Why You Should Vote No on Tuesday, January 14

We've been incorrectly told that Adams is severely overcrowded and that classes must now be held in hallways and closets.

There are 45 classrooms at Adams. Average class size is less than 21 for the 34 classrooms that are currently used for all team teaching and language instruction. 9 of these 34 classrooms are empty every period, and 16 of these 34 classrooms are empty for 4 of the 8 class periods.

We've been incorrectly told that October 30, 2002 Town of Guilford Build Out Study shows that we should expect a significant growth in school-age population over the next 20 years.

This study concluded there are 2,286 potential house building lots in Guilford. It said that all lots will be used in 20 years, if lots are used at the rate of 116 per year. This just tells us that 2,286 divided by 116 is about 20. The Build Out Study tells us nothing about possible growth in Guilford school-age population over the next 20 years. That's obvious when we consider the fact that Guilford school buildings now house approximately 300 fewer students than they accommodated 25 years ago. How many lots were available in 1978?

The base price keeps changing, state reimbursement will surely be less than predicted, the cost of site access from Route 77 will surely be more than expected, and we know almost nothing about what it will cost the town to maintain and renovate Adams. Expect at least 80 million dollars, over the next 20 years.

This project is fundamentally about isolating a team of 5 teachers and 100 (or less) students in a “pod” of 5 classrooms. We’ve already isolated students in narrow 2-year grade spans, with Baldwin for grades 5-6 and Adams for grades 7-8. Now we are to believe that it’s a good idea to isolate students of the same age in classroom pods, further removing then from the orienting social context. But there's no research showing that team teaching in pods leads to an improvement in educational outcomes. There may be associated negative results, because weak teachers benefit the most from such maximum isolation. As currently structured, a sixth grade math teacher doesn't have to face the 8th grade math teacher who wants to know why students don't know how to add fractions.

Consider how Guilford ranked on the math and science portions of the 2002 CAPT test. We’re 15th out of 17 in our demographic group, Educational Reference Group B (ERG B). Madison is also in ERG B. They ranked first in the state for science and third in the state for math. The Guilford School Administration hides facts like these by comparing Guilford test scores to state-wide averages.
The mathematics curriculum revision committee recently published a draft summary of the revised K-8 mathematics curriculum for Guilford public schools. This is an excellent document! Let’s invest for the optimal implementation of this kind of curriculum, not drain funds away for unnecessary construction.

We should reject the selfish thinking that ignores today’s difficult financial conditions and the plight of those on fixed incomes, and we should reject the anti-debate attitude we've recently witnessed, and we should vote to preserve Adams as a treasured landmark, school building, beautifully located along the key entrance to the Guilford Town Green.