Enrollment Questions (Some Thoughts from the Boundaries Work Session)
There have been quite a few questions about enrollment especially as pertains to students coming in at a non-entry grade. I think we do have to wait for the transition plan for some answers.
Clearly, they can't give a seat to every child at their attendance area school especially in the NE. I'm sure they will try to find a school in your region at elementary level. As for middle and high school, I can see where someone coming in at 7th would have to go out of region for middle school (unless they chose a space at an Option school that had room).
It's an interesting discussion as well historically. The issue of new students who move here after the school year has always been an issue. It is quite shocking to many parents who move to Seattle only to find out that they can't get into their neighborhood school. But we are in a very transitional time so it will be hard on people in that situation.
As well, I recall that when Don Nielson was on the Board, he had put forth an amendment to the SAP to give preference to students who had 2 or more continuous years in SPS over someone coming in from private school. He felt parents should be rewarded for their commitment to public school. The amendment did not past but I remember a lively discussion. (I see both sides but at the time I thought it would be hard to be a long-time supporter of public schools only to see someone come back from private school and your child not get into the school he/she wanted and the private school student did.) But it would be one more thing to put into the system.
From the Boundaries Work Session:
Clearly, they can't give a seat to every child at their attendance area school especially in the NE. I'm sure they will try to find a school in your region at elementary level. As for middle and high school, I can see where someone coming in at 7th would have to go out of region for middle school (unless they chose a space at an Option school that had room).
It's an interesting discussion as well historically. The issue of new students who move here after the school year has always been an issue. It is quite shocking to many parents who move to Seattle only to find out that they can't get into their neighborhood school. But we are in a very transitional time so it will be hard on people in that situation.
As well, I recall that when Don Nielson was on the Board, he had put forth an amendment to the SAP to give preference to students who had 2 or more continuous years in SPS over someone coming in from private school. He felt parents should be rewarded for their commitment to public school. The amendment did not past but I remember a lively discussion. (I see both sides but at the time I thought it would be hard to be a long-time supporter of public schools only to see someone come back from private school and your child not get into the school he/she wanted and the private school student did.) But it would be one more thing to put into the system.
From the Boundaries Work Session:
- as mentioned, extension of early enrollment to January 15th
- Tracy brought up...the Barnhart/Waldman amendment. Yes,really. (For those who don't know, it was an amendment created by previous Board directors that allowed you to list your choices but still rank them differently depending on if you got in or not at your first choice). She said that they CANNOT take it out of the system during the VAX migration so it would still be in play during at least the transition period. So, it might be quite the game to figure out how to put choices down for the next couple of years.
- Wednesday, December 16 will be a Board Work Session for the Transition Plan. This is our first notice of when we might see the plan. So you get to see the plan and then stew over it during the holidays.
- Somewhere in January will be the Open House tours.
- Late February assignment letters will be mailed to all early enrollment K, 6th and 9th graders. So between the Work Session on Dec. 16th to the Jan. 15th deadline for early enrollment and then the assignment letters to early enrollment students in late February, the transition plan should be done by ....early January? Does it seem to you that they need to get it done BEFORE early enrollment ends?
- Late February letters will be mailed to ALL parents about the new SAP and enrollment
- March 1-31 is Open Enrollment
- Late May - assignment letters mailed
Comments
I completely understand how (and, from an engineering viewpoint, sympathize with the fact that) Dr. Libros and the Enrollment department have come to the point where it's most time- and cost-efficient have different algorithms for enrollment processing for different grades, one requiring strategy and one not but...
...this is an absolute public relations nightmare that does not take human factors into account. There is a huge potential for wild rumors and and misinformation here. I just cannot imagine that the district is going to do a first class job of communicating how this will work.
What a mess! Surely there's a way to make the new system work for non-entry grades, even if it means doing it all on paper laid out on tables in a gymnasium.
This is really frustrating. What are people new to the Seattle School District supposed to do? What if you move in with more than one child of school age?
We kept our child in his private Montessori school for K this year. K is the last year of preschool in the Montessori preschool model. Our son is the quintessential "twice gifted" child. He's been tested a lot in trying to understand what is going on with him, so we know his IQ is APP level and his visual motor/ fine motor skills are significantly delayed. (Luckily our insurance fully covers vision therapy and OT.) This gap naturally causes a lot of frustration for him. We hope that by keeping him in K in his Montessori (with the same teacher he's had for 4 years) will build his confidence. We also had hoped to bypass the sibling issue (he's the oldest of 3) by waiting for our attendance school. I already feel like I don't know where he belongs: APP? Spectrum? regular classroom? With 30 kids???? How would he and the teacher manage? Now, he may not even have a spot at our attendance school. Argh!
I can't be the only one with this type of child, nor the only one with a non-entry grade child. If feels like the district doesn't want us.
What about the families that don't sign up at all, and just show up on the first day? I've heard this happens a lot at RBHS and Cleveland. Will people be showing up at Cleveland because that's where their neighborhood has always gone? I expect Cleveland will have room, but STEM might not be a great match for those kids.
