Poughkeepsie City School District is located in Dutchess County, New York. Approximately 75 miles north of New York City, the school district is situated on the banks of the Hudson River in an area known as the Mid Hudson Valley.
The district is coterminous with the boundaries of the City of Poughkeepsie. is approximately 5 square miles in size, and is composed of six elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, one community learning center (formerly an alternative school), and one administration building. The district provides educational programs for nearly 5,000 students. The school population is a diverse mix of African-American, Latino, Caucasian and Asian students.
There are approximately 850 professional and support staff members employed by the district, of whom over 400 are teaching staff. The district operates with a budget exceeding $80,000,000. Taxes and other local revenues account for approximately 40% of the budget, with the remaining 60% generated through State Formula Aid and Small City Aid.
History
The beginning
Public education began in Poughkeepsie in 1843, when a village board of education was created by the State legislature. This twelve-member Board was authorized to borrow money and raise taxes to build one school house and rent school rooms in five other sites. Between 1843 and 1844, the board opened seven grammar schools, one of them a ‘Colored School', which was continued until 1875. The first free school was built on the corner of Mill and Bridge Streets. All other schools were housed in rented facilities and served approximately 760 children. In 1856, a new school building was constructed on Church Street, with the second floor used to offer a high school program. This high school opened in 1857, and in 1863 held its first commencement exercises.
Between 1858 and 1875, additional grammar schools were built on Church Street, Union Square, North Clinton Street and upper Cannon Street. The high school was discontinued for one year in 1865, but reopened in 1866 in rented space in the Dutchess Academy, a private school on the corner of South Hamilton and Montgomery Streets that apparently merged with the public high school. This building was later sold by its trustees, with proceeds from the sale donated to the board of education to finance building a new High School, which opened in April, 1872, on the corner of Washington and Lafayette Streets.
1901–1929, the period of great development
The school system began a thirty-year building program at the beginning of the 20th century that continued until the Depression. During this period, the city grew rapidly, its population swelled by immigrants from European countries. Those who came to work in the city factories near the river created a need for residential expansion. New neighborhoods were built on inland areas previously used for agricultural purposes. Shifts in population density and the increase in the number of city residents made it necessary to build new schools away from the original city center near the river. Many of the original school buildings in the Poughkeepsie City School District were built during this period.
A large influx of children from non-English speaking backgrounds happened around this time, many of whom had a large impact on school organization and curriculum. Teaching pupils proper “habits and attitudes” to overcome the influence of “home and the streets” began to be considered a necessary adjunct to academic instruction, as the schools took up the charge to socialize students from diverse cultures to the American way of life. As schools adopted the industrial model of organizational efficiency; the instructional emphasis swung away from oral recitation and widening pupils’ perceptions of the world around them toward “scientific” organization through measurement of intelligence with standardized I.Q. tests, grammar school ability grouping, curriculum based on textbooks and structured course outlines, use of test grades as teacher accountability measures, and the segregation of “mentally deficient children”. In keeping with the idea of school as a learning factory, the schools were termed the children's “place of work”. Regular attendance and good work habits were expected. The intent was to produce young adult workers who possessed a standardized skills foundation and an understanding of American cultural ethics. In 1929, it was strongly recommended that a junior high school be built to meet the needs of students who were not suited for the high school program. At that time, over 70% of the students left high school without graduating and it was felt that an intermediate, vocational program was needed to better prepare the majority for adult life.
1930–1945, the depression years
The Depression profoundly impacted education in Poughkeepsie. Although in 1930, the district went ahead with a commitment to provide “modern” instructional aids by purchasing four “moving picture” machines for $700 and spending $1,000 on a district-wide film library, by 1932, all employees were taking salary cuts to cover school costs. An enrollment decline was also noted that year: elementary enrollment increased by only 72 students in comparison with the normal annual increase of 275 children. It was during the Depression that interest in student health services first increased; speech programs were started, feet were examined, glasses bought for those who could not afford them, a dental hygiene program was begun and physical education was given prominent consideration. Students were required to show proof of smallpox vaccinations. Law mandated fire inspections and fire drills. School heating plants were changed from coal burning to oil fired heat. It was noted that “undernourished children” were observed in the schools and funds were set aside to provide limited school feeding programs. High unemployment led to the State's raising the compulsory age for school attendance to sixteen, a move that created even greater overcrowding at the high school level and the need for high school programs that better responded to a range of student interests and abilities. By 1936, the economic picture had improved somewhat. Discussion began in earnest about the need for more instructional space at the high school level. Plans were initially developed to build an addition onto the North Hamilton Street High School, but the State Education Department rejected the proposal for an addition, claiming that the site offered insufficient space. Noting that he was opposed to seeing the children of Poughkeepsie “constrained on the North Hamilton Street site for the next 50 years”, a representative from the State Education Department recommended that a new “modern” high school, similar to the recently completed Arlington High School, be built on Forbus Street, with Memorial Field as its grounds. Two bond issues to build on that site; one for a new, comprehensive high school and the other for a supplemental vocational school, which could be funded in part by a federal Public Works Assistance matching grant (similar to the ones being used to build the Post Office, the Journal building and the Violet Avenue School in Hyde Park) were defeated by the voters.
The World War II period
World War II caused tremendous changes in the schools, as the community became involved in supporting the war effort. Federally funded childcare centers for the children of working mothers were established. School buildings were used as distribution centers for rationing coupons. Surplus school equipment was donated to the federal government to aid in the war effort. In 1944–1945, the State Education Department mandated that school districts prepare “Post-War Plans” for anticipated peacetime expansion. In Poughkeepsie's plan, building an addition to the high school was again proposed. The State Education Department granted reluctant approval for the request, but continued to encourage the district to build a new facility.
1946–1959, postwar recovery
During 1945–1946, a Citizens’ Committee on New High School Facilities was constituted to study the High School question. This began a fairly consistent nine-year struggle to develop an approvable plan for construction. During this time period, the board passed many resolutions of intent to acquire property in a variety of locations for the construction of a new high school. Plans to build on the “Murphy Site” in the Town of Poughkeepsie, the “Springside Site” in the City and on Eastman Park were seriously considered. The Poughkeepsie Area Development Association and the City Planning Commission appear to have put up roadblocks to the Murphy Site and the Springside Site in the belief that undeveloped property would be better consigned to homes than schools. A proposition to build on Springside finally reached a public vote in 1953, but was defeated by a nearly 3–1 majority. Later that year, the board asked the 600-member Chamber of Commerce to study the High School question. In the fall of 1953, the Chamber endorsed construction of a new high school on the Forbus Street/Memorial Field Site arid promised to put the power of its membership behind obtaining voter approval for the plan. A proposition was passed in May 1954 for the Construction of the new building. The new high school opened in mid-September 1956 after students paraded from the old building to the new facility.
The age of Sputnik
In the mid-1950s, the State Education Department issued another mandate; the necessity of creating 7th and 8th grade centers. Since the new high school was still under construction, the board asked for a variance to delay the 1956 implementation date for the Junior High School mandate. Initially, the board planned to use the old High School as a 7/8 center, and in September 1956 established a “Betterment Fund” as a deposit site for monies to renovate the North Hamilton Street School. Between September 1956 and August 1957, the board sold the Livingston School (1901), the Cannon Street School (1875), the Lincoln School (1906), and the old S. F. B. Morse School (1860) for a total of $58,124 to apply toward renovations. In 1957, however, the board began to consider building a new 7/8 school on College Avenue, and in early 1958, sold the old high school to the Catholic Archdiocese of New York for $250,000. Later that year a bond issue to build the 7/8 center on College Avenue was defeated by a 3–1 majority of the voters. The board then decided to open two 7/8 centers; one at Morse School and the other in a wing of the new high school. Between 1958 and 1959, the administration building was constructed on the College Avenue site originally designated for the new building.
1960–1969, the turbulent 1960s
The 1960s began as a period of relative calm, with the district satisfied by the new high school, administration building and the two 7/8 centers. However, as the decade progressed, the desegregation of Black students became an issue of concern. A militant NAACP organization raised questions about segregation in the elementary schools and the 7/8 centers. Racial discrimination suits were filed against the board. Although in 1963, the Superintendent assured the State Education Department that the schools were not racially segregated, by 1964 the district acknowledged that racial imbalances existed and began to plan for district-wide redesign. The Superintendent presented an initial plan for district reorganization that included five K–4's, three 5–8's and one 9–12. The elementary ability grouping practices began in the 1920s were targeted for elimination to improve institutional integration.