One of the stated goals for the new Longmeadow Middle School is a central location so that more students will be inclined to walk and bike to school. For students who happen to live within walking/biking distance to the current Williams Middle School nothing will change if the proposed new school is built on the Williams athletic field. But will putting a combined middle school at this location really result in more kids walking/biking to school? If your kids currently attend the Glenbrook Middle School and you live on the south or east end of town, will your kids really be walking or biking across town, crossing Williams Street and possibly numerous other roads to get to the new school. Our expectation is that the number of kids currently walking/biking to the existing Williams Middle School, will be about the same number of kids walking/biking to the combined middle school. Most of the students who currently walk and bike to Glenbrook, will likely be seeking other means of transportation to the new school. So, the net result, will actually be a large reduction in the number of kids walking and biking. This seems contrary to the new middle school committee’s reasoning.
What will change is the number of parents dropping off their kids. Perhaps the number of students taking a bus will also increase, but the $260 fee might deter some from this. The Longmeadow Public Schools website currently shows one bus going to Williams, two going to Glenbrook, and one going to Wolfswamp. It looks like the town currently uses four buses. So, with less students walking and biking to the new school, and only four school buses available in town (unless they lease more, not included in the cost of the school), I think it is clear that a majority of the students going to a new middle school in the Williams athletic field will be driven and dropped off. And do we want to even think about the days when inclement weather prohibits kids from walking or biking. For a town that claims to be environmentally friendly that’s a lot of idling cars waiting in a long line to drop off students.
All of this soundly refutes the new middle school committees stated goal of choosing a central location so more students can safely walk and bike to school. This is not going to happen. All this will do is dramatically increase the traffic around the new school as hundreds of students get dropped off by their parents. The result, as stated in the site feasibility traffic study, their words not mine, “existing queues experienced on Williams Street will be exacerbated.”
If you really want the maximum number of students walking and biking to school, then the two middle schools should be renovated or rebuilt right where they currently are. This will maximize the number of students able to walk or bike to school and provide the safest setting for getting almost 700 students to school every day.
Bill and Terry DeGiulio
Longmeadow