Can you clarify what Dr. Libros said about keeping the Barnhardt-Waldman amendment in play? I initially read your post as indicating it would apply to in-transition grade levels (i.e. non-entry this year, and percolating up). However, most other folks posting here are interpreting this as guaranteed assignment for entry grades plus across-the-board Barnhardt-Waldman.
WV: "mendrefr", so I will mend the references by noting that the phrase "Barnhardt-Waldman amendment" should regularly be accompanied by "this is the Gale-Shapley algorithm" so that those who want to know what it is instead of who suggested it can find out.
After kids are assigned to their neighborhood schools, families will be given the option to apply for another neighborhood school or option schools. Those families who choose this option will have to fill out an enrollment form and submit it during open enrollment.
A child just showing up at a school other than their assignment school or at an option school like Cleveland, would not get in unless there was excess space.
A kid that just showed up at their neighborhood assignment school, that was entering K,6 or 9th grades, would be admitted because they are guaranteed a spot at the school.
If a child is not enrolled in SPS (currently private, home schooled, out of district) then the family has to register the child with SPS. Once registered if your child is going into K,6 or 9th grade (entry level grades) he/she will automatically be assigned to his/her neighborhood school (guaranteed assignment). If the family is not happy with the assignment they can go through the open enrollment process of applying for other neighborhood or option schools.
At least that is how I understand it.
To answer your question, I know what the amendment did under the old plan. I don't really know how it will work for the new plan or the transition period for the new plan.
I'm sure all will be explained by Tracy. I would love it if we were allowed, as a group tonight, to ask such questions.
Quite honestly, and I know this sounds harsh, but if you know you will have a kid in SPS next year, and do not enroll but just show up, then you are really out of touch. SPS enrollment centers have been coming to neighborhood libraries, there have been phone calls, emails, etc about the assignment plan. Outreach has been pretty good.
I cannot imagine someone would just think they could show up and get in. There cannot really be that many people who do that, can there?
The SAP states that every student is guaranteed a seat at the entry level grade of their neighborhood assignment school. Certainly, a child must be officially enrolled in SPS, fill out necessary paper work, etc., but after that, according to the new SAP, the district must place that child in their neighborhood school.
The district has the data, and knows how many kids live within a schools boundaries, even if the kids are at private school, home schooled, or out of district. They have drawn the boundaries with this consideration. So a kid showing up at their neighborhood school should not be a surprise.
Perhaps for the first couple of years we will see some large class sizes, extra classrooms (held on the stage, in science labs, etc), or portables to accommodate everyone.
This is my interpretation from reading (pretty carefully) the new SAP. You could certainly check with Tracy Libros tonight at the meeting, or email her at
trlibros@seattleschools.org
The new SAP promises that every student is guaranteed a spot at their neighborhood assignment school so they are going to have to find a way to accommodate them.
I just have no idea if things actually will be different under the new system, if so many people weren't enrolling under the current system.
Blogger Charlie Mas said...
Barnhart-Waldman will remain because it is too tricky to have the VAX run one algorithm for incoming K, 6, and 9 students and another algorithm for everyone else.
...
Charlie,
Can you please clarify: are you paraphrasing something you heard from an official source, or voicing an educated opinion?
I have not seen or heard that anywhere.
How would enrollment decide which kids, living within the boundaries of school X, applying for an entry level grade, would get in and who wouldn't? There are no tie breakers for kids who apply for the entry level grade at their neighborhood school because they are guaranteed a spot.
the reason that Barnhart-Waldman will be retained during the first few years of transition was stated at the Board work session.
Thank you, Charlie.
This is one of those issues where the precise wording makes a huge difference to what one can deduce about the system.
From what you and Melissa are saying, entry-grade students for Sept 2010 will have guaranteed placement at their neighborhood school and the choice process will make use of the existing Barnhart-Waldman/Gale-Shapley code.
I've said before that there's a straightforward variant of the Gale-Shapley process to achieve just this. However, that is not the same as what can be accomplished by running the existing algorithm. I'll need to think about this for a while to know what the likely ramifications are.
From the district FAQ
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/faq_equity.html
"How is this plan equitable to underrepresented, economically disadvantaged, and/or highly mobile families?
In the past, families who applied after the Open Enrollment period did not have the same school choices as those who did. The new student assignment plan corrects this uneven situation. When the plan is fully implemented, families will always have access to an attendance area school, no matter when they apply. Students who apply late will not be shut out of their attendance area school; however, students applying for option or other attendance area schools will still have a better chance of assignment if they apply during Open Enrollment."
Does that help? You can always email Tracy Libros too. She is head of enrollment services and would be able to clarify further.
I think they plan on accommodating bad estimates of the number of kids the way that districts always had done (before the choice systems were developed).
I also think that means that there aren't really going to be open spots in likely to be crowded schools for "open enrollment" because spots will be held in reserve for the children who may arrive at the door on the first day of school. But, that's speculation)
(of course, this analysis is for K, 6, and 9 only).
Does anyone have the numbers? How many seats are available at each school under the new SAP?