New Assignment Plan? Not Till 2010-2011
This article appeared in today's PI. I had tried to record the Board meeting last night because I knew that there would be discussion of the assignment plan and the VAX system (computer) they use for it. This article is all I have to go on so if anyone saw the presentation please speak up.
Good news:
"But Sherri Bealkowski, the district's interim chief information officer, suggested there may be a silver lining: There's now a detailed plan to fix the problem -- and money set aside in the district's capital budget to pay for it."
I'd like to see where in the capital budget this is coming from. I had pointed out to COO Don Kennedy that if money hadn't been taken from the BEX III Tech fund for Sealth it could have gone for this effort. Apparently, they are going to not do yet another project on the tech list and move the money to this plan.
Bad news:
"But because of the complexity of the current school-choice system and the limitations of the computer system, any changes will be delayed until the 2010-11 school year.
Good news:
"But Sherri Bealkowski, the district's interim chief information officer, suggested there may be a silver lining: There's now a detailed plan to fix the problem -- and money set aside in the district's capital budget to pay for it."
I'd like to see where in the capital budget this is coming from. I had pointed out to COO Don Kennedy that if money hadn't been taken from the BEX III Tech fund for Sealth it could have gone for this effort. Apparently, they are going to not do yet another project on the tech list and move the money to this plan.
Bad news:
"But because of the complexity of the current school-choice system and the limitations of the computer system, any changes will be delayed until the 2010-11 school year.
"We're going to have to build a custom application for this, and that's going to take awhile," Bealkowski said.
If the district were to adopt a simpler assignment plan, it might be able to use off-the-shelf software instead of having to create its own, Bealkowski said."
I'm assuming they mean that they will implement the plan in the spring of 2011 for the school year 2011-2012. That's how I read it but I'll have to ask someone in the district.I think whatever choice/neighborhood hybrid they come up with would likely need custom software but such a plan will still save money on transportation.
Comments
On the other hand, I acknowledge that it is high time for the powers that be to roll up their sleeves, get the ball rolling, and move forward with the plan.
I am happy though, that the district is not rushing through this, and using their "urgent" tactics. This is a big step, and should be well thought out, and have PLENTY of community input.
What exactly is the source of this "complexity" in the current school-choice system? Application for kindergarten, for example, seems straight forward enough.
Or is "complexity" simply a euphemism for unexplainable or unaccountable or illegal or haphazard or arbitrary, etc etc.
And why worry about boundaries, why not just focus on distance. If you live a block from a school you should be able to go to that school. If you want to go to a school 20 blocks away, you shouldn't be at a disadvantage from someone 22 blocks away who happens to be within the boundary.
A 1st grader living on 23rd and Cherry is equidistant to TT Minor, Madrona, Gatzert and Leschi. Why should three of these become the unguaranteed schools.
Rugles, part of the technology problem is trying to migrate information from one system to another, not just changing the system.
Right-sizing these reference areas is going to help a lot. There are challenges, of course, like what if some private school kids want to come back and suddenly there's more kids applying?
Also as Ad hoc pointed out, one situation is in the NE with the placement of the middle schools both in the south area. People in Laurelhurst might argue that they should go to Eckstein and to assign them to Hamilton would have them commuting right past Eckstein. However, what about the people up by John Rodgers and Olympic Hills? Their kids will have to take a long bus ride no matter what (unless they open a new middle school)and is it fair to add 10-15 extra to their ride to get to Hamilton (and they, too, would travel past Eckstein) while Laurelhurst kids would have a very short distance to go to Eckstein?
(I use these schools as examples not to nitpick any one school.) The point is that the staff and the Board are going to have to make some hard decisions which are bound to cause hard feelings. This is the price for guaranteed assignments with the trick being you may not get the school you may have thought should be your reference elementary, middle or high school.
I absolutely do not mean to pick on Summit, a school I really like, but it seems that as an all-city draw it could be closer to the center of the city, while if we are to have neighborhood schools actually IN the neighborhoods, the Adams building (Summit) should revert to being a middle school while Summit would do well, and maybe draw more, if it were in, say, the Marshall building.
As I said, I love Summit, and know they put a lot into that place, but...It was intitially to be a temporary placement, Summit into Adams, in the first place.
I don't suppose anyone is actually confusing the two, but the misspelling has been bugging me.
Helen Schinske
Has the district reached out the Computer Science dept at UW for help? To Microsoft? A new system needs to be built, but it just doesn't seem that complex, as modern computer software goes.
Can I ask if your husband thinks this is challenging from a programming point of view.
The migrating information issue you brought up earlier seems easily solved by employing a bank of skilled typists for a few weeks.
Fix the technology issue and you have uncomplicated one thing, taken a variable out of the equation, and that, to me, seems like progress.
The hard problem is for the district to actually make the rules, and for the district to decide what to do in cases where people can't be assigned with any rule they've provided. But they will have to do that no matter what computer system they select.
Do you need a Cobol guy on your committee, by the way?
Helen Schinske