Why Close Cherokee?

Twenty-one years ago I came to the USA from the former Soviet Union. The level of education there was among the highest in the world. The first test of the H-bomb, the first artificial satellite "Sputnik," the first astronaut, Uriy Gagarin, the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, were from there, from the country with that high level of education.

The American inventor of modern television and vice president of RCA, Vladimir Zworykin, and the American inventor of the helicopter and founder of Sikorsky Aero, Igor Sikorsky, were from Russia, the country with that high level of education.

The USA itself is the motherland of Thomas Edison, Alexander Bell, George Westinghouse, and hundreds of other famous inventors. America can proudly claim that it has more Nobel laureates than all of the other nations in the world.

Johnson Countians can be proud that our Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) is one of the best in the United States. Our high school dropout rate is less than 5%, compared to an average of about 50% in the USA. Our excellent schools were one of the reasons (and not the least important reason) that Sprint brought its campus to Johnson County. Why? Because Sprint would be able to have better employees if the company could offer them a better living environment with better schools.

Money vs. Quality of Education

It is a long story, but the SMSD now has an operating budget deficit. For the school year 2000-01, the deficit is $2 million. For the following year, the expected deficit is about $10 million.

What can the Board of Education do? Of all of their options, the closing of three elementary schools, including Cherokee, was chosen. Why close three small elementary schools? Why Cherokee?

Cherokee Elementary was named a National School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. Cherokee is the only such school of the 11 being considered for closure. If Cherokee is a target because of low enrollment, there exist eight smaller schools. However, the Board used other mathematics. They attribute only 140 students to Cherokee. They do not count transfer students. Why? Who are transfer students? Who are these small phantoms, these tiny ghosts? The Overland Park Sun published that Cherokee has 262 enrolled students. The Board counts only 140. What will they do with the transfer students? They must still transfer 262 students to other schools in the area.

Cherokee's high cost of operations was also named as a reason to close the school.

Is the closing of three schools the only solution? Could other ways to save money be found ? Does another source of funding exist?

With these concerns, questions, and a strong desire to protect Cherokee, parents came to Board meeting held on September 7, 2000. They silently occupied chairs in the meeting room, holding up signs in their hands. A few parents were allowed to ask questions. The Board politely invited them to come on October 11, when the Board would announce which schools will be closed. Many parents left with the feeling that Cherokee was first on the list.

On October 11, 2000, after an hour-long bombardment of questionable data, Cherokee was announced for closing. The same death warrants were announced for two other elementary schools.

In the October 13, 2000, issue of The Kansas City Star, columnist Mike Hendricks called me his friend. I am very proud of this.

" 'Like in the Soviet Union,' he [Peter Shapiro] whispered, 'everybody says yes-seven to zero.' That's not fair. Members felt they had no choice," the Star columnist wrote.

Who was right? Both of us.

Like in the Soviet Union, the Board received the proposals for closing, consisting of 33 pages each, plus 25 pages of agenda, for a total of 124 pages on October 11, 2000, i.e. on the same day of the meeting. Even if it was in the morning, the Board members did not have a chance to go through and review all the calculations and original documents. Practically, the Board members made their decision based on a presentation prepared by the Superintendent's Office.

Parents who came to learn which schools would be closed had a chance to receive 33-page proposals 10 to 15 minutes before the beginning of the meeting.

Before the Board made its decision, parents were allowed to speak for two minutes (compared to more than an hour for the Superintendent's Office presentation).

Concerned Cherokee parents asked many questions and pointed to many facts about Cherokee that speak against closing this particular school:

Does the Board consider quality of education? Cherokee is the only National School of Excellence of the eleven schools on this death row.

Do calculations of operating cost per EFT student at Cherokee include the cost of the CBD unit, which at Cherokee is about 50% compared to 25-30% at other schools?

Has the Board chosen Cherokee because its building can be sold easily?

Cherokee patron Mr. Robert Endicott, whose grandchildren are now in kindergarten and first grade, in his two-minute address said that Overland Park Mayor Ed Eilert expressed a desire to buy the Cherokee building for a new community center.

Does the Board know that the Cherokee district student population is growing and retired residents are gradually moving out?

These and many other questions were asked.

During the meeting, the note was hand-delivered to the Board that reads as follows:

The Board did not answer, rather unanimously voted to close all three schools as it was recommended by the Superintendent's Office.

My statement "Like in the Soviet Union" is absolutely correct, because the Board made a wrong decision, without common sense ... if some politics are not involved.

"That's not fair. Members felt they had no choice," the Star columnist wrote. Some Sun columnists have the same opinion.

That is fair! Because not feelings and emotions, but the main purpose of education, reason and calculations should be taken into account. If Board members will grab calculators and review the calculations prepared by Superintendent's Office, they will find many other choices to balance the budget without schools closing. We can help.

However, Mike Hendricks is damn right: "Yet Shapiro is wrong about one thing. We're not back in USSR. This is America." Our parents founded the Cherokee Coalition of Concerned Parents and Citizens (CCCPC). We hope that Board members will cooperate. Cooperation is better than confrontation.