Parents' Pleas to School Board Get Emotional

Northville parents had strong reactions to the final vote from the Northville schools board of education to change elementary and middle school attendance boundaries.

"When you move children to new schools, you have to understand it causes stress on them," Cheryl Spadafora, who has two children in the district's elementary schools, told trustees during citizen comments at Tuesday's board of education meeting. 

She said her 8-year-old son, who attends Ridge Wood Elementary, asked her to tell the board not to move the students.

Trustee Matthew Wilk, parent of a Winchester student, said there are enough additional classrooms at Winchester Elementary to accommodate transferring students.

"We're not going to shift the Ridge Wood overcrowding issue to Winchester," he said. 

This final decision to pick Option 1 at the elementary school level and Option 4 at the middle school level came after weeks of public forums and official data studies.

Northville resident Dragan Milojevic said he didn't want Option 4 because it leaves a small margin to accommodate any influx at Hillside Middle School.

"Do pay attention so we don't have to rattle all of these emotions again," he said.

[Read about the board's reasons for selecting Option 4 for middle school attendance boundary changes.]

“Of all the boundary changes I’ve been through, this has the highest number of participation," said Board President Ken Roth. "The discussions have been emotional ... but they've been conducted in a respectful manner."

Cleanthe Milojevic said she and her husband, Dragan, have been at every meeting and wanted to thank the board for respecting their right to voice their concerns.

"We have children alive to redistrict, whereas Connecticut families don't have their children," she said. "I'm glad we're facing this issue and not another one."

Are you a parent of a student affected by the changes? What do you have to say? Tell us in the comments.