This morning, Paul Turner, Director of Facilities for AISD, contacted Lisa Chatham, Mills Boundary Representative, to say that the district understands where parents stand on the priorities of tracking and school proximity. He's "crystal clear" on where we stand.
They are working on submitting a list of revised priorities to the Board of Trusttees this week, that should address our concerns. We will keep you posted.
For now, I believe we can hold off on futher emails. Thank you for those who chimed in.
Something to think about:
I also talked with Robert Schneider (our board of trustees rep.) Tuesday, and he said that there is no AISD policy that supports neighborhood schools at any level. While the district has an established practice of supporting neighborhood schools at the elementary level, there is nothing to back that up other than a practice which may be changed at any time.
If, as a parent, you want neighborhood schools, (which Schneider says he supports,) we might need to push for a district policy which formally directs that action to take place. And, you should know that this may mean that the district has to build more schools - and pass more bonds for construction - rather than "backfilling" existing schools, that have a falling population.
Something to think about as a taxpayer and a parent.
We plan to add this issue the parent survey we will pass out Monday night. To fill out a parent survey, please come to the Boundary Info Meeting, Monday, September 21 at 6:30 in the cafeteria.
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I'm wondering whether if we were this successful turning secondary priorities into primary ones, whether we might want to begin introducing "off-the-table" priorities for consideration, too -- like grandfathering?? Maybe we can at least get them *on* the table for discussion ...
ReplyDeleteJust a thought -- I realize we don't want to spend all of our pennies before the carnival really begins ... other thoughts??
Kristen Card :)
I was actually thinking the same thing. After this strong response from our parents, we certainly have the district's attention. I would, however, like to gather quantitative data from the parent survey before approaching them with any new ideas. If grandfathering comes out as one of the top priorities among parents, then we share the survey data with key district officials and really begin to push for them to analyze what affect it has on the future student population.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we've been asking the district to give us a "proof of concept" on the grandfathering idea for months. So far, they've said they were too busy. However, if enough of us parents want it, maybe we can get it done.
I can't promise anything but to share information as I get it!