Submitted by Katherine McKersie, Cos Cob
To the Editor:
As parents of a child from a Central Middle School “feeder” elementary school, we are watching, listening and participating in the C.M.S. process, hoping that our student will not be left in an uncertain situation as our eldest child was when Central Middle School was deemed unsafe and closed, in the year following COVID-19. What is the plan for students, teachers, staff and administrators for whom the now less than 3.5 years clock will cease “ticking” when they are in the now-condemned building?
And for the community at large try, if you will, to remember your own uncertainty entering and attending middle school. Please take a moment and imagine that you are a future CMS student. You have experienced COVID and etc., and you know that the building you are going to has previously been deemed unsafe. How might you feel? Perhaps you might also consider what it would be like to send your own child or grandchild into C.M.S. as a student, teacher, staff member, administrator? How might you feel? Would you simply hope that all would be well until the new building is built? Remember that middle school is a crucial time in the development of children, and that these students have previously learned through the COVID-19 pandemic. While I truly believe in raising resilient children, stressing children beyond a particular point becomes detrimental to their well-being.
I assure you, the current 4th and 5th graders are aware of the safety issues of C.M.S. In their shoes, how might you feel about entering middle school?
It is difficult to watch adults at odds with one another, all the while knowing that children are being caught in the process. If you had been in this situation as you headed to middle school, how might you have felt?
If our community does not work together, and much more quickly, we are responsible for holding children back. While many factors are outside of our control, safe school buildings in a community with means is certainly not one of those.
Submitted respectfully,
Katherine McKersie