Written By: Dan Thompson
In Northport, Long Island, the town’s district school board had just recently announced the closing of Bellerose Avenue Elementary School. In a school district with six elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school of two thousand kids, it was an announcement that may have been inevitable. Unfortunately, the news comes as a shock to many, and heartbreaking to the ones who shared a deep history with the school. A place that had raised and sculptured the lives of so many young boys and girls would now not share the grace of educating the youth of Northport anymore. With the sudden news of Bellerose Avenue closing, many questions arise, along with concerns and sentiment.
A big question mark that initially arises with this news is where will that school’s faculty now work? Will they be out of work? The district has recently announced that the two middle schools will now house students
in grades 5-8, instead of the previous grades 6-8. I have recently spoken with a friend of mine’s mother who has been working within the district for the past 20 years. Although not certain, she said, “I believe a lot of these teachers are being redistributed to one of the two middle schools. With the middle schools absorbing one more grade, a large portion of the faculty will be able to land at one of these schools. Unfortunately, some faculty will have to get laid off. The exact details upon that I am not sure”. A big reason for the closing of the elementary school is the decline in enrollment within the district. Enrollment in the district has declined by approximately 1,600 students (25%) over the past 10 years, leaving many of the buildings with increasing inefficiencies. As a parent who sent multiple kids through the district and through Bellerose, the news comes with an extra dagger. For years, the gradual decline in enrollment was able to be pushed to the side for that time being, but it is now raising concerns. “As a fourth grader teacher at a different elementary school, am I going to lose my job soon? For someone who loves their job this is something that creeps to the back of your mind when news like this comes out”. Over the weekend, I was also able to catch up with a father I knew who had information about the news and works tightly with the district. Most of these decisions that are released to the public have to do with financials, and if it financially wise to keep a certain building running. “Bellerose Avenue Elementary School is being closed due to having the smallest pupil capacity among the elementary schools, high upkeep costs and the ability to relocate district offices to the school based on its central location”, said the father I knew, an ex-baseball coach of mine. It is now set in stone that Bellerose Avenue Elementary School will become an administrative building instead of a place for teaching. As mentioned, the decline in elementary school students had been on the decline, and these issues were further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, putting the focus on the improper utilization of the buildings. As I asked him the question regarding relocation of faculty and staff, he provided an insightful remark, saying “Thanks to the careful timing of a retirement incentive during the 2020-2021 school year, the district had over 60 retirements. Due to the reorganization, the district did not need to replace many of these personnel, providing significant savings due to this reduction in staff”. He also shared similar concern for the decline in students but explained this is a general theme being shown around Long Island, not just Northport. The question a lot of people have is, “Why is there a decline in students?”. A simple answer is people are beginning to start their families later in their lives, as a lot of people in current society use their youth differently. Instead of trying to quickly raise a family, a lot of 20-30-year-olds are trying to become financially stable and lock in on their careers.
Besides just faculty and people who work within the district, this announcement has a lot of parents in a wave of shock and feeling sorrowful. To discuss the news, I was able to sit down and talk with my own mother, as she had sent two boys through the district and through Bellerose Avenue Elementary School. “Bellerose is where I saw you and your brother go from little 5-year-old babies to rambunctious and ambitious 11-year-olds. To this day I remember every little Halloween parade you would march in and every gift you would get me from the Boutique around Christmas time. It’s where Peter (my brother) got into drawing and you first played the trumpet, just so many memories I could go on and on”. It was clear my mother had much sentiment regarding Bellerose, and never fails to mention her shock of the news every time we pass the building. As asked to the other interviewees, the decline in students is a glaring light that is hard to avoid, especially when a headline like this breaks out. “I suppose I am biased when I say I wish they closed one of the other six schools instead of Bellerose! Unfortunately, it was probably the wisest move in terms of the numbers and financials, I just wish it did not have to end this way". Where things got a little funky for the current students who were enrolled in Bellerose and not ready to move up to middle school. These kids are now forced to transition into a whole new situation, with new teachers, students, and layout. As a 6–10-year-old little boy or girl, this can be an extremely nerve-wracking and stressful situation.
As the school year winds down, Bellerose is finishing up its final year, and ready to develop itself into a building for administration. As students and faculty alike are awaiting a new chapter, a lot has yet to be answered about the future.