Students from Gilbert Junior High School said the campus was abuzz with excitement Wednesday after the district board voted 4-1 Tuesday to rescind a prior decision to close the campus.
There was a “huge, happier mood” on campus, seventh-grader Louis John said.
“Our math teacher told us. That made me happy,” he said. “Our teacher was so sad when the school was closed.”
Tuesday’s vote after a five-hour meeting reversed an Oct. 2 decision by the Gilbert Unified School District governing board to close Gilbert Junior High School and move Gilbert Classical Academy to the campus.
Seventh-grader Bria Fletcher said her older siblings and mom attended Gilbert Junior High.
“I just didn’t want to leave it. Some of my friends were going to different schools. I didn’t want to split from them,” she said. Bria said that at school Wednesday, “There were kids who were excited because we get to stay for our last year.”
Her mom, Kari, said many in the neighborhood didn’t support the original decision to close the campus.
“I’m not against GCA (Gilbert Classical Academy). GCA needs a new home. I just don’t think Gilbert Junior is for them. When I first heard it was closing, it was disbelief. They never gave us any heads up,” she said.
Many agreed with Kari Fletcher.
In the fall, when the community learned about the then-pending vote to close Gilbert Junior High, many questioned the process the district took to notify families.
And many of those questions circled around whether or not the district followed Arizona’s legal process for closing a school.
Karen Udall, a former board member with two graduates of Gilbert Junior High, was against the decision and raised concerns about the district’s actions.
“Our parents have said from the beginning that they did it wrong. I believed this board would do the right thing and rescind. Legally, they were in the wrong,” Udall said Wednesday. “We were grateful a majority of this board showed a huge level of fiscal and morale responsibility to the community by doing what was right.”
Current board president Staci Burk said Wednesday that doing the process right and getting community involvement led to Tuesday’s decision.
“The biggest reason is we need to do this right and engage the community on the front end,” Burk said.
The original vote closed Gilbert Junior High School following the 2013-14 school year, but left open the possibility to close it after the current school year in May, pending a recommendation by a board-created committee.
But with a new board in place in January, the direction of the board seemed to change.
The three new board members and Burk all voted Tuesday to rescind October’s decision, leaving Gilbert Junior High School open to seventh and eighth graders for the foreseeable future.
Burk was the only board member in October who voted against the closure.
Tuesday night, veteran board member Lily Tram voted against the motion to rescind the decision. Tram said Wednesday it wasn’t necessary to rescind the October vote because there was “sufficient information” from Superintendent Dave Allison, the district and the community to move Gilbert Classical Academy to the Gilbert Junior site.
“There is enough to show that strategically, logically and financially, this is really the right move to close Gilbert Junior. This is really the right move for the district and its students. I feel there was sufficient information to make that decision,” she said.
A committee will now look at all ideas to expand the popular Gilbert Classical Academy, Burk said. Gilbert Classical Academy, which offers a rigorous, classical education to students, is housed in part of a former elementary school site on Greenfield and Elliot roads.
Parents there say the school deserves a proper junior high campus and a place it can grow and enroll more interested students.
Timing also played a role in the decision, Burk said. If the board had decided to move forward with a closure, and follow the state requirements, there wouldn’t have been a vote on the matter until Feb. 26 at the earliest. But Allison told the board Tuesday night that that would hold up junior high registration for the entire district, causing problems planning next school year.
The governing board at its next meeting will discuss when the soon-to-be-established committee should come up with recommendations to expand Gilbert Classical Academy, Burk said.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com
Ivanna posted at 7:36 pm on Fri, Jan 25, 2013.
The height of stupidity for Dr. Allison to think he can give a school and its community 2 weeks notice before he tries close it and that everything will go smoothly. Anybody can imagine that that would be a disaster. However, it is equally hilarious that the new "tea-party" school board thinks that keeping underutilized schools open is somehow fiscally responsible. You don't need a math degree to figure out that GPS does not have the numbers to support keeping 6 junior highs open. Therefore, one should be closed thereby potentially opening space for an expanded GCA. Mesa has closed several schools because they have seen the writing on the wall, but they did so without all the meltdowns that happen in right-wing Gilbert....strange.
