Community School leaders meet with parents
Despite some frustrations, poll shows most parents support community school

From June 24, 2005 Jewish Voice & Herald
By Jonathan Rubin

PROVIDENCE — The leadership of the Jewish Community Day School (JCDS), set to open in September of 2006, held two informational sessions on Tuesday to keep the Alperin Schechter Day School (ASDS) community informed of new developments. About 100 parents attended the meetings held at the Jewish Community Center. Their overwhelming response was: It’s about time.

However, despite their concerns, a recent telephone poll conducted by the JCDS showed that the majority (66 percent) of Schechter parents either approved of the community school effort or were excited about it

Community school volunteers spent several days calling 106 families with age-appropriate children (pre-K to 6th grade) for the new school, and 87 (82 percent) were reached. (See poll, page 8.)

The poll also showed that some of the parents were frustrated by a lack of communication about plans for the school. Rabbi Wayne Franklin, who has a daughter at ASDS, said at one of the sessions on Tuesday, “People have been talked to and not listened to. It has been very unsatisfactory.”

“I’m very excited about the idea to change the school,” said Providence resident Nancy Safian at one of the meetings. “I think a lot of people feel open to it, but we need more information.”

Many others agreed. There were lively exchanges that had dozens of people staying an hour or more afterward to continue conversations about the proposed school.

At one of the meetings, JCDS President Bruce Wolpert, a former president at Schechter, left his prepared remarks to passionately express his dedication to the day school. In response to a question, he said two Schechter past presidents, a Schechter parent and a former parent are leading the transition team.

Jennifer Robinson, the communications and marketing consultant working with the JCDS, acknowledged the difficult nature of the meetings. “People wanted more information, and this is why we hosted these meetings,” she said.

She pledged parents will begin receiving more regular email notifications, and said that information about the school’s mission and leadership is located on its website at www.jfri.org., under the Jewish Community Day School link.

Financial woes

A number of those present at the meetings wanted to know the status of the search for a director for the proposed school. Jeff Gladstone, co-president of ASDS, said that they are “very close” to selecting one, but assured those assembled that time is not a factor in selecting a candidate — excellence is.

“Why can’t they build on the old site, on Schechter property and next to the temple?” asked Karen Beraha, of Providence, who put three boys through Schechter.

Alan Harlam, head of the transition committee of the JCDS and a parent at ASDS, spoke about some of the difficult financial realities that Schechter has faced. He said that the school has made a number of attempts to move. However, it was determined that the school could only raise $1.7 million out of the $5 to $8 million needed to build a new school, and the plan was abandoned.
Harlam also said that to meet rising costs, Schechter has had to raise tuition from between 4 and 10 percent a year for the last three years (current tuition is approximately $11,500), resulting in a few attritions to public schools and 20 additional parents seeking financial aid. “Parents can’t afford what we’re charging,” Harlam said.

Trans-denominational

In regard to questions about the feasibility of having a trans-denominational Jewish school, Rabbi Alvan Kaunfer, who is on the community day school task force, said that across the United States, “Pluralism is on everybody’s mind. It’s the wave of the future.”

Rabbi Mitchell Levine, an Orthodox rabbi who will be joining the Schechter staff next year, said he had been working with Rabbi Kaunfer and Rabbis Jonathan Blake and Sara Mack from Beth-El for years on this subject, “and discovered we have a lot more in common than we supposed.” “Where we can’t find a solution,” he said, “differences will be accommodated.”

Susan Hamin of Cranston said that where Jewish educational excellence was, she and her children would follow. “I felt a shift tonight that the community school heard us, and is responding to what we are saying. That feels good to me.”

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