Forest Park Review, April 27, 2022
O U R
V I E W
Closing schools in Forest Park
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nrollment has been dropping in Forest Park’s public elementary schools for a long, long time. The slide has been steady, sometimes sharp, sometimes papered over a bit as pre-school classes were added. Now with a total student count just over 700 spread paper thin among five schools, the school board and its new superintendent are facing up to the reality that this is neither sustainable nor desirable. The district will hold three public hearings in the next 10 days to gather response from the community and then it will act. From a presentation made at an April 14 school board meeting, it seems clear one school will be shuttered before classes resume in the fall. Would not be a surprise if two were closed. On the block almost certainly is Grant-White Intermediate School, 147 Circle Ave. Possibly facing closure is Betsy Ross Primary School, 1315 Marengo Ave. As Kyra Tyler, president of the school board, acknowledged, closing schools is always a wrenching proposition. That said, given the predicament the district faces — its decision to remain in the “grade center” rather than neighborhood school model — simultaneously closing one of two primary schools and one of two intermediate schools makes logical sense. Better to close both schools now, adopt the model Supt. Elizabeth Alvarez has brought forward, and move ahead with the hardest decisions made. There will, rightly, be tough questions that don’t have good answers. How did this institution, its administration and board, watch passively for so long as enrollment fell by some 40 percent? Why did the district make such substantial investments in expanding and improving school buildings that taught so few students? Why was there not more concern raised in the village, by this newspaper, as enrollment unraveled? Looking ahead, there are other equally tough but more critical questions that we all need to find answers to. In a moment when multiple other school districts in our vicinity are building additions onto school buildings as enrollment climbs, why is Forest Park in this circumstance? What are the complex and interwoven factors in the schools, in the village, that have created this dire situation? Of course, there are challenging logistical questions, too. Can existing physical space be reconfigured this quickly? What happens to teacher and staff levels? And what is the future of two handsome and modernized school buildings? The Forest Park public schools have an earned reputation over decades for having a rubber-stamp school board, for having superintendents who stay long and aren’t often questioned. That will put you in a place like this. It is encouraging to see the current board face up to this reality. And it is good to see Alvarez, just completing her first year, with the strength and wisdom to take on brutal decisions to right-size and remake a district that has resources and much potential.
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OPINION
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But what can one person do?
e hear it all the time, don’t we? What can one person do? The problems are so massive. Allison Holman wasn’t discouraged by the problem of racism being so massive and intractable. While participating in a Black Lives Matter march two years ago, she had a vision. “I imagined everybody in Forest Park putting their passion into creating something that would be beautiful, that they could display in their yards or their windows that would be a visual representation of how they feel.” The problem for Allison was that she was new in town and had no idea how to translate the abstract into the concrete. She decided, however, to not be paralyzed by “what can one person do?” and called the person she knew best, her realtor April Baker. April likewise didn’t know what to do, but she knew the community, so she and Allison called Lin Beribak of the Arts Alliance. Lin knew how to make art but she didn’t feel confident with the racism aspect of Allison’s vision, so the three of them called Marjorie Adam Clark who co-chairs the Juneteenth Committee in town. One call after another was made by residents who, by themselves, were not sure what to do, but the collective result is an event in Reiger Park on May 22 called Signs for Change. The ad hoc coalition still doesn’t have every detail in place, and they’re counting on people who catch the vision to contribute what they can do to make the event a success. What can one person do? Pete Seeger tried to answer that question in a folk song he recorded in the early ’60s. One man’s hands can’t tear a prison down Two men’s hands can’t tear a prison down But if two and two and fifty make a million We’ll see that day come round We’ll see that day come round. “He who is outside the door,” a Dutch proverb says, “has already a good part of his journey behind him.” I know from my own experience that the question, “What can one person do?” is just an excuse for inaction by people who don’t want to take the risk of trying. What can one person do? The answer for most is, “Not much.” Allison’s story is inspiring for some of us because, to paraphrase Seeger, one woman’s hands couldn’t make an event happen, but when two and two and fifty make a hundred, we’ll see that day come round — on May 22.
All of us can tell stories of having called out, “I have a vision,” and no one answers the call. Or at least no one at the time. To get personal, how do you answer the question, “What can you do?” Maybe some of us are held back by grandiosity, i.e. the heroic myth that what we need are superheroes who have the superpowers to solve super problems. Allison wasn’t afflicted by that inhibition. She planted a seed, not knowing if it would sprout and produce a hundredfold or be eaten by a bird or choked out by weeds. Take climate change. The problem is so massive and complex, what can one person do? Two semi-gross examples: Our church runs a retreat center in the Cascade Mountains, miles away from utilities like running water, electricity and sewage treatment. In effect, it’s an ecological experiment. In all of the bathrooms there you will find a little sign that says, “If it’s brown flush it down. If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” OK, so maybe that’s not your cup of tea — or toilet water. What can one person do? Second example: You’ve read about cows belching and farting methane, right? “It turns out,” according to a report from the Sierra Club, “producing half a pound of hamburger for someone’s lunch releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.” That’s a “whopper” of a statistic, don’t you think? What can one person do? Buy a McChicken sandwich — beef production emits 4-8 times the emissions of chicken — instead of a Big Mac. And don’t forget to say “no straw” when you give your order. Better yet, order a dish made with tofu from one of our Thai restaurants. Will your action by itself solve the global issue? Of course not, but if two and two and fifty make a million, we’ll see that day come round. Then when you get home, write a letter to Danny Davis urging him to keep supporting BBB, especially the part about climate change, because the solution to global warming needs policy change as well as individual action. What can one conservative do in a state run by Democrats, especially since Rauner was not a good role model. Well, do some homework, find the best candidate (who supports battling climate change) and work for him or her.
TOM HOLMES