KellyTownsend posted at 4:06 am on Sat, Jan 26, 2013.
I am quite pleased with the decision to rescind the vote to close Gilbert Junior High. The abrupt notification to the parents and schools not only was terribly divisive in the community, it was arguably unlawful as well. As I said in an earlier board meeting, I am 100% certain this new Board will conduct itself within the A.R.S. parameters, as well as involve the community going forward. Regardless if the new Board chooses the exact same outcome, because it will be done lawfully this time, it will restore Gilbert's long-time tradition of family and integrity. Sometimes doing the right thing is difficult, but we do it nonetheless.
soricobob posted at 6:03 am on Sat, Jan 26, 2013.
Attention school districts! Attention! Anytime the enrollment is down, the Charter Schools are taking too many, announce you're going to close a school. Get a few shills to rally the parents, have a meeting, and "give in to their wishes". Nicely done.
kudall posted at 10:53 am on Sat, Jan 26, 2013.
The fact is that the former school board broke the law and the current board corrected that by rescinding the vote from Oct. 2. The current capacity of the schools in Gilbert based on enrollment on January 8, 2013 is 95% in our elementary schools, 93% in our junior high schools and 102% in our high schools. The boundaries in the GPS district are a mess and should be fixed prior to looking at closing any school. Additionally, facts and data must be obtained before looking to expand a school. The program may be amazing for some students but the fact is that the retention is less than 50% over the 5 years they have been opened and it costs more to educate a student there than another campus which means that the community is paying more to educate a select few. The district should have asked for much more evaluation and data prior to this decision, and the current board, by establishing a committee to evaluate the strategic plan action items, made a difficult but right decision for the entire GPS district.
Thank you, Michelle Reese, for writing an accurate fact based article.
delluser posted at 8:57 am on Sun, Jan 27, 2013.
This sends a message to Dr. Allison the rubberstamp board is no longer in place
mathteach posted at 3:42 pm on Sun, Jan 27, 2013.
The next item that needs to be addressed by the board is replacing Dr. Allison. He is CLEARLY out of touch with the community and the needs of ALL Gilbert students and parents. When one campus, with a very small number of students that has a dismal retention rate, is dictating the district monetary focus then it's time to overhaul those in charge. The board was the first step. The superintendency needs to be the second.
Happy Gilbertian posted at 3:30 pm on Mon, Jan 28, 2013.
Mathteach you have nailed it on the head! GPS neads to be cleaned out of their Administration! They have ALL lost touch with what is important..THE KIDS! They have all lost touch with how to treat the employees! From an employee stand point, GPS is the bottom of the barrel anymore. Employee use to be proud of GPS. Employees now are looking for new employment. There are so many things the news or public has not heard and it is sad that certain people get away with certain things, not because they are doing the "right" things because they are "yes" men for CERTAIN administrators!
I hope the new board CLEANS HOUSE! Get people in there that want to go good not pat each other on the back!
LiveInGilbert posted at 2:05 pm on Fri, Feb 1, 2013.
Dont worry - the new Board is cleaning house, albeit inadvertently and in a way that will damage the district, because any employee with an ability to move somewhere else is going to do so and do it quickly to escape what is happening in the GPS district. I am sure Mesa, Chandler, Tempe and other district administrators will be more than happy to skim the cream of the crop out of the District and are glad to see the madness that has enveloped GPS.
LiveInGilbert posted at 2:38 pm on Fri, Feb 1, 2013.
And the title is very misleading - I would say the community is divided at best on this decision and my opinion is that only a small minority portion of the community is "pleased." Despite kudall's comments that this is an accurate, fact-based article - think that is only true in the fact that it accurately and factually states the comments of her, some children and parents of GJHS and Lilli Tram ... period.