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Six hundred rioting students crowded the streets of downtown
St. John's, on February 11, 1999. They were shaking signs, stopping
traffic, and demanding to be heard.
Why did this happen on a Friday like any other in this quiet
city? Cassandra Aucoin of Brother Rice High tries to explain.
"Basically we were there to get attention, we just wanted
some media attention," she said. "We knew it wouldn't
change anything, but we wanted them to hear it."
What Cassandra and hundreds of other students are protesting
is the school reform in St. John's. The school system in the
Avalon East school district was always denominational, or based
on religion. There were strictly Catholic, Protestant, or Pentecostal
schools.
Two years ago, parents voted to change the school system to
interdenominational so a child could attend a school of their
choice and not be refused entry based on their religion. No one
was prepared for the changes that followed.
The school board identified 8,000 empty spaces in the existing
81 schools. After two years of planning, trustees proposed a
reorganization plan effective this September. They propose closing
13 schools and reconfiguring several others by changing the grade
levels of a school. For example, a kindergarten to Grade 6 school
will be changed to a Grade 7 to Grade 9 school. About 25, 000
out of 30, 000 students will be reassigned to new schools.
Lynn Green, a school board trustee, tries to justify the dramatic
changes in the school system,
"What we are striving for is to reach a level of excellence
in all schools so our children will be given the opportunity
to reach their full potential."
Students say the move breaks up lifelong friendships, destroys
school communities that have a life and spirit of their own,
and family tradition -- all to be more "efficient".
School board chairwoman Kathy Legrow has publicly explained
the rational behind changes.
"The reform is based upon increased efficiency in the
schools and school board," she said.
Some students question the efficiency of this plan.
Holly Strong of I.J. Samson Junior High is slated to attend
Booth Memorial High in the fall.
She is upset and doesn't think this will make an effective change.
"Booth may close in 2001," she explains."The
reason I was told they were doing the reorganization was to invest
more in the schools. It doesn't make much sense to invest in
a school that's going to close two years later, so I'm upset
because I'll get a second-rate education. After we made friends
and recovered from the reorganization we'll be moved from them
again, we'll be separated again."
The students also feel they don't have a say in their future.
As Melissa Hickey of Gonzaga High School says: "We can't
stand up for ourselves, we can't say anything, because we don't
even get a voice." |
