Friday, October 30, 2009
Approved FUBTF Priorities/Charge
Monday night the Board of Trustees approved the Task Force priorities and charge. Here's the final document from AISD staff.
Oppose Disrupting Feeder Patterns for Mills Students
Tracking, also called "Feeder Patterns": After reading some of the comments, I wanted to clarify what tracking or feeder patters are. Tracking refers to the movement of a group of students from elementary, to middle to high school. Maintaining tracking does not mean that students would not be moved from Mills. It refers to moving students to schools that share the same middle and high schools as Mills does. For example, Kiker and Clayton also "track" to Gorzycki Middle School and Bowie HS, as does 1/2 of Mills. Patton also tracks to Small Middle and Bowie HS, as does the other 1/2 of Mills.
Many of you have been asking what you can do to assist in the boundary process. Lisa and I have crafted a petition that you can choose to sign, if you agree with it.
You can find the petition and sign it online: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/millstracking
Please sign by Monday, November 2. We'd like to have these in hand by the next boundary meeting.
Here's the text of the petition:
AISD is opening a new SW Elementary school and adjusting surrounding schools that are overcrowded, including Mills, Clayton and Oak Hill elementaries. Members of the Boundary Task Force are charged with the priority of: “achieving capacity targets that ensure efficient operation of facilities.”
The schools that are under capacity include Boone and Sunset Valley elementaries. These elementary schools have feeder patterns that are inconsistent with the feeder patterns at Mills.
For example, Mills elementary currently sends students to Small Middle School and Gorzycki Middle School, then all students feed into Bowie High School. Currently, Boone and Sunset Valley track students to Covington Middle School and Crockett High School. Changes in the current elementary school boundaries that involve Boone or Sunset Valley would disrupt these current feeder patterns and potentially separate a group of students from the elementary school peers when entering middle and high school.
Do you oppose moving students into schools that disrupt current feeder patterns?
We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our Boundary Task Force to oppose disrupting feeder patterns for children who live in the Mills Elementary attendance zone.
Many of you have been asking what you can do to assist in the boundary process. Lisa and I have crafted a petition that you can choose to sign, if you agree with it.
You can find the petition and sign it online: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/millstracking
Please sign by Monday, November 2. We'd like to have these in hand by the next boundary meeting.
Here's the text of the petition:
AISD is opening a new SW Elementary school and adjusting surrounding schools that are overcrowded, including Mills, Clayton and Oak Hill elementaries. Members of the Boundary Task Force are charged with the priority of: “achieving capacity targets that ensure efficient operation of facilities.”
The schools that are under capacity include Boone and Sunset Valley elementaries. These elementary schools have feeder patterns that are inconsistent with the feeder patterns at Mills.
For example, Mills elementary currently sends students to Small Middle School and Gorzycki Middle School, then all students feed into Bowie High School. Currently, Boone and Sunset Valley track students to Covington Middle School and Crockett High School. Changes in the current elementary school boundaries that involve Boone or Sunset Valley would disrupt these current feeder patterns and potentially separate a group of students from the elementary school peers when entering middle and high school.
Do you oppose moving students into schools that disrupt current feeder patterns?
We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our Boundary Task Force to oppose disrupting feeder patterns for children who live in the Mills Elementary attendance zone.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Questions and concerns?
I have been getting a lot of questions, and concerns brought to me lately. Do you have questions for the Mills Task Force Reps, or for the district? Please post them here so we can get answers at the next Task Force meeting.
Oak Hill Town Hall
This presentation was given at the Oak Hill Elementary Boundary Meeting this week. Oak Hill, Mills and Clayton are the current overcrowded schools. The plans to relieve Clayton and Oak Hill will directly impact how Mills is relieved.
Townhallmeeting For Blog
View more presentations from Geeta Suggs.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The next three meetings are critical
Only three meetings remain to re-draw boundary lines for southwest elementary schools. The bigger the presence we have at the meetings, the stronger our priorities come across to the board.
The next three meetings will be held at AISD downtown headquarters at 1111 West 6th Street in Building B. Staff members will present a “straw” map for representatives to work from, starting with the new elementary school, and moving to the other schools represented on the task force.
Tuesday, Nov. 3 5:45pm*
Tuesday, Nov. 10 5:45pm
Wednesday, Nov. 18 5:45pm
While the work sessions are public, but there is no opportunity for public comment. However, attendance is collected from those members of the public who attend.
You will be given an opportunity to provide feedback on any new boundaries at a community meeting held at Mills, tentatively scheduled for early December. More details coming soon.
* Dinner for the boundary reps starts at 5:30pm, the meeting starts at 15 minutes later.
The next three meetings will be held at AISD downtown headquarters at 1111 West 6th Street in Building B. Staff members will present a “straw” map for representatives to work from, starting with the new elementary school, and moving to the other schools represented on the task force.
Tuesday, Nov. 3 5:45pm*
Tuesday, Nov. 10 5:45pm
Wednesday, Nov. 18 5:45pm
While the work sessions are public, but there is no opportunity for public comment. However, attendance is collected from those members of the public who attend.
You will be given an opportunity to provide feedback on