This and That
Front page story in the Times about cost cutting at districts in our region. There wasn't a lot here except that SPS is the only district that closed schools. One thing to pick up on here that came up in the thread on Sherry Carr's community meeting: transportation.
From the article:
"In Edmonds, the district strategically placed bus stops just outside the one-mile zone around schools, far enough so the state will pick up the tab, according to district spokeswoman DJ Jakala.
That means some of the 3,000 students whose routes were eliminated can choose to walk to a more distant bus stop if that's a shorter — or safer — way to school."
I did a little research and found, to my surprise, that there are districts - lots of them - that charge for transportation. San Jose is one of them (they have 31,000 students, a couple of exceptions for payment - F/RL, etc. and the cost tops out at $675 per year per family).
Or, have a big walk radius. In Berkeley, elementary students within a 1.5 mile radius have to walk. That's a pretty big radius. They provide no transportation for middle or high school students.
I hope everyone understands that we can hope to see (and should) transportation costs go down due to a new SAP. If most people go within their neighborhood or region, it should happen. However, the district is still running behind. They could easily look to other districts throughout the nation and say, well, sorry, we now have to charge or worse, say they won't be transporting middle school students or high school students. They could easily justify doing it. I'm sure the outcry would be great because parents are used to the pretty deluxe transportation system (compared to other districts) that our district has had over the last decade.
Comments
Oh, and Fee-for-T(ransportation)... bring it on. I'd gladly pay for a school bus rather than driving. Heck, price it so it makes a small profit, and offer it for people who live closer than 1 mile.
High school transportation isn't changing at all. All HS students will still get metro passes under the new SAP.
SPS will still provide city wide taxi service for homeless families.
SPS will still provide all city transportation to NCLB opt out/transfer students.
SPS will still provide transportation for k-8 students to a school in a linked service area to access necessary bilingual or special education services not available in their service area.
Not only aren't we really cutting back, we are adding some transportation services. For instance SPS will now provide middle school students with a metro pass if they choose to attend an attendance area school or option school located outside of their service area.
But forgetting all of these special circumstances, how will transportation costs decrease for regular elementary and middle school students? We ARE NOT going back to a neighborhood schools plan with the new SAP. The new SAP merely guarantees families WHO WANT IT a spot at their neighborhood school. Many will NOT WANT their neighborhood school assignment. Currently those families who don't choose their "neighborhood" school are provided transportation to any other school in their cluster. With the new SAP they will get transportation to any other school in their attendance area.
So where are all of the cost savings coming from? The only cutback that I can see is that alt school draws have been limited. They will be more regional.
To me the new SAP doesn't look like that big of a change.....just a bit more predictability for families that live close to, and want into, desirable schools.
Or offer less transportation i.e. like Berkeley, no transport for high school/middle school (and I think Techy's right; I'll bet they offer a discount on bus passes).
What if the school bus system were transparent, like the city bus system -- a series of "lines" and "stops" going to various schools along the way. Families could choose the route that suits them and pay for the ride.
All this may be moot once the district is redrawn, but then again maybe not.
My husband commutes to downtown from the Seward Park area and his commute was MUCH longer...bases were 20-30 minutes late, etc. I was curious if it impacted any kids?
I went to community meeting once and asked about high school credit for classes taken in middle school. I was told by Ruth Medsker, Middle school Director, and Phil Brockman, then High School Director, that it was against the law. When I checked, however, I found that the law didn't prohibit districts from granting it, but, in fact, REQUIRED districts to grant it.
If someone in the District tells you that something is illegal, check the RCW and the WAC and confirm it.
I think this is still what they say today, but could certainly be mistaken.