Fairfax School's Move Is Debated

Principal Molly Bensinger-Lacy said that when she came to the school four years ago, strong relationships with the community meant children's basic needs were met. "No one needed winter coats," she said.

So she focused on academics, emphasizing teacher collaboration and training. Test scores climbed. A chart in her office shows that Graham Road Elementary, where nearly four out of five children qualify for free or reduced-price meals, is an academic outlier. It outperforms other high-poverty schools and is on par with those in the county's most affluent areas. Ninety-five percent of its students passed state English tests in 2007, the state reported, and 90 percent passed state math tests.

The school's success fuels Freeman's point that there is no compelling reason to move it, put students on buses and risk disrupting the tight-knit community. He also says that economic diversity should not be a driving goal.

"It's a narrow, simplistic idea that for schools to be successful, they need more white middle-class kids," he said.

In the past school year, about 60 percent of the students were Hispanic, 16 percent Asian American, 14 percent black and 6 percent white. Nearly half of students were learning English.

Phillip Troutman, who lives in a nearby single-family neighborhood, said he supports the proposed move but is happy with the education his second-grade daughter has received.

"We were told when we moved here that it's basically Kingsley Commons Elementary," Troutman said. "That they deal with the [English for speakers of other languages] kids but not other kids. We try to fight that perception."

But Troutman has found that the school's reputation is deeply ingrained. From his leafy front yard, he maps the educational diaspora of his neighborhood as he points to various houses: Catholic school, Catholic school, upscale private school, magnet school.

Troutman participated in a community task force that was formed in 2005 to consider the school's future. The panel recommended last winter that the school expand at its current location.

School officials tried unsuccessfully to acquire the neighboring strip mall and other properties. They considered building a playing field atop a parking garage, but the cost was too high. They gave up on expansion.

Since then, tensions have escalated. A recent School Board meeting drew almost 200 people, most from Kingsley Commons, their white T-shirts emblazoned with "Save Our School." State Sen. J. Chapman "Chap" Petersen (D), who represents Kingsley Commons, urged the board to keep the school in place.

Freeman offered to build 2,500 square feet of classroom space on the Kingsley Commons property and to share parking to stretch available space on campus.

Still, School Board member Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner, whose Providence District includes the school, said he will recommend that Graham Road Elementary be moved to the eight-acre, school system-owned site on Graham Road near Lee Highway and that the current campus be used as a hub for community services if funding can be secured.

Niedzielski-Eichner said that he wants students to have a better facility and that he wants to send message of welcome to middle-class families.

The principal agreed. "Call me crazy," Bensinger-Lacy said, "but I really want our children to have grass and trees and to be able to run around."

She said a broader mix of students could help the school. "It's a little island here," she said. "For the children to learn about the wider world, they need to have a wider population to deal with."