Burnham school hearing draws few

BURNHAM – Fewer than 10 parents and an equal number of school officials turned out for a public hearing Tuesday night to learn about changes to the local school.

SAD 53 is proposing to turn Burnham Village School into a kindergarten center for the district, housing all four kindergarten classes and increasing the school day by two hours.

The first- and second-grade pupils now at the school would be bused to Pittsfield, and the space opened up by removing kindergarten pupils would provide space for additional pre-kindergarten classes.

Burnham Village School is the most underused building in the district, said administrators. While classes have only eight to 10 pupils in Burnham, other district classes average 20 pupils and the schools have portable classrooms to handle the overflow.

By creating the kindergarten center, administrators also could deflect district residents’ claims that the school is a financial drain and should be closed.

Most of those attending agreed with Principal Faye Anderson’s assessment that a longer kindergarten day would reap additional educational benefits. But it was busing young children from Burnham into Pittsfield that had them most concerned.

Several parents said their elementary school-age children had been physically abused on the bus ride to Pittsfield and heard and learned many things beyond their age because they ride with students up through grade 12.

“Isn’t there any way you can keep these kids separated so that you don’t have an 11-year-old boy saying horrid things to my 7-year-old girl?” asked Burnham parent Sabine McAlpine.

Board members promised to look into segregating the older children from the younger ones.

But that didn’t pacify two parents, who said the shift was just the first step in closing the tiny community school.

“This is the heart of our community,” said Barbara Basford, who lives in Burnham, serves on the SAD 53 board and opposes the center proposal. Basford said when Burnham joined SAD 53 in 1966, the town did so believing the school would remain a community building.

“That was the best plan in 1966,” said Anderson.

SAD 53 board Chairman Robert Downs reassured the parents “there is no secret plan” to close the school. “We need to get rid of this paranoia. Our plan is to provide the best education possible as we are continually challenged to do more with less.”

Michelle Carr, a parent and a fourth-grade teacher in SAD 53, encouraged the Burnham parents to unite the district. “It is time to embrace the district and make us one,” she said. “Not Burnham kids. Not Detroit kids. Not Pittsfield kids. All SAD 53 kids, moving together through the system.”

A second public hearing on the proposal will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at Manson Park School.