Polk closure doesn't add up

As the fate of Polk Elementary School hangs in the balance, consider Sharon Cozzolino's son Orion.

Orion is a bright second-grader at Polk. His high-functioning autism means he needs some special help, and Cozzolino says the close-knit, small-school atmosphere at Polk means he's getting it.

The kindergartner who struggled to settle in is now a successful grade schooler. Over time, Polk has become a comforting, secure place for Orion. Cozzolino says everyone at school, from his terrific aide to teachers, administrators and lunch room workers, know his routine and his challenges. They all pitch in to keep him on course.

So the prospect of

closing Polk deeply frustrates Cozzolino. She knows that a big change could set Orion back. And like many parents I've talked with, she just doesn't see why it has to happen. “It's not just my son. I'm worried about all the kids in that school,” she said. More than 200 kids, with lots of worried parents.

Nicole Sales' kids walk to school each day from their home within sight of Polk. She wonders how they'll travel to another school. And which school? How will they afford new day care arrangements? And what will happen to her neighborhood when the lifeblood pumped in by the pulse of the school day disappears?

Cassie Mitvalsky sent one child through Polk and now has a kindergartner there. She doesn't understand why the district would close an academically successful school, with rising test scores, close ties to Coe College and many great programs.

“It's like a family. I know it sounds cliche. But it is,” Mitvalsky said.

So on the Polk closure balance sheet, all of this is piled on the negative side. A beloved, successful school closes. Lives are dramatically disrupted. Hard-won academic gains may be lost. A neighborhood is damaged. All very high costs.

What's on the other side?

If there's a direct educational benefit in all this, we still haven't heard it.

The district says closing the school saves $562,000 annually, or three-tenths of 1 percent of its general fund budget. If the budget were a case of pop, Polk savings are a half-teaspoon. Not exactly a big gulp of “stabilized reserves.”

We hear arguments for “socio economic balance.” It's true that 90 percent of Polk's kids get free or discounted lunch. They also post test scores that beat or match the district average, and worked their way off the Schools in Need of Assistance list. Sounds like exactly the right balance to me.

Bottom line? It doesn't take one of Polk's smartest students to see that this just doesn't add up.