A Different Kind of Update
Today’s post isn’t a medical update. While we continue to navigate Noah’s treatment, there’s something else critically important to our family that I need to share.
The Westfield-Washington Board of School Trustees is currently considering a redistricting plan that would move a portion of Viking Meadows students, including our boys, out of Oak Trace Elementary. Given everything our family is going through, the timing and impact of this proposal is significant for us. I’ve written a letter to the Board that I’m sharing below.
If you’re in the Viking Meadows community and/or feel strongly about this issue, I’d urge you to send a letter as well. You can email it to [email protected].
To the Westfield-Washington Board of School Trustees,
I want to start by saying thank you for the work you do for our community. I know managing a school district in the midst of explosive growth isn’t easy and I appreciate the time and effort you put in.
I’m writing about the current redistricting plan, specifically the proposal to move a portion of Viking Meadows students from Oak Trace Elementary - an easy walk down the road - to a farther away hastily combined elementary and intermediate school across the interstate. My wife Mayumi and I have lived in Viking Meadows for 10 years and have two children currently at Oak Trace - Noah (10) is in 4th grade and Micah (7) is in 2nd grade.
Here’s our situation: Noah was diagnosed with stage 4 AML leukemia three weeks ago. He’s currently in the middle of the first 30-day chemo treatment at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. We’re facing 3-5 intensive chemo phases over the coming months, each requiring extended hospital stays where Noah is confined to a positive pressure room. It goes without saying, this has been the hardest thing our family has ever faced.
In the middle of this crisis, the support we’ve received from Oak Trace Elementary has been overwhelming. Noah’s classmates, teachers, and leadership have flooded him with cards, posters, gifts, and video messages. His Oak Trace teachers are coordinating with the hospital teachers so he can have video sessions with his class. He’s a Student Ambassador who does morning announcements, and they’re actively looking for ways for him to continue that work from the hospital. The school and neighborhood have rallied around our family in ways we didn’t know were possible, and all of this is lifting Noah’s spirit on a daily basis.
But this isn’t just about Noah. This has been incredibly hard on Micah. He’s had to watch his big brother fight for his life. He’s dealt with his parents being gone for extended periods. He’s struggling to make sense of something no 7-year-old should have to face. The relationships he has at Oak Trace - his teachers, his friends, the staff who know what our family is going through - are helping him get through this. Those relationships are built on trust and familiarity that took years to develop.
We know the intent is not to inflict additional pain on our family, and understand that you need to consider the entire Westfield community, not just one family. But the thought of uprooting both boys from Oak Trace in the middle of this fight is genuinely painful. When Noah gets through this treatment both boys are going to need stability and familiar faces more than ever. They need teachers who understand what they’ve been through. They need friends who’ve been part of this journey. They need a school community that already knows them and cares about them. We need Oak Trace to still be there for them.
I know there are many concerns about this redistricting plan - the readiness of the intermediate school building for elementary students, staffing questions, transportation and safety issues, the impact on vulnerable students with IEPs and ESL needs, socioeconomic inequality, communication problems, and impacts on home values. Others will speak to those concerns more thoroughly, and I share those concerns.
But my focus here is on what this means for our family and families like ours who are already in crisis and desperately need the support structures we already have in place.
I’m asking the Board to delay redistricting until a better solution can be identified. With the significant increase in tax revenue from our community’s growth, I would rather spend the money and take the time to do this right, even if some schools remain at or above capacity for another year.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
David Baldwin
Viking Meadows resident
Father of Oak Trace students: Noah (4th grade) and Micah (2nd grade)
