[0:00] All right, we're going to open to the key, great elementary school configuration study open. The time is 6.4. Three, like I said, and we are holding a meeting at the Alpine School District Special Education Office, located at 350 North State in London. We will now open a hearing to receive input from the public with respect to the great configuration study of a kindergarten through fifth grade configuration for the elementary school in the tip of the Nova School District, taking effect in the 27-28 school year. Those who are signed up to speak have two minutes to comment.

[0:28] When beginning your comments, please remember to state your name and address for the record.

[0:33] We appreciate those who have taken time to attend and provide input.

[0:37] The board will listen to and consider the comments received as part of its ongoing study and

[0:41] decision-making process.

[0:43] First of all, first of all, we have Michelle Holer, Ben Dayama, Patnam, and the Lloydel-Johample.

[0:50] All I do is I forget to say my name.

[0:53] Okay.

[0:53] So Michelle Hager and I would continue.

[0:57] But my kids go to Pulitzer Elementary for the DOI program.

[1:01] So my concern will be that they are missing out on a four-year immersion.

[1:07] I grew up in Cherry Hill, and I did feel I dare.

[1:11] So at that point we had bull day, all the satisfaction immersion.

[1:15] I don't know when it changed, but it's now half day.

[1:18] so that you're back in Spanish after English, and I just don't think with that configuration that five years isn't up to, to make it worth, you know, to commit them.

[1:31] We also drive across town for that commitment, and we commit to secure them. I do a lot of research.

[1:45] Hello, my name is Patnam, I live in England, and I have my first daughter in actually two.

[1:53] Orchard, in the BL program, we don't want to start it in an argument here.

[2:00] Like she said, we make a commitment to the district.

[2:05] I actually have been more family-high to get closer to Orchard.

[2:10] And the orchard is not just for the DIY program.

[2:13] It's a fantastic school.

[2:15] The principal right now, Bowman, understands the needs of families like mine.

[2:21] I grew up in Mexico, so I'm at that thing to the American culture.

[2:26] I'm the only person here in the US that speaks Spanish to my kids.

[2:32] And this is not a plus program.

[2:35] It's not just for kids.

[2:35] that have up in those standards too.

[2:38] It's like my kids is half of their intensity.

[2:41] Just imagine one of your more loving kids, your grandkids,

[2:45] or a cousin, or someone that you know,

[2:47] that you can communicate with them,

[2:49] because you don't speak the language that they speak.

[2:52] And that's my case, in my little family.

[2:55] But just last week, I saw a kindergarten boy

[2:58] that only speaks Spanish for kindergarten,

[3:01] hopefully getting into the DLI program in North York

[3:05] or that in a Spanish lifetime, to get into the environment.

[3:10] The day that that kid goes to the real program,

[3:13] the next year, he will post so much safe in this.

[3:18] I do feel like a family in orchard.

[3:21] And not just orchids that are caps in a Spanish.

[3:26] Also the kids that are learning from our kids,

[3:29] from our cultures.

[3:30] If you have seen orchards, they are involved in our cultures.

[3:34] with the whole community. They're taking us in. We're sharing with them. So, all that is in the table for Orchard.

[3:41] And I even live in Linden. I make, you know, that's right. And I'm very afraid.

[3:45] The W and the family are making that.

[3:50] Okay.

[3:53] Hi, my name is Lydelle Johansson. I'm from Orem, and my kids go to Mountview High School, Lake Ridge, and Cherry Hill.

[3:59] And I am for keeping sixth grade in elementary school.

[4:05] I look at it as a safe haven for all the things

[4:09] that have already been said.

[4:11] I also want to say thank you to the school board.

[4:13] There's so many hard choices and I have heard so many great

[4:16] things about you.

[4:17] Thank you.

[4:23] I don't know if the studies will be published.

[4:26] I'm interested to find out how the discussion ever got going.

[4:29] through ninth grade into high school,

[4:31] it's our high school's bigger,

[4:33] and can all of a sudden take more kids.

[4:36] Are they gonna be putting buildings out back

[4:38] and paying more for that?

[4:39] What's the real cost in long term?

[4:42] I assume a lot of this is going on,

[4:44] just come down the money, right?

[4:46] We had a big district,

[4:49] and we're gonna have to make some financial cuts.

[4:52] Anyway, I do, I just really didn't plan on talking,

[4:56] but I wanted to say don't just move six grades up because ninth grade moved out and for all

[5:03] of these reasons thank you for doing what's best for our kids and I'm interested in the study and

[5:10] for it to be sure that we do what's best for the kids. I also thought about well I can still look

[5:17] from these guys what about DLA schools where we put multiple languages in one school, ALL schools

[5:23] schools where we just have all ALL kids in the school.

