Student Assignment Plan Changes Coming

The Board will be having the Operations Committee meeting on Thursday, the 17th, from 4-7:15 pm.  Why such a lengthy committee meeting?  For one, it's a packed agenda but there are a couple of high profile issues that could take some time.

They are:

-Approval of the Student Assignment Plan for 2017-18 (F. Herndon)

- Transportation service standards and contract (P. McEvoy)

As well, there will be a COW (Committee of the Whole) session for Special Education Placement Update.  That they want the entire Board at this meeting must mean something.  (Frankly, it would be great if the entire Board was there to hear about the other two big issues as well.)

I have not read thru the SAP info but reader Lynn has:

 The purpose of this action is to update information in the Student Assignment Plan. The Plan for 2017-18 continues most of the assignment rules in effect during 2016-17, but some highlights and changes are:

• Opening Cedar Park Elementary, Meany Middle, and Robert Eagle Staff Middle (attendance area) schools; 
• Truncating grades at Madrona: this school becomes a K-5, instead of a K-8; 
• Establishing a GeoZone for Licton Springs K-8; 
• Modifying HCC pathways; 
• Adding Chief Sealth as the southeast dual language immersion pathway high school; 
• Removing conflicting assignment guarantees for new to the district 6-8th grade students that live within K-8 attendance areas; 
• Moving the date when waitlists are dissolved from August 15 to August 31;
  • Per principal feedback, moving the waitlist dissolution date to August 31 (from August 15) for the 2017-18 school year will allow for additional school staff assignment processing and planning upon return from summer break. The August 31 waitlist
    
  
  

  
  

            dissolution date will still provide families and schools with assignment information prior           to the start of the school year.
• Updating school and program names and locations.

• The following changes to HCC pathways provide predictable patterns of assignment for families, maximize efficient use of available space, and allow for projected HCC enrollment changes. 
  - Middle school HCC students living in the Eagle Staff and Whitman attendance areas would attend Eagle Staff. 
  - Elementary school HCC students living in the Eckstein middle school attendance area would attend Decatur. 
  - All other HCC pathways would remain the same. 
  - A survey regarding the HCC pathways was conducted with the Cascadia and Thornton Creek communities. Based on the feedback received, District staff have recommended the HCC pathways noted above. Implementing alternative pathways is not recommended due to capacity constraints of these schools and limited community engagement around other options. 

So the district is saying they didn't have enough community engagement to consider other options.  Seems a bit of leading parents to where the district wants HCC to go.

Reader Info Please says:

Thanks for the link, Lynn. 

It looks like Garfield is remaining the default HCC pathway for high school, with Ingraham IBX as an option (based on "space available"). 9th grade IBX parents have been told starting IB in 10th grade will no longer be the default for HCC students and they will have to opt in to an IBX pathway after meeting some yet to be defined criteria. The default will be starting IB in 11th. 

Parents should be asking what that means for current and future 9th graders. Are they suggesting students will be on their own senior year if they choose IBX? Will they continue to offer honors pre-IB classes in 9th? Will parents have complete information before open enrollment? 

To note, the district will be hosting a series of community meetings, starting next week on the Student Assignment plan changes.

Interpretation services will be available. All events are from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

• Nov. 21, 2016: Chief Sealth Intl High School Library
• Nov. 28, 2016: Franklin High School Library
• Nov. 30, 2016: Nathan Hale High School Library
• Dec. 1, 2016: Ingraham High School Lunchroom
• Dec. 5, 2016: John Stanford Center Auditorium

Anticipated School Board Timeline

• Nov. 17, 2016: Proposal Presented to School Board Operations Committee
• Dec. 7, 2016: Proposal Presented to School Board for Introduction
• Jan. 4, 2017: Proposal Presented to School Board for Action

Additional information is available on our Student Assignment Plan webpage.