D204 proposed Metea boundaries - Part 3

[casey]

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

[jwh]

I believe they are going to provide "the" boundaries, and allow public input via email and one session.

[sleeplessinnpvl]

casey said:

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't think they want the 16 different versions out there that they had last time. Maybe Birkett gave the board two to pick from and after debating, they may pick the best. But whatever has happened behind doors in the last few weeks, I'm sure there is only one boundary plan coming out. They had to be nice a few years ago because the referendum hadn't passed. Now they don't have to play so nice....

[steckmom]

casey said:

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't think that's a dumb question at all. I know they won't allow what happened last time, but that doesn't mean they might not come up with more than one recommendation and let the SB decide.

My guess, though, is that it will just be one proposal or two at the most.

[gatormom]

sleeplessinnpvl said:

casey said:

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't think they want the 16 different versions out there that they had last time. Maybe Birkett gave the board two to pick from and after debating, they may pick the best. But whatever has happened behind doors in the last few weeks, I'm sure there is only one boundary plan coming out. They had to be nice a few years ago because the referendum hadn't passed. Now they don't have to play so nice....

All boundary discussions by the SB must be held during an open meeting. They cannot discuss them during executive session or any other closed door type meeting.

I wasn't sure what you meant by things happening behind doors in the last few weeks and just wanted to clarify that.

[Arch]

steckmom said:

casey said:

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't think that's a dumb question at all. I know they won't allow what happened last time, but that doesn't mean they might not come up with more than one recommendation and let the SB decide.

My guess, though, is that it will just be one proposal or two at the most.

It will be interesting if there are any 'exception' areas anywhere for any of the criteria or how well they close the achievement gap.

[doctorwho]

steckmom said:

casey said:

Here's a dumb question, but do you think the Administration is going to make one single boundary recommendation and then expect the SB to follow that recommendation? Or will they maybe put two out there and allow the SB to hack it apart and supposedly allow public input (via email). I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't think that's a dumb question at all. I know they won't allow what happened last time, but that doesn't mean they might not come up with more than one recommendation and let the SB decide.

My guess, though, is that it will just be one proposal or two at the most.

and my guess is the stone tablets they're chiseled on were ready a while ago.
I doubt we'll see more than 1 proposal put forth - even if they ( the admin that put the proposals together) really did have any tweaks in mind - having people settling into 'camps' like last time would be very ugly again

[sleeplessinnpvl]

gatormom said:

All boundary discussions by the SB must be held during an open meeting. They cannot discuss them during executive session or any other closed door type meeting.

I wasn't sure what you meant by things happening behind doors in the last few weeks and just wanted to clarify that.

Thanks for clarifying that. I actually don't know much about the school board and how they work at all. I was just thinking that behind closed doors was the boundary committee meeting in order to make one or two proposals for the board to look at. I don't think the board has input in the first recommendation, do they?

[steckmom]

archwinsome said:

steckmom said:

I don't think that's a dumb question at all. I know they won't allow what happened last time, but that doesn't mean they might not come up with more than one recommendation and let the SB decide.

My guess, though, is that it will just be one proposal or two at the most.

It will be interesting if there are any 'exception' areas anywhere for any of the criteria or how well they close the achievement gap.

I think there will have to be 'exception' areas since I don't think any boundary scenario could meet with all of the criteria.

[gatormom]

sleeplessinnpvl said:

gatormom said:

All boundary discussions by the SB must be held during an open meeting. They cannot discuss them during executive session or any other closed door type meeting.

I wasn't sure what you meant by things happening behind doors in the last few weeks and just wanted to clarify that.

Thanks for clarifying that. I actually don't know much about the school board and how they work at all. I was just thinking that behind closed doors was the boundary committee meeting in order to make one or two proposals for the board to look at. I don't think the board has input in the first recommendation, do they?

I would imagine they have no input on the first recommendation. From what I understand, the administration is putting this together similar to the site recommendation, and then it will be the SBs job to pass it or not.

[Arch]

steckmom said:

archwinsome said:

It will be interesting if there are any 'exception' areas anywhere for any of the criteria or how well they close the achievement gap.

I think there will have to be 'exception' areas since I don't think any boundary scenario could meet with all of the criteria.

It's definitely possible without any exceptions to what they put forth on their website.
Their language was interesting.

[steckmom]

archwinsome said:

steckmom said:

I think there will have to be 'exception' areas since I don't think any boundary scenario could meet with all of the criteria.

It's definitely possible without any exceptions to what they put forth on their website.
Their language was interesting.

I suppose you're right. I guess it just depends on how they define 'maximizes' and 'minimizes'.

Really, the only thing we can count on is balanced enrollment for growth.

[Arch]

steckmom said:

archwinsome said:

It's definitely possible without any exceptions to what they put forth on their website.
Their language was interesting.

I suppose you're right. I guess it just depends on how they define 'maximizes' and 'minimizes'.

Really, the only thing we can count on is balanced enrollment for growth.

Other things should be possible given that we would have 3 destinations to work with instead of just 2.

The first thing that springs to mind is to try to eliminate (if possible) or at worst, match the longest commute today; Not to make the worst commute with 2 destinations now even more worse even though there would be 50% more schools to choose from.

This is where the idea came from that I put forth the other day: No one goes to the farthest school from their area. With 3 destination options instead of 2, that does not seem to be unreasonable and should be completely doable.

What is the current 'academic strength' difference between NV and WV today? Match or make that 'gap' better without making anyone's commute any worse than the worst that exists today and I would imagine we're on the right track towards fairness.

[sleeplessinnpvl]

The thing that scares me is that the word "distance" is not in the criteria at all. My understanding from the last go-around was that distance is the number one priority of this community (behind balanced enrollment of course), but it doesn't seem to be a priority of the new criteria. But I agree with arch in that it would be silly of the board to increase someone's commute to be longer than what the current one is now. With the "wonderful" placement of our new school (their words, not mine) they should be able to accomplish that. It seems now they are glossing over distance and talking about transportation costs. The two should be related to each other, but since I'm not a Laidlaw expert, I can't be sure.

[steckmom]

archwinsome said:

steckmom said:

I suppose you're right. I guess it just depends on how they define 'maximizes' and 'minimizes'.

Really, the only thing we can count on is balanced enrollment for growth.

Other things should be possible given that we would have 3 destinations to work with instead of just 2.

The first thing that springs to mind is to try to eliminate (if possible) or at worst, match the longest commute today; Not to make the worst commute with 2 destinations now even more worse even though there would be 50% more schools to choose from.

This is where the idea came from that I put forth the other day: No one goes to the farthest school from their area. With 3 destination options instead of 2, that does not seem to be unreasonable and should be completely doable.

What is the current 'academic strength' difference between NV and WV today? Match or make that 'gap' better without making anyone's commute any worse than the worst that exists today and I would imagine we're on the right track towards fairness.

I think you're on to something. Put those together and you are on the track to fairness. I think that's probably how it will pan out. But I don't think most people will be happy about it, because when it comes to our kids, it's hard to see 'fairness' in the big picture.

Honestly, as much as I harped on achievement gap, I do think it should be weighed against commute time. Putting these kids on buses for long periods of time is going to affect achievement--and the district reputation--as well.

Did you submit a proposal?