To the Owen J. Roberts School District Board of Education: 

We, the undersigned concerned parents of the incoming sixth graders at East Vincent Elementary School (“EVES”) in the Owen J. Roberts School District (“the District”), respectfully request that the Owen J. Roberts Board of Education (“the Board”) provide four sixth grade classrooms at EVES for 2010-2011, per the Board approved plan of July 19, 2010. It is our understanding that as of August 19, 2010, EVES is pursuing a reduction from four to three sixth grade classrooms and it is our firm belief that this is insufficient to meet the needs, educational and otherwise, of our children.

For years, the EVES class of 2017 has been subjected to overcrowded classrooms to the detriment of every child in those classrooms, at each end of every spectrum. Year after year, this particular class is at or very near maximum capacity per District policy. While one year of maximum classroom size is an anomaly, maxing out one class each and every year is a destructive and dangerous pattern for the children, teachers and school. We believe this particular class has continually been denied equal learning opportunity to its peer groups within the District.

While EVES itself has an excellent record among the District’s elementary schools with regard to test scores, those scores provide only one datum point and do not address key concerns such as safety, quality of education, prevention of bullying, and equal or adequate personal attention per child, to name a few.

We cannot simply throw our hands up and continue to inadequately staff our children’s school. We demand that the Board give our concerns and experiences utmost consideration and use our tax dollars to provide our children with a quality education. We demand that our children be provided a safe and secure environment with adequate resources. We demand that EVES be given a fourth sixth grade classroom for the academic year 2010-2011.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned 

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