[5:27] I loved seventh and eighth grade, I taught in provost school district, and I love just

[5:34] having two grades, so they're not that big space between seventh graders and ninth graders.

[5:40] But thank you.

[5:42] Okay, we now have Seth Ricks, Ben LeBree-Mawson, and then Liz, can you?

[5:49] I am Seth Ricks.

[5:50] I didn't know I signed up to talk.

[5:52] I thought you don't have to sign in with the cut on the phone.

[5:54] No, I have no thoughts.

[5:56] I was a bit afraid.

[5:58] It's almost bearing regarding making our elementary's K through 5.

[6:03] So I need a discussion about solidations or programs.

[6:07] Yeah.

[6:08] What do you think it is?

[6:09] Configurations.

[6:11] You were just thinking.

[6:12] You were just thinking.

[6:13] Yeah.

[6:14] You were just thinking.

[6:15] Yeah.

[6:17] Okay.

[6:17] Okay, I'll be back with everyone.

[6:19] Okay, got a positive liberty.

[6:21] And then Liz, anybody else who wants to have any cake?

[6:25] Just let me know if that happens.

[6:27] Okay, I'm fairly nervous.

[6:29] I wrote it down and I thought it was pretty good.

[6:32] Not too so. I'll be rigid.

[6:34] We get that data from the internet.

[6:36] I'll take care of it.

[6:37] So bear with me.

[6:38] So, I could be wrong but I don't know if anybody who has children

[6:41] works elementary.

[6:44] Sorry, children in elementary.

[6:47] So, I just want to encourage you to think back, remember how young, 10 years old, really,

[6:54] that's how old like a late summer birth thing would be, starting a junior high school.

[7:00] If that child has 80 ADD, like my side, then according to reading researcher,

[7:08] We have the emotional maturity and executive management.

[7:16] Oh yeah, I hope you're providing that.

[7:18] You just have to think about like not the ideal candidates.

[7:22] All birthdays, the mature kids, the world that are older,

[7:25] elementary school, like things about the kids with great birthdays,

[7:30] with ADHD, all lots of these seconds.

[7:34] So I think this is the direction you're like really.

[7:39] We're wanting the district to go, I just hope that you'll at least just move

[7:43] night and maybe announce that you want to move six up, but don't implement it

[7:50] for a couple of years. Again, we can adjust, they can hold back for some of our

[7:53] birthday's, we hear the kids that are, you know, have, like, it start all with the

[7:58] BDGs that are working hard to keep up with up here, are able to finish out

[8:04] elementary, like, under the terms they went into it thinking, and said, how

[8:14] I hope you'll consider that, and thank you so

[8:30] much for taking the time to listen to this today.

[8:34] Thank you.

[8:35] Oh, sorry.

[8:36] Elizabeth Cannelli.

[8:37] I've been north-oram.

[8:38] I have kids at Orchard.

[8:40] Can you?

[8:41] Antibiotis.

[8:41] I have daughter who graduated from Orm.

[8:43] So we're kind of all over warm and very, very invested in the school district.

[8:48] We appreciate, really, truly appreciate you actually listening and taking,

[8:53] taking the time to try to help make this transition where we know there are going to be a lot of

[8:57] hard changes a little easier on all of us. I do have two things that I want to say in addition

[9:04] to many of the other comments. I really hope that we will slow down and seriously consider

[9:11] keeping 6th grade in elementary school. I feel like the transition between 6th and

[9:18] 7th grade, there is a world of difference just in the summer time that happens

[9:23] after 6th grade before they start 7th grade. They are different kids at that

[9:27] point than they are at the end even the end of 6th grade. I think that so many of

[9:34] the changes that they're going through are much better addressed in an

[9:38] environment where they are only interacting with a couple of teachers who know them, who

[9:44] have known their siblings, staff that's known the family for a long time and where there

[9:50] is some memory in there to help these kids really grow up and transition that issues can

[9:57] be addressed for the whole child.

[9:59] I hope that we are, as many factors as we have going into this, what really matters sports

[10:08] CLRI, you know, all these things, what really matters is a little bit of a full child, of every child.

[10:13] So we need to look at what is going to be best for the majority of the kids.

[10:17] And I think, developmentally, most of these kids will benefit from staying in sixth grade and

[10:24] extra year. I also, I don't know if you were aware of this, but a lot of people had trouble

[10:29] accessing the survey over the summer, and were able to comment. And so I don't know that your

[10:35] results for that study are completely accurate and many people were going

[10:40] anyway it might be worth it to look into getting more results on that so

[10:46] thank you. Thank you. I believe it's Tammy and then Amber and and the great

[10:54] children. Amber Schwartz and the Richardson. I can't be joining Hanson and I live in

[11:01] kids at Mount V. Lake Ridge and Cherry Hill.

[11:05] I have a unique position as a librarian at Cherry Hill.

