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On March 10th, Schools Superintendent Dr. Lupini, Asst. Superintendent Peter Rowe, Transportation Coordinator for the Brookline Public Schools Mary Murphy, Dr. Connelly and Mr. Stoddard met with parents in the school library for an informational meeting to discuss the upcoming school building project. Main topics for discussion included the current status of the Runkle School Building Project, and plans for the transition to the Old Lincoln School including packing and moving timelines and proposed bus routes.
Dr. Lupini reviewed the timeline for moving, packing, and construction:
- Design Development : 70% complete. Will be completed by March 31
- Construction bidding will begin in mid-July. Public bidding and award will be complete by mid-October
- Construction is to be complete by June 2012
- Transition back to the new Runkle will take place in July/August of 2012
- Occupancy of the building will occur in August 2012 in preparation for the September start of school in 2012
- Currently there are no anticipated project delays. It was pointed out a delay to the construction schedule could result in Runkle School being forced to remain at Old Lincoln for an additional time period, resulting in additional transportation costs. These additional costs are not reimbursable by the state, and so would rest on the shoulders of local taxpayers.
THE MOVE TO OLD LINCOLN (http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/old-lincoln NULL.jpg)
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Dr. Connelly reviewed details of the Runkle move to Old Lincoln including
Preparation of the Old Lincoln building
The Brookline School District has used the Old Lincoln School many times as a temporary home for school populations, including: the Maimonides school, Heath, Baker, Lawrence and the 9th Grade of the High School. The District thus has a great deal of experience with these transitions, ranging from adapting the building to the specific needs of a population to creating transportation and safety plans for the students.
The Old Lincoln School building has been in preparation for the Runkle population for some months already. Subsequent to the departure of the theatrical installation Sleep No More, the school will have been restored to excellent condition. Dr. Connelly acknowledged the Building Department staff, which has been busy painting, polishing floors, cleaning, and executing the buildouts that Administration has requested to adapt the building to Runkle’s needs.
Boxes have already been ordered and packing is already underway at Runkle, as all the room assignments have been made. Materials will begin to be shipped to Old Lincoln gradually to avoid a bottleneck at the end of the year, when all the final boxes of materials and all the furniture from the Runkle school will be moved.
Parents and students will have the opportunity to visit the Old Lincoln School before the end of the year.
Old Lincoln Building Layout
Dr. Connelly presented floor plans and classroom assignments for Runkle at Old Lincoln.
The main entrance to the building is at the top of a set of stairs facing Route 9. There is another entrance on the Walnut Street side of the school, via Walnut Path.
Outdoor space is limited at Old Lincoln. Immediately adjacent to the school is a small, fenced-in blacktop play area, which is the only outdoor space that belongs directly to the school. Across route 9 is the Boylston Street Playground, which is a grass park including basketball courts, a playground, and a soccer/baseball field. This is planned for use by PhysEd classes during favorable weather, and staff is looking at options for using it as an additional recreational space for the students, with appropriate safety measures for the Route 9 crossing. There is a traffic light and crosswalk that connects the building to the playground, and there are plans for a crossing guard to be assigned to this location.
The Basement level will include no classrooms, but will house space for PDD, ELL, a reading room, learning center, music instruction (both music classes and a separate space for instrumental lessons), and 2 rooms and an office dedicated to the RED program. The gymnasium is large, and contains a curtain wall that will allow it to be subdivided to allow for multiple PhysEd classes to be conducted without being combined. (This storey is at ground level on the Route 9 side of the building, but below grade on the Walnut St. side).
The next floor up (ground level at Walnut St.) features a large cafeteria, which officials are hoping will allow the lunch program to be reduced to three or four periods, starting no earlier than 11:15 am and ending by 1:15 pm, as opposed to the five lunch periods currently offered at Runkle. In addition, the floor will house one PDD classroom, three kindergarten classrooms adjacent to one another, three 1st grade classrooms, also clustered, two 2nd grade classrooms (the third section of 2nd grade will be directly above on the 1st floor), occupational therapy, physical therapy.
The first floor (one floor above ground level at Walnut St.) will house one 2nd grade classroom, three 3rd grade classrooms. three 4th grade classrooms, and two 5th grade classrooms (the third will be on the top floor). In addition, there will be one PDD classroom. The Auditorium is located on this floor. It is being adapted to house a number of different spaces: a library media center of about 1800 square feet (about the same size as the current Runkle library) with a larger more professional stage space, and a computer lab. Most of the bookshelves that will be used in the library are on wheels, to allow the space to also be used for special school programs. This space will also house a curriculum work space with small offices and a teacher work area. Also on this floor will be the main office, secretary’s office and nurse’s health room.
The second floor will house one 5th grade classroom, and the two sections needed next year for the 6th grade. Six classrooms will be dedicated for the 7th and 8th grades, including a science lab. There will be one PDD room on this floor, as well as speech, guidance, psychologist, and behavioral offices.
PDD classrooms will be located on each floor, so that students making use of these services will remain with their age cohorts. The building is entirely handicap accessible, with an elevator centrally located on each floor.
Pre-Kindergarten Program
The pre-k program is likely to be moved to the High School for the next two years, but a final decision on this will be determined as a function of the Kindergarten enrollment; if the incoming Kindergarten only requires two sections, Pre-K may remain with the Runkle population. Should Runkle’s preschool be moved, it would stay for the duration of the two years that Runkle is at Old Lincoln. Transportation for Early Education students has not yet been determined.
TRANSPORTATION/BUSING
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Mary Murphy, Transportation Co-Ordinator for the Public Schools of Brookline, outlined the draft plans for bus transportation to Old Lincoln for the Runkle students. The district already transports some 50 students per day, including ELL, METCO, and buffer zone students.
