By TARA HETTINGER
Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com
FLOYD COUNTY —
Nine-year-old Abigail Scott had just finished taking her first ISTEP test before she heard the news.
Her school, Silver Street Elementary, is scheduled to close for good.
She knew the real reason.
“[Schools] put so much pressure on them for the ISTEP scores and how it makes the schools look. My daughter said ‘I guess I didn’t do well on the ISTEP, because they are closing my school,’” Abigail’s mother, Beth Scott, said, who has two children at Silver Street. “We had to explain that those scores aren’t counted yet and that’s not why the school is going to close.”
Michele Finn is working to explain the situation to her 7-year-old daughter, Chloe.
“I don’t think she can wrap her mind around $6 million shortfalls in the budget, but she doesn’t understand who ‘they’ are that are closing the school. She asked, ‘Who, the president?’” Finn said. “I said not the president, principal or teachers. It’s the people who make decisions on where the money goes for schools.”
Parents around Floyd County are finding themselves in a new situation, explaining to children as young as 5 why their school is closing.
Diane Wille, professor of psychology at Indiana University Southeast, said parents really need to step up now to help make the transition smoother for their children.
“It’s a matter of maintaining a positive attitude for their children. The children are going to mimic what the parent’s attitude is and their emotions. If the parent is upset and anxious, the child is going to be upset and anxious,” Wille said. “It’s not going to be easy. They can be honest with their children that they are a little upset with the fact that their child won’t be able to go to that school, but you have to make it positive. Say you are going to this school and it’s a good school and you’ll have a good teacher.”
Wille said now is the time to sit down with children and have that talk.
“How to start these type of conversations with a child is to ask what they know and you go from there, because then you can help to dispel things they have come up with that are wrong and give them correct information,” Wille said. “They may ask why it’s closing and ask what do you think. It’s hard to tell exactly how much a 5-year-old could possibly understand funding issues. They will interpret it very simply. There’s not enough money, which is not a bad explanation ... say this is what has to happen for everyone to get an education.”
TIME FOR TRANSITION
Once the talk has occurred, Wille said parents need to help transition not only their child but themselves by visiting the new school and meeting the new teacher — multiple times if necessary.
“Some children take longer to transition than others,” she said. “Some children may take a couple of visits to go to the classroom to get familiar with it.”
Scott said she is trying to do just that, but it’s still hard for her 9-year-old and 5-year-old, Lilly, to understand.
“We explained that it was due to funding and it wasn’t because their school didn’t do a good job. It boiled down to money and that was hard for them to comprehend, because money for a kindergartner and third-grader grows on trees,” Scott said. “Right now they are going through the regular stages of grief. Abigail is angry that her class is going to be split up. Lilly is nervous, but the fact that her big sister is going with her makes her feel better.”
She said excitement is starting to build as counselors from the children’s future schools come and visit, explaining that their school has many of the same features as the current one, such as a playground, cafeteria and more.
Scott said she is keeping her emotions aside.
“We really did not get angry at all. We wanted to set a good example for our kids,” she said. “We tried to not show our emotion as much and make it a positive change and not a negative change.”
Finn said Silver Street is so much a home to her child that all the work to transition her will still not be enough.
“We’ve taught her that Silver Street is her home. She is very proud of her school. She is very attached to the staff. It’s going to be a very different environment for her even if everyone is kind and welcoming, it’s not home to her,” Finn said. “Eventually she’ll be OK.”
Wille agreed. Wille said it is “highly unlikely” that any children will suffer any long-term effects emotionally from having to switch schools.
