro close and send teachers/kids to Brandt, based on budgetary/space concerns to add preschool classes. I have two happy Calabro kids. Evicting our community is unnecessary.
Our kids are thriving/successful, in community and on paper. We should be celebrated, not evicted.
Per the 2018-2019 district budget, Wallace is currently overcapacity, costing $13,271/pupil vs. $16,066 at capacity. Calabro costs $16,658/pupil at capacity, is currently under capacity, costing more. Connors is the most expensive at $17,944. Why not move some Wallace or Connors kids to Calabro?
Gaining a stage/rooftop playground sound great. However, Calabro is 400 ft. from Church Square Park’s grass/trees, and I can see/hear my kids just fine at assemblies.
Our kids will be better off? That questions why I send my kids there to begin with. If you feel your child is better off elsewhere, go. No hard feelings. Really. Do you have to close my kids’ school on your way out?
It’s just a building? Tell that to anyone forced from their home.
Kids will leave: joining a sibling at a charter school, move from Hoboken, public school closer to home.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

We met with Mayor Bhalla, who said he chooses charter schools because his family values choice. So do we. Wish we had it, that deadline’s passed.
Our kids will learn from the closure and adapting? True. However, I have other lessons for them. When a governing body accepts public responses, we can resist proposals. It’s okay to speak up, ask questions, research, openly disagree with positions. Change is possible.

Parents have agreed on these points. These are not my own words, but ours:
1. We object to B.O.E.’s proposed plan to close the district’s highest performing elementary school and displace our children, especially at this late date.
2. The timing of the plan’s communication – removed our abilities to seek other education options, betrayed a lack of transparency, and demonstrates lack of foresight/long-term strategy.
3. We believe the B.O.E. has not fully considered alternative solutions to meet the city’s Pre-K and budgeting needs without closing Calabro.
4. We question the city’s long-term plan for providing space/facilities to meet Hoboken’s education needs.

We propose the following: maintain status quo, not sacrifice the district’s highest performing school. If, indeed there is no other place to add pre-K classrooms, the BOE considers alternative solutions to defray dual problems of pre-K space/budget cuts facing the district. Eliminate special Calabro classrooms, keep special classes (art, music, science, foreign language) in homerooms, freeing up four classrooms for Pre-K.

To save money, move Passport to Learning to Brandt, return to the district providing aftercare, serve lunch via satellite, and share school nurse/administrative staff. Calabro families need at the very least one year to plan for such a change.

Kara Cohen

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You can contact your members of the Hoboken Board of Education at the following addresses:

Sharyn Angley
President
sangley@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Thomas Kluepfel
Vice President
tkluepfel@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Malani Cademartori
Board Member
mcademartori@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Sheillah Dallara
Board Member
sdallara@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Alex De La Torre
Board Member
adelatorre@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Jennifer Evans
Board Member
jevans@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Chetali Khanna
Board Member
ckhanna@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Ailene McGuirk
Board Member
amcguirk@hoboken.k12.nj.us

Melanie Tekirian
Board Member
mtekirian@hoboken.k12.nj.us