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January 8, 1999/ 20 Tevet 5759, Vol. 51, No. 15
Schechter school takes steps toward independent status
Talks focus on possible switch to new home
LOU HIRSH
Contributing Editor
What is now known as the local Solomon Schechter Day School is in for some major changes this year, now that the school's board has moved to disaffiliate it from the Conservative movement and become an independent Jewish day school, effective July 1, 1999.
Although noone involved will discuss details openly - and people involved in talks stress that no agreements have been reached on any of the important aspects of the upcoming change - the Jewish News has learned that negotiations have been under way for the past several weeks on a proposal to house the school at Reform Temple Beth Israel in Scottsdale, moving it from its current location at Conservative Beth El Congregation in Phoenix.
Beth Israel's Rabbi Kenneth Segel acknowledged this week that the temple's board has held meetings on the subject, and may even take a vote on the latest school-submitted proposal at its next meeting, planned for Monday, Jan. 11. And, in a related matter, Segel has resigned from the local Board of Rabbis over a letter signed by some of his Reform colleagues on the board, along with others from the Conservative movement, requesting a three-year moratorium on the Schechter change - a moratorium the Schechter school board rejected.
While Schechter and Beth Israel representatives will not discuss specific issues being addressed in talks, observers say those matters will ultimately have to include costs for leasing space, and how the school's curriculum will serve the community's diverse needs while staying consistent with policies and practices of Beth Israel.
The Schechter school's board of directors voted on Dec. 23 to end its membership in the Conservative movement's Solomon Schechter Day School Association. The school will adopt a new name, which has yet to be decided, for the academic year that begins in the fall of 1999.
The school, founded in 1987, currently serves 110 students in grades 1 through 7, and officials are planning to add an eighth grade in the coming academic year.
"As a board, we discussed the issue of affiliation over the past couple of years," Schechter board President Judy Laufer said in a news release announcing the change. "We decided that the school can enhance its growth and best meet the needs of the greater Phoenix Jewish community by becoming the only independent Jewish day school in the Valley."
Laufer added that the change will not affect the school's overall mission. "The independent status of our school will not change our school's educational philosophy, traditional ritual practices or emphasis on excellence in both secular and Judaic studies," she said.
Schechter school Principal Barbara Gereboff said this week that the changes are being made to reflect the fact that the school's enrollment is not limited to students from Conservative Jewish families.
"We found that we were able to define our programs and define ourselves without the need of the (Schechter) affiliation," Gereboff told Jewish News. "The new school will reflect who we are. We serve Reform, Conservative, unaffiliated, Orthodox - the whole spectrum."
The local Schechter school is a constituent agency and receives funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.
Federation President Neil Hiller said he does not foresee any changes in the relationship or the amount of funding once the school disaffiliates from the Schechter association. He points out that the school has always been funded because of its service to the community, not its religious affiliation. (The federation also funds programs at the Orthodox Phoenix Hebrew Academy, which serves students through grade 8.)
While past efforts at operating community day schools have fallen by the wayside - such as the Valley Jewish Day School, which folded in the early 1980s - Hiller said the current climate could bode better for such an institution.
"The local Jewish community today is bigger, better organized and better funded. I'm sure that there would be support for this at this point," Hiller said.
Hiller said the planned school, once it adds an eighth-grade class, could also help bolster local Jewish education by preparing students to enter the proposed Jewish community high school. Plans for a school for students in grades 9 through 12 are in the early planning stages, with organizers seeking public input on potential programs.
Federation Executive Vice President Art Paikowsky also said he did not foresee a change in the relationship between the federation and the Schechter school after the disaffiliation takes effect. But he said the federation is monitoring the situation closely, since the school's potential move from the central to the northeast portion of the Valley could have "major implications" in terms of enrollment and participation in school programs.
Committee established
As part of the plan approved in December, the Schechter board established a Judaic education committee to address school policies, guidelines and goals with respect to religious education and ritual practice. The committee was formed in part due to concerns raised earlier by Valley religious leaders that Schechter should not move forward with plans for a new school without more input from the community at large.
A letter sent Dec. 7 to the Schechter board of directors - signed by several religious and educational leaders from local Conservative and Reform synagogues - asked that the board allow three years to pass before taking action to change the name or affiliation of the school.
"In reformulating the institutional strategy for your school, we urge you to consider potential pitfalls as well as the impact of your plans on other institutions that are also providing quality Jewish and secular education in the community," the letter said. "We also urge you to use the next three years to visit with the professional and lay leaderships of these other schools so they too can prepare for the impacts of any changes you may propose."
The letter requesting the moratorium was signed by Conservative rabbis Mark Bisman of Har Zion Congregation, Rick Sherwin of Beth El Congregation, and Bonnie Koppell of Temple Beth Sholom; along with Reform rabbis Maynard Bell and Alan Berlin of Temple Solel, Charles Herring of Temple Kol Ami, and William Berk of Temple Chai. Also signing the letter were Bonnie Morris, Temple Solel's educational director; and Joel Gereboff, chairman of religious studies at Arizona State University.
In their letter, the religious leaders said there are no surveys, locally or elsewhere, suggesting that a school's ideological orientation is a negative factor when parents decide to enroll children in Jewish day schools. Schechter officials apparently disagreed with the contention. Laufer confirmed to Jewish News this week that the school's board concluded, after months of discussion, that the Schechter affiliation was "not an asset" in terms of attracting a wide spectrum of families from different denominations, as well as non-affiliated ones.
Sherwin said this week that he had no comment on the impact that the Schechter disaffiliation and possible move would have on Beth El Congregation, where the school currently leases space. Congregation President Carol Shucker also declined to comment extensively on Schechter's possible break with Beth El, saying only, "Beth El would be sorry to see them go. It's been a good relationship for everyone involved."
Rabbi Robert Abramson, director of education for the New York-based United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which oversees the Schechter school association, said national officials were informed in advance that the Phoenix school was heading toward disaffiliating. He said he knows of only one U.S. school in the last 11 years moving to disaffiliate, adding that the Phoenix decision is based totally on local circumstances and does not reflect a negative trend for Schechter schools in general. In fact, Abramson said, the Conservative movement has opened five new Schechter schools around the country in the just the past three years.
Letter causes rabbi rift
While no agreement is yet in place to move the local school, the issue has already created fallout on the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix, which consists of Reform and Conservative congregational leaders. On Dec. 10, Segel of Beth Israel wrote a letter informing the panel's president that he was resigning from the board, citing the move by some of his colleagues to request the moratorium on the Schechter changeover. While he said he could understand why Conservative rabbis would be concerned about changes at what has been a Conservative institution, Segel said his Reform colleagues' stance amounted to "pure politics," based on their institutions' competitiveness for new members.
On the same day Segel wrote his letter, Bisman informed the Board of Rabbis that he was resigning as its president. His letter to the board cited demands on his attention in his professional and personal life, but made no mention of the Schechter school issue.
According to a Schechter board news release announcing its decision, the school's new education committee will be chaired by board member Bennett Cooper and will include Joel Gereboff of ASU. It is also expected to include participation from community rabbis and educators.
But the extent of rabbinic participation on the committee is yet to be determined. Bisman, for example, told Jewish News this week that if the school ultimately locates at Temple Beth Israel, he will only become involved with the panel if he is invited by Segel or the Beth Israel board.
Now that the decision has been made by Schechter officials to disaffiliate, Bisman said, the time for arguments has passed and the principal organizers need to work out the details.
"I'm sure that the community will come together one way or another," Bisman said.
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