[11:09] I get to see the kids from kindergarten up to sixth grade.

[11:15] It's really interesting to me that I can tell after spring breaks,

[11:18] always after spring break.

[11:20] The sixth graders walk into the library and I'm like,

[11:22] oh my gosh, you're Southern graders.

[11:25] Up until that point, they're still sixth graders.

[11:29] They're still elementary kids.

[11:30] It's really not, it isn't an almost probable difference after spring break when they walk

[11:34] in and they go, what, you grew three inches and that was okay, not with me.

[11:40] I'm off for kicking six graders in elementary school, and it's not, maybe not just because

[11:45] it would really mess up like I love the book's program.

[11:49] But this is Joey Hanson, what graders do if they've gotten six graders, don't have six

[11:55] graders to help them battle?

[11:56] A girl?

[11:57] Well, I am right now.

[12:04] And I also just wanted to, one of my other things is this extreme medieval fair, that,

[12:11] you know, my daughters looked forward to it for four older brothers forever, and it's

[12:15] then just based on the possibility of, like, well, I don't get this experience because

[12:18] all of a sudden I just have four classes a day, and we don't do things like this.

[12:24] My other thought that I wanted to actually start with is to express gratitude for all of

[12:30] on the word you have difficult decisions in front of you and I hope that you are receiving

[12:34] the grace and the goodwill and the gratitude that you deserve for the decisions you are making

[12:40] because any decision you make there will be someone that is unhappy with it but I hope you feel

[12:46] the support you are making difficult decisions on behalf of our children and I really appreciate

[12:52] that you are looking in a very thorough way I feel that you are looking for the best thing for our

[12:59] kids you're studying to have real-life schools you're studying to have good

[13:03] opportunities and do a language two seconds but thank you.

[13:13] I was a little

[13:14] nervous when we said Amber for the other one but I can't read your last name

[13:17] was like oh yeah I just want to start by saying I believe in the resilience of

[13:22] our children I know that they can handle my name is Amber Schwartz and I'm an

[13:29] or on my children tend to or on elementary.

[13:32] And I just want to say that I believe

[13:33] in the resilience of our children.

[13:35] I did school in Illinois in Texas,

[13:38] so I did the more standard K through five,

[13:41] six through eight, nine through 12.

[13:43] And it was fine.

[13:44] There were no major concerns my life didn't fall apart.

[13:46] However, I am still in favor

[13:48] of keeping sixth grade in elementary school.

[13:53] If we do, if the studies result

[13:55] and your hearings result in changes needing to happen

[13:58] from your perspective, I am also the recruitment of what another mother stated

[14:02] of giving us a couple of years before it's enacted because knowing in advance

[14:07] helps children rather than being thrown into it, you're going next year to a

[14:12] different school and you're expecting or you were going to have the middle of these

[14:14] and now you don't. If you're given a couple of years to adjust if a change does

[14:18] need to be made, that gives teachers and students and parents a period to address

[14:24] their concerns and how things come up. However, Colorado just didn't change it.

[14:31] I love, my son is in first grade, and we participate in the Ornamentary play, and he has been

[14:38] helping for three years, including the airport and start school, because my husband does

[14:42] the light. And so he comes and just becomes really good friends with all the stage crew.

[14:47] And the mentorships and friendships he has made with the older students is incredible.

[14:51] They all know his name, they reach out to him when he walks in the hallway.

[14:55] They love him and he loves them.

[14:57] And it's really hard for him to be in school because he just doesn't...

[15:01] He's an introvert, and he's feeling very overwhelmed, and having those friendships have been incredibly beneficial to him. I believe that elementary school is very fun and positive while middle school is kind of rough. And keeping our students another year and not fun and positive environments helps both them and the younger students that look up to them for friendships.

[15:39] I'm Richard Johnson, I live in Orm and I'm the grader at Jerry Hall Elementary.

[15:45] I am Stanley Taylor, favorite of keeping stakes straight in elementary school for a few

[15:52] reasons. One of them is recess. We still need time to play. I believe that games and having fun

[16:02] of us learn and learn how to be fair and develop our mind. I also think there are some programs

[16:16] in sixth grade like the medieval fair, especially earlier, that the graders can miss out on if they're going to middle school in sixth grade, because that's not in middle school.

[16:32] And these things that are for 6th graders, they're well down in for 6th grade and it's

[16:45] not, it's 6th graders that are currently in this grade, can't do those things in 6th

[16:53] grade.

[16:54] They miss out on things that they would have gotten otherwise.

[17:11] So we got Britta and then Greg and then John Kruziala here at Final.

[17:17] Hi, I'm Britta Harper and I live in Orem.

[17:20] And we actually just moved from Colorado this last year,

[17:23] so little first or second year in the school this year.

[17:26] But I grew up in Arizona where I didn't know this wasn't a normal configuration

[17:30] because we had K through 6, 7, 8, 7, 9 through 12.

[17:34] And I felt like this shorter junior high was really good

[17:37] because it's kind of this adjustment from elementary school

[17:40] but then learning how high school works,

[17:43] but you're not quite there yet.

[17:45] I have a fifth grader, so this would affect her next year.

[17:48] She goes to put her own mentoring

[17:50] and she is one of those really young fifth graders.

[17:53] She's barely 10.

[17:55] She will be barely 11 going into junior high.

[17:59] And she with that,

[18:00] she also still really loves to play with toys.

[18:02] She's still a little kid in a lot of ways.

[18:05] And I feel like keeping the elementary kids

[18:08] the six readers there, it allows them to be okay with being little kids a little bit longer

[18:12] and that they're okay playing with toys, growing up a little bit in ways that not being forced

[18:18] to be big. I don't know. They saw the new choice during the video, but being told that you're not

[18:22] allowed to play with toys, that happens that you get older and that you're around older kids

[18:27] and healthy to preserve that little bit of childhood, especially for those younger kids.

[18:44] I'm Greg Marchion. I'm from the 10th few neighborhood in Orem. I'm sorry for my voice. I'm

[18:49] holding on to the weather. I have one son who is attending orchard elementary right now.

[18:56] He is not anywhere near the point where this question would affect him directly in the next year if that

[19:02] change were to happen. However, he and I have something that we share which is that we both have

[19:10] early summer birthdays. I have a little bit of a different experience. I went to, I went to

[19:16] most of elementary school in Minnesota. At the time, I don't know if that's still the case,

[19:21] they had a K-36 system in my school district. I also in Minnesota, a lot of people hold their kids

[19:30] back for the purposes of football, which means that I went in and sometimes that's one to two years

[19:37] held back before they entered school. I went into kindergarten with kids who were two years older than me.

[19:48] Now I don't think that's the case. I don't think that's something I would see in the library any time.

[19:51] I don't think we have that same fur bird, but I do understand that my son is going to go into sixth grade at 11 years old.

[20:01] And, as many people have said, 11 years old is still a childhood age.

[20:09] It is not a teenager age.

[20:13] He is going to, like other parents have said, need time to get outside and play and move.

[20:21] He has ADHD as well.

[20:25] He is an exceptional student in terms of academics, but he needs that flexibility

[20:30] that comes with elementary school and I'm not so concerned about whether or

[20:38] not kids grow up fast or slow, but I am concerned about the way that we require

[20:44] them to sit at a desk for some hours in middle school.

[20:51] John Kirk.

[20:54] John Kirk, I live

[20:56] over in the middle of elementary area.

[21:01] So you know I've listened to twice I

[21:02] of just for this one, but we'll sprinkle in some things that are related to the middle school

[21:06] and kind of inherently corporate by some others. I found it interesting in the University of Michigan's

[21:13] monitoring the future study, and I'm going to be familiar with that. They found that all the forms

[21:17] of substance in alcohol abuse, at least doubled from 683. And so that's, I think, is a critical time

[21:25] in the bottom right line, not prime, is I am in favor of keeping sixth grade in elementary school.

[21:30] I was quite sure I had told about this,

[21:32] but reflecting a lot of things in my life,

[21:35] I was bullied quite a bit as a child,

[21:38] and it went from that to really, really, really bad line up,

[21:44] so great.

[21:46] I was beat up several times.

[21:48] I was literally canned,

[21:51] and other terrible things happened to me,

[21:53] and I'm concerned about the lesser supervision

[21:57] that occurs in halls in the junior high,

[21:59] as opposed to in the state for small environments in elementary school.

[22:03] When I was in seventh grade, I was propositioned by an eighth grader and I can't to reflect

[22:10] some of the concerns about sexual circumstances that sixth graders were planning to self-stand

[22:14] in an earlier age.

[22:16] Dual immersion, regarding that, the extra year I think is absolutely critical if you take

[22:21] get rid of 16% or 17% of the dual immersion learning experience from both the Spanish language learners

[22:30] or I assume those who do not speak English and English is a different language and go

[22:34] in the other direction. The extra year, the extra 17% is really huge as they are accelerating

[22:41] as opposed to when my son went into junior high. You don't have those same opportunities as

[22:46] have to be additional your recess as I had been mentioned. And lastly I'll just

[22:50] take the level of fund that exists in elementary school allows for better

[22:54] opportunities for the six graders to embrace and accept the cards.

[23:02] Thank you very

[23:03] much to everyone who's provided comments. I will now close the public hearing regarding

[23:07] the 15th grade elementary school concatenation.

[23:13] Now...

Timpanogos School District Public Hearing

Transcript