In a 4-1 vote, trustees for the Lagunitas School District voted last Friday to combine the Montessori and Open Classroom programs into a unified program based on the philosophies of both—a move prompted by low enrollment and staffing challenges. Board president Richard Sloan opposed the merger, calling it premature and an unacceptable dilution of the unique programs. 

The merger proposal was crafted by superintendent and principal Laura Shain, but the idea was first proposed over a year ago and it has polarized the school community ever since. Most Open Classroom parents and staff have opposed the idea of a merger, instead calling for Montessori families to join their program.  Yet 36 of the 38 Montessori families wrote to the board late last month in support of Ms. Shain’s recommendation, and most teachers in the district have voiced support for the move. 

“Unifying the two programs brings our classroom numbers up and increases our students’ social and learning opportunities,” Ms. Shain wrote in an email after the meeting. “Close friendships are important, while casual connections and shared learning experiences are also a key part of a robust public education. Unifying the two programs maximizes our resources.” 

The administration first discussed the idea of merging the classrooms after the pandemic severely cut enrollment, particularly in the Open program. After a series of community meetings, administrators shelved the issue until last November, when they began developing a policy for when a merger would be appropriate. That process was hastened when Open teacher Anita Collison and Alex Cusick, the only Montessori teacher who is staying on next year, asked Ms. Shain to combine the programs—a proposal that Ms. Collison later retreated from.

Over the next two months, Ms. Shain will lead a transition team made up of teachers and two to three parents from each program to identify and establish the aspects of each approach that should be included in the new program. Both Ms. Cusick and Ms. Collison expressed their excitement to tour each other’s classrooms and work together to bridge the gaps. “With our numbers the way they are, it’s hard socially and for education,” Ms. Cusick said. “We have two great programs and [Montessori students] don’t sit at desks, contrary to what some people might think! I’m really excited to go to Anita’s classroom and check out how it works. I’m excited to check out the great Open Classroom [program] up in Chico, too.”

Many supporters of the merger, including parents with students in both programs, insist that the progressive programs have more similarities than they do differences. 

Both offer a mixed-grade-level education with an emphasis on social and emotional growth. The Open Classroom, founded in 1971 by Mr. Sloan and others, encourages a balance between academics and play and emphasizes student choice and responsibility. Students are free to move around the space and figure out the best ways to learn concepts. Parents volunteer regularly inside and outside classrooms to bolster curriculum and decisions are made by consensus at parent meetings. The Montessori program was founded in 1981 and also emphasizes choice but has more structure to lessons, which take place in small groups.

Breeze Kinsey, an Open parent and alumnus, said that although his program has proved a compelling model for 50 years, when parents from both programs set out to write down the values of each program, he found them “comically similar.” “When we have the chance to sit down together and talk, our differences don’t outweigh our shared desire for our children’s wellbeing,” he said.

Yet some Open purists spoke passionately at Friday’s three-hour meeting, saying the proposal had blindsided them. “The way I see this is there was a 20-mile race going on and one set of runners got a 15-mile head start, while the other set of runners, the Open Classroom, had no idea the race was being run,” said Wayne Patton, an Open parent and a track coach at Marin Catholic.

After discussions in recent parent and board meetings, Montessori parents wrote a letter to Open parents, asking to unite and create a new program. Open parents responded by inviting them to join their own program, saying they were not interested in losing the pillars that made Open distinct. After a joint parent meeting, Ms. Shain wrote a recommendation to the board based on the input she had heard from district parents. 

On Friday, some said the vote on a merger was premature because a unified program had not been hashed out. “I am at a loss,” Mr. Sloan said. “We’re being asked to vote on creating a program and we haven’t a clue what it looks like. The notion that it is the best of both programs is a slogan right now. How will decision[s] be made? Will we rely on a consensus model like Open or are we going to take votes like Montessori? Standardized tests or not? There are so many differences. I will agree there are similarities, but they’re different programs. How in the world can we vote and create something when we don’t know what it is?”

Some Montessori parents who spoke at the meeting demanded that the board make a decision and end the belabored debate in time to hire and prepare for the next school year. Ms. Shain said the district will hire a new teacher for the transitional kindergarten, kindergarten and first-grade classroom, as Larry Nigro and Marlene Maiello, two veteran Open teachers who returned on one-year contracts last fall, will not continue in their roles. Pauline Hope, the Montessori program’s kindergarten and first-grade teacher, is retiring in May, and Alex Perry, the second- and third-grade teacher, is leaving the district. 

Though Lagunitas is not operating at a deficit, trustee Steve Rebscher said a controlled deficit is projected in three to four years without considerable financial changes. Though the merger will provide short-term financial relief, as only one new position must be filled for next year, the future is uncertain. The district is hoping that students who left for Ross Valley Charter will return, and with them the money Lagunitas loses with their exit—$9,700 a student. Twenty-five Lagunitas students are currently at Ross Valley and 10 are at Heartwood Charter. Three students returned from Ross Valley this year. In a further attempt to boost enrollment, the district will allow inter-district transfers for the first time. 

“In the one-to-two-year term, [the merger] is going to be financially beneficial,” Mr. Rebscher said. “It will be completely open to see what lies down the road. Our slogan right now is going to be ‘cautiously optimistic.’”