Tonight, the RUSD Board had a work session on redistricting; they had an update from administration on the proposed scenarios which was followed by discussion. Schools should reflect the community they serve, and the board rightfully directed administration to redistrict the schools to reflect the Socio-Economic Status (SES) make-up of the community as best it could, as based on recommendations of the Equity and Access Committee.
OK – here’s the numbers, because I’m a numbers kind of person. The current SES for schools included in the study is 53% - which translates to 53% of the children qualify for free or reduced lunch. The RUSD board would like all of the schools in the study to use a SES guideline of 30-70% - basically plus or minus 20% the district average.
Redistricting Scenario #1:
District SES average for schools included in the study - 56.58%
Number of schools out of compliance with SES guidelines – 4
Redistricting Scenario #2:
District SES average for schools included in the study – 52.54%
Number of schools out of compliance with SES guidelines – 10
Redistricting Scenario #3:
District SES average for schools included in the study – 54.51%
Number of schools out of compliance with SES guidelines – 2
Simply looking at the percentages of SES, the 3 scenarios are not that far off from one another, that’s not the problem.
Numbers are easy to understand, it’s the “emotional quotient” of what these numbers represent that may be the problem.
Scenario #1 is our current configuration, which based on the recent Supreme Court decision, is illegal - so go ahead and scratch that one off the list.
Scenario #2 is where ALL children will have the opportunity to attend a school close to their home, and Scenario #3 is where children will be bussed to balance SES.
Of course, it’s not really about the numbers, is it? It should be about providing EVERY child with a great school filled with qualified teachers and educational opportunities that will engage EVERY child. There are advantages and disadvantages for each scenario which I’m sure will be discussed at length, but sometimes it’s easier to make an “emotional” decision when you have the facts before you. Let's try to keep these facts in the back of our minds as we go forward in our discussions.
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3 comments:
I neglected to add that the board will be discussing this more and voting on it at their next Business Meeting which is October 29th.
So did they actually mention any of the schools by name when they talked about the scenarios?
Where will the Caledonia kids be?
Nothing is written in stone, but if the district decides to balance the student population by SES - they would have to move 70 lower SES students from the Jerstad attendance area to Olympia Brown. The rest of the elementary schools would stay relatively the same, I say relatively because they will be adjusting boundaries. For example if a child currently attends O Brown, they may attend North Park or Wind Point under this scenario - but they will stay in the area.
Regarding the other scenario, where children will simply attend a school close to them, two of the elementary magnet schools would move. The Red Apple program MAY move to North Park, and the Fine Arts program to Giese and those central city schools would then return to neighborhood schools.
As I said before - nothing is WRITTEN IN STONE and NOTHING has been decided. There is NO reason to panic - the board has not even decided what path they are going to take yet.
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