Last week, the Ithaca Board of Education discussed a plan to phase out the middle school component of the Lehman Alternative Community School. This plan will remove a vibrant and integral part of a progressive school, and the Board of Education should keep this valuable component of the Ithaca public school system.

The learning community at Lehman varies from any other school in Ithaca. Students are actively involved in forming the curriculum, and are able to focus in-depth on issues of their choice rather than briefly touching on a set number of topics. Students actively participate in the operations of the school, from deciding on the judicial cases of their peers and maintaining the school’s gardens and greenhouses. In general, the school provides a unique environment where students feel a connection and a sense of involvement in a learning community.

Students entering Lehman in the sixth grade are bound to feel an even greater connection to the school, participating in the program three years earlier than students entering at the high school level. Each year, the school is packed to capacity — often with hundreds of additional students on a wait list. Eliminating three grades at Lehman would be a devastating blow to the sense of community that students are able to develop during their time at the school.

Further, as a public school, Lehman reflects the broader values of Ithaca, a city which prides itself on its progressive policies. Limiting Lehman to a high school only detracts from this mission, essentially devaluing alternative education, a champion of progressivism. In a town that prides itself on progressive leanings and democratic policies, the Board of Education should recognize the value of having an alternative learning school available to as many students as possible.

Clearly the Board of Education values Lehman — it recently voted on building improvements for the school. Clearly the students care about the school — there was an impressive student showing at the Board of Education meeting and a pouring of outcry at the proposed cuts. But somewhere along the lines, there is a disconnect in fiscal support for the school. Funding for a building improvement should not be put before the continued existence of Lehman’s middle school program. The strong opinions voiced by students and parents should be taken seriously — the middle school should not be eliminated.

The Board of Education no doubt needs to make budget cuts, but cuts that are detrimental to the community and to the mission and goals of Ithaca as a city should be prevented at all costs. Lehman’s middle school should unequivocally be kept, both for the benefit of the students and the greater Ithaca community as a whole.