Multimedia Reporting (Utsler)

Members of the school boundary committee and parents of elementary children on the east side of Lawrence may have more in common than you would expect. They both try their best yet feel people don’t understand them, or appreciate their effort. This often leads both groups to frustration. Committee members and parents share the same goal: keep Lawrence schools at the same level.

Tom Bracciano, division director of operations and facilities planning, has been serving as the chairman of the boundary committee since 1993. He can understand why parents on the east side of town feel left behind when comparing the situation of their elementary schools with the schools on the west side.

“We have more schools than we need now,” Bracciano said. “We could have closed more.”

New York elementary school, on the east side, is one of Lawrence’s poorest elementary schools. Teachers at New York know that the school’s fate depends on the number of enrolled children and on the boundary committee’s future decisions. Minority parents don’t want their children to suffer from a poor education because of where they live. To better students’ education, New York elementary school has developed special programs to prepare poor students to live among middle-class people.

Lawrence Public Schools works independently from the city of Lawrence. City Hall has little power to influence its decision. Rick Gammill, director of special operations, safety and transportation, says that the school district meets quarterly with the city commission especially to discuss growth issues. Gammill says that the Board of Education, the county and the city discuss topics that affect all three entities.

If parents have a complaint or want their children to attend a school out of their area, they go to the school district. The school district handles boundary issues case by case. The school district is in charge of providing transportation for students. This also is based on a case by case analysis. Gammill said that last year, the Board of Education asked the boundary committee to focus on elementary schools. After eight months of study, the committee changed the boundary between Quail Run and Deerfield elementary schools on the north-west side of Lawrence. The committee changed the boundary because one school was losing children while the other school was gaining them.

Parents in east Lawrence fear that the committee might change a boundary making one school area out of two. Parents are willing to talk about the issue but wish to have their names kept secret. They say that Lawrence is a small town in a conservative state and “you never know what might happen.”

Parents say that if the Board of Education has to close a school, it would choose one on the east side. Minority parents know that their children are not born less intelligent than white Americans but feel they are treated as if they are. They say east Lawrence is dying and the school district won’t do anything about it because it is a poor area. Gammill disagrees, saying that Prairie Park, on the east side, is one of Lawrence’s newest schools.

Bracciano says that the committee has closed schools in east Lawrence, but not due to social status or race. “The east side has become a very popular place to live for students and families with no kids,” Bracciano said. “That’s why we had to close some schools.” Bracciano says that when the committee changes a boundary, most of the time people concerned get angry. “It’s always an emotional process to change boundaries,” Bracciano said.

Bracciano says that you have to look at the problem from a realistic perspective. “Parents say we are killing their neighborhood when we close a school. I tell them that it is the opposite; schools close because people leave the neighborhood,” Bracciano said.

The 2005/06 Lawrence public schools enrollment report says that “people have many choices available to them that directly impact enrollment trends. People may be terminated from their place of employment or relocate to another locality.” The report says: “If household sizes are decreasing, there may be the opportunity to reconfigure boundaries and eliminate the need for utilizing mobile classrooms.”

When teachers don’t match up with the children anymore, it raises funding issues to pay the teachers. Bracciano said that a school needed to have more than 350 students to employ a full-time librarian and nurse. A school also needs more than 400 students to function and be viable. Unfortunately, Bracciano said there has been a decline in the overall student count for the last five years.

New York elementary school currently has 152 students. Most of the children attending New York come from minority and low-income families. New York receives the same amount of money from the school district as any other elementary school in Lawrence. Because of the background of its students, the school also receives money from special federal programs such as Title One and Reading First.

New York principal Nancy DeGarmo takes pride in talking about the school and students’ academic achievements. Last year, New York did better than the district average in the state assessment. DeGarmo said the school couldn’t afford to spend time having students cut out decorations for the classrooms because it constantly has to focus on students’ special needs or more important activities.

“New York doesn’t provide fancy stuff,” DeGarmo says. “New York provides education.” This is exactly what parents and committee members strive for: a good level of education for children of all races and social classes. This might be an easier goal for a school in a rich area, but New York has its own way to keep children focused on education. “We work really hard to accommodate parents’ schedules,” DeGarmo says.

The school is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Boys and Girls Club participates in the before and after school programs. DeGarmo wants to make sure that art, music and physical education are not left out of the children’s schedule. Students from the University of Kansas come in to talk about a particular topic they study. Children get the chance to do anything school-related with the staff that other children do at home with their parents.

DeGarmo says there is a huge gap between social classes in the United States. Children from poor families struggle when among students from the middle class. DeGarmo says that this is especially true in High School. Poor children are excluded from the school spirit unless they are outstanding athletes. She says that one of the main goals of New York is to teach its students those hidden rules that will help them make the transition from their world into the middle-class world and make them successful through their academic career.

Doctor Ruby Payne, an expert on the mindsets of economic classes and on crossing socio-economic lines, wrote in “A framework for understanding poverty” that “students need to be taught the hidden rules of middle class, not in denigration of their own but rather as another set of rules than can be used if they so choose.”

Payne stresses the importance of role models for children. “Educators have tremendous opportunities to influence some of the non-financial resources that make such a difference in student’s lives,” she said. “It costs nothing to be an appropriate role model.” This is what DeGarmo, teachers and staff provide with after-school programs. This helps achieve the school boundary committee and parents’ goal of a good education for every child in Lawrence.

DeGarmo says equality doesn’t mean equitability. Giving people the same thing doesn’t mean giving them what they need. As former congressman Michael Harrington said: “Life is lived in common, but not in community.” This is an easy way to understand minority parents’ frustration when discussing boundary issues. The committee’s job is to keep up with demographic changes and reorganize the school areas accordingly. These changes remind DeGarmo that her school must constantly look for new ways to keep New York a viable school.

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If you’re looking for Devon Kim, you might want to try Blue Dandelion. Kim has been going to this children’s boutique at least once every ten days since this spring. Kim, 32, has a three-year-old boy, Jonah, and is expecting a daughter this week. Like many other mothers she enjoys wandering among coats, shoes, toys, books, beddings and many other items displayed in the children’s boutique.

Blue Dandelion, 841 Massachusetts St., has created a universe dedicated to children; a universe in which, as Kim would say, parents, grandparents, relatives and friends know they will find the perfect outfit or gift.

“The unique stuff they have makes the shop great,” says Kim, who has many reasons other than being a mother for going to Blue Dandelion.

Parents and grandparents will buy almost anything for a baby. Children don’t have buying power. Yet, being a child is powerful enough to make parents and grandparents buy almost anything. Psychologists find various reasons to explain this trend, which Blue Dandelion expresses.

Each of us could evoke a grandmother, an aunt or a friend who goes crazy when shopping for a child, especially an infant. People also start shopping before the baby is even born. Doctor Pamela Botts, Interim Director for the Counseling and Psychological Services of Watkins Health Center, says that birth has always been a celebration. Buying gifts shows the appreciation of a new life.

“Parents see babies as helpless. They therefore deserve special care,” Botts said. She says this image has been used for commercial and consumerism purposes. Botts says that materialism has created a generation of “expensive-looking kids,” who reflect the parents’ status. She recognizes this status image doesn’t apply to everybody.

Claire Wong, who works for The Journal of Consumer Marketing, wrote in 2002: “Parents are motivated by good quality and design. […] Parents want to see their children look nice.” According to Wong, parents believe that good quality clothes put their children on a route to happiness. Wong said that parents rarely dressed up their children to impress others.
Botts says that babies have always been appealing to adults in general. “Parents are almost in trance with babies,” she said.

Kris Bailey, who owns Blue Dandelion with Meredith Rothrock, witnesses this phenomenon almost everyday. Bailey says future mothers wander in the boutique to get acquainted with the new life they’re about to start. The closer they get to their due date, the more often Bailey sees them. Bailey says that grandmothers start buying clothes way before mothers do.

Blue Dandelion opened on Oct. 7, 2005, as a high-quality furniture store for children’s rooms. Customers kept asking Bailey and Rothrock for clothes and other items. When they decided to change from a furniture boutique to a clothing one, Bailey said she wanted everybody who came into the store to be able to afford something. Because most of the furniture it sold was hand-made, Blue Dandelion mainly targeted higher-income families. Now, Blue Dandelion offers original products from all over the world, including Lawrence.

Your world tour starts in Canada, with Kushies newborn outfits, diapers, infant clothing and maternity wear. Then you will cross the Atlantic and move to Europe: Italian perfumes and body creams; French toys, ballerinas, dishware and Kaloo baby dolls; and German wooden toys and Kathe Kruse cloth dolls. Still farther East, you will find Bobux shoes, Oink Baby clothes and strollers, all from New Zealand. You can even escape the real world and buy some fuchsia baby driving shoes “Made in Heaven.”

Even though Blue Dandelion offers many international products, the boutique is a local business. People can ask Bailey and Rothrock to sell their work for them in the boutique. Blue Dandelion currently displays the work of 15 Lawrence and Kansas City artists. “People in Lawrence create practical well-made products,” Bailey said. Bailey and Rothrock get the rest of their articles from markets they attend all over the country. They are always willing to try new products.

Blue Dandelion isn’t the only place on Massachusetts Street where you can find gifts for children. Hobbs, 700 Massachusetts St., set up a shelf filled with children’s items. Hobbs proposes gadgets more than necessary articles. Baby driving shoes and logo T-shirts illustrate the trend of a cool-looking child. “Mothers love to show off their babies down the street,” says Jeremy Cain, who has been working at Hobbs for more than five years. “Shoes are our most popular items,” Cain says. “Mothers love shoes.” Cain says it’s really easy to spend $100 buying three articles.

Cinda Garrison owns Prairie Patches, 821 Massachusetts St., a shop known for customizing its article. Garrison says that everything in her shop has a moderate price, which often includes the baby’s name. She says she doesn’t see parents go crazy buying clothes for their children. “They don’t expect us to be expensive, so they don’t look at the price so much,” Garrison said. She does confess that being a grandmother herself, she will spend more money for her grandchildren than she did or will spend for her children.

Devon Kim started shopping at Blue Dandelion because one of her best friends was selling her works there. Kim said that the local artisans’ lines are one of the best things about the boutique. “Quality and style make shopping there enjoyable,” Kim said. Kim moved back to Lawrence two years ago. She said that Blue Dandelion reminded her of the boutiques she used to go to in Chicago for her son.

Kim buys everything from high-priced items to a pair of socks at Blue Dandelion. She says it’s very easy to spend $50 to $100. The total can sometimes reach bigger numbers. Bailey remembers a grandmother buying $450 worth of articles to ship to her granddaughter in Denver. The most expensive item Bailey sold was a hand-made baby bed. Bailey shipped bed and bedding to England for $7,781. The woman found the bed on Blue Dandelion’s Web site, www.bluedandelionkids.com. She was searching for high-quality furniture and her search directed her to Blue Dandelion’s Web site.

Kim has a special reason to enjoy shopping at Blue Dandelion; a reason no other customer could guess when seeing her in the boutique. Kim, who is from Lawrence, said she grew up shopping with her mother at Campbells, a clothing store on Massachusetts Street. Now that she’s back in town, Kim’s son and future daughter will grow up with her, shopping at the same place Kim went with her mother. Campbells closed and Blue Dandelion opened. The name changed. The location stayed the same.

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