Hello fellow PTAers,
I know some of you from past interactions about schools issues. For those of you I have not yet met, my name is Joshua Room. I am the former PTA Co-President at Malcolm X, and in my “emeritus” role I have become actively involved in the school crowding issue (on behalf of Malcolm X). You may have seen my op-ed on this issue on Berkeleyside on the first day of school.
In any event, members of the MX community continue to engage in dialogue with members of the School Board, the Superintendent, the PTA Council, and others, about the demographic “surge” that has so crowded Berkeley schools, including MX. We fully recognize that MX is not alone in feeling this way, and would like to coordinate as much as possible with other schools.
To that end, I want to be sure all of you are aware that the October 8 School Board meeting (7:30 pm at 2020 Bonar Street) will be the first of a series of meetings the Board is planning to have on assessing the crowding issue and making some sort of plan, first for the expected (further) increase in enrollment expected next year, and then for the longer term. We (MX) are planning to have a presence there, and would love to coordinate with everyone. We have issues that are particular to us, but we do not believe nor do we want to convey that we deserve special treatment or are the only ones having similar issues.
Among other things, we intend to communicate to the Board that we do not see increasing class sizes as a defensible response to the increasing student population (especially not two years prior to a projected BSEP re-authorization).
Comments