In presenting its budget for the upcoming year, our Cranston school committee is threatening to close one of our community elementary schools, Horton Elementary. Concerned parents in the district are getting together to voice opposition to this plan and let the school committee know that their plan is potentially harmful to children and families. They have established a blog at http://savehorton.blogspot.com.

They are asking concerned parents to come out for a school committee budget meeting this Wednesday, February 1, 2006. The meeting will be held at Western Hills Middle School at 7 pm. For more information, go to the Save Horton blog.

Though we are not directly affected by this threatened school closing, I believe this plan puts the school committee on a slippery slope toward devaluing the community school model. There are other places where funding could be cut. Consideration should also be given to ways to increase student population at Horton, such as allowing open enrollment there to children attending less-high-performing and more crowded elementary schools in the city.