Highlights:
- Number of Buses: There will be a total of six buses in use; two buses are already used to transport students who attend Runkle, and four additional buses which will each make two runs.
- Children who arrive at school on the first run of a double-run bus, will be the first set of children to leave at the end of the day.
- No child in a lower grade will be dropped at the end of a day if it is clear a designated adult is not available to pick them up – they’ll go back to the school (“boomeranged”).
- There will be a late bus at 3:30 for children involved in afterschool activities. This does not include RED. RED is currently working on a safe pick-up policy for children participating in that program.
- There will be several strategically placed crossing guards and suggested drop-off points for parents who choose to have their children walk.
Busing Details:
Preparation
The first step in crafting bus route plans was to look at a database of where Runkle’s students live. All routes were designed to be no longer than about 20 minutes long, and all stops were designed to serve the maximum number of students, with great attention paid to using such things as corners, no parking zones, and fire hydrants to facilitate loading and unloading, and to ensure that the bus stops would be well served by the DPW’s snow clearing efforts. Efforts have been made to ensure that students do not have to walk too far to their stop, that the sidewalks are wide enough to accommodate them, and that the road is of an appropriate width to control traffic in both directions when the bus is stopped. Students will be assigned to routes based on where they live, not based on age level, so all children from any one family would be taking the bus together. As the plans become refined and settled, Mary intends to visit homeowners on whose property each stop is located to ensure that there are no unresolved issues.
There are no plans to offer bus routes out of the existing Runkle district, although once the final numbers on each bus run are determined, out of district students may have the possibility of access to an in-district bus route. In district students will have priority.
Bus Drivers
Bus drivers in the Brookline system will be assigned permanently to their routes. This ensures that the drivers will quickly get to know the children and families they serve, and that they have complete mastery over their route. In the case of a substitute, all substitutes will be dedicated exclusively to the Brookline schools, and wherever possible consistency in substitutes will be targeted. All Brookline school bus drivers are vetted with multiple background checks. Bus drivers will have communications equipment on board so they can be in contact with school staff.
Timing, Supervision, Safety
Several bus routes have been outlined; some buses will do a single run, while some buses will do two separate runs in each direction. While it has been considered, there are no current plans to vary the start and end time of the school day to compensate for multiple bus runs. Exact times for the various routes are yet to be established.
Late buses will be available at 3:30, but there will be no late buses at the end of the extended day program, or late enrichment programs. The RED program director assures parents that there are numerous spaces on both Walnut St. and Route 9 for picking students up; they are currently working on plans to safely get students from school to waiting cars.
In the case of multiple runs, the earliest buses will bring children to school by about 7:30 am. Those children on an early bus arriving at school will be on the first run (early bus) returning home, so no child will have an unduly lengthened school day.
Plans are in progress to provide organized activities with supervision during the pre-and post-school hours for early and late busers. These students will congregate in the morning hours in one of three locations (cafeteria, gym, and library) according to their grade level; in the afternoon as they await their bus, they will be separated according to the bus route that they will be taking. Administration is hoping to be able to provide cubbies in these locations to accommodate the childrens’ belongings (backpacks, coats, etc). There is some discussion of encouraging upper grade students to participate in the supervision and activities for their fellow students during the shoulder periods between bus and classroom. This encourages interaction between the various grade levels in the school, builds a stronger school community, and is consistent with the school’s community service goals for students. There is also some discussion of using the upper grade students as bus helpers (not charged with disciplinary responsibilities).
Students will only be allowed to ride on their assigned bus. Transportation to play dates must be arranged separately by the families. Plans are in formulation to keep track of who is on which bus.
If a child in the lower grades is not met at the bus stop by a parent or their assigned proxy, that child will be returned back to Runkle School, where they will wait until such time as a parent has been contacted and pickup has been arranged.
Children may not bring food or drinks for consumption on buses.
All the bus routes that were outlined in the meeting are subject to revision; the community is encouraged to provide input into this process. This can be done by speaking with or writing directly to Dr. Connelly, or by attending upcoming PTO meetings, at which Mary Murphy is expected to be present. A second large group meeting dedicated to the topic is possible but not yet scheduled.
Route 1 stops (Single Route):
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Route 2 stops (Single Route)
- Center Street
- Dexter Park
- Amory @ Egmont
- Egmont @ St. Paul
- Beacon @ Lancaster
- Beacon @ Kilsythe
- Beacon @ Winthrop
- Washington @ University
- Washington @ White Place
- High @ New Terrace
- High @ Walnut travels to Walnut Path
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide41 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 2
Bus Route #3A (first run of Bus 3)
- Beacon @ Strathmore
- Beacon@CLinton Path
- 1731 Beacon
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide53 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 3A
Bus Route #3B (second run of bus 3)
- Boylston @Buckminster
- Bolyston @ Channing
- Fisher @ Hyslop
- Buckminster @ Holland
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide6 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 3B
Route 4A stops (first run of Bus 4)
- Beaconsfield at the T stop sign
- Tappan @ Beaconsfield
- Tappan @ Sumner
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide7 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 4A
Route 4B stops (second run of bus 4)
- Winthrop @ Garrison
- Wintrhop @ Addington Path
- Winthrop @ Rawson
- 30 Gardner Road
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide8 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 4B
Route 5 stops
- Clark @ Cotswold
- 141 Clark (hydrant)
- Old Lincoln
(http://beta NULL.runkle NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Slide9 NULL.jpg)Bus Route 5
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