EMERSON Elementary (Proposed Closure) News Update February 5, 2008

A small delegation of Emersonian's attended today's "School Operations/Attendance Boundary Committee" meeting. The Attendance Boundary Committee (ABC) consist of parent volunteers and school board member representatives who make recommendations to the school board and superintendent Rudy Crew. After attending this meeting we can attest to the following; there are alot of very good people who are ready and willing to give of their time and expertise for the betterment of the Miami Dade public school system. The meeting was very informative and provided great insight into the inner workings of the school board. We came away from the meeting confident that this upcoming February 13th, the repurposing of Emerson elementary or any other school will not be put to a vote. It became obvious, that if Rudy Crew were to continue down this road of repurposing (closing) schools, he will have an incredible fight on his hands from different fronts. Of course, we will find out the answer to this "hundred dollar" question during the school board workshop meeting on Thursday (February 7th).
One last observation from a personal standpoint. When our Emerson delegation entered the conference room, one could sense, the "deep admiration" from those in the room who are willing to fight the closing of any school, as well as the "nervousness" from those, that.....for whatever reason would like us to fail. It is very important that parents and neighbors attend the work shop and perhaps tilt the odds against repurposing in our favor. We cannot speak during this work shop but we can listen, and in the process make them a little bit uneasy.

Synopsis of the ABC Meeting at the School Board which took place at the School board from approximately 0930 to 1100am.

• Attending from Emerson Elementary were 8 parents. All were received with appreciation for attending and participating in these important matters.
• A study of Schools Less Than 90% utilized (of Permanent FISH Capacity) was discussed. In this study, alternate suggestions were given in handling under enrolled schools.
• The study was offered to identify alternate ways to handle under enrollment in schools. It was also clear that there was some resistance from the "Rudy Crew Alternate" on having this meeting prior to Feb.7th discussions.
• ABC replied that it may be too late to give these options after decisions have been made on going ahead with "repurposing" of schools.
• It was also clear that there is confusion as to what constitutes an under enrolled school. The formula used is not available or known to all present.
• Ana Mercedes Romero spoke marvelously on behalf of Emerson Parents. She told all present that "we will not stop, we are not just looking out for our school but we don’t want any school to be closed when there are other ways to balance a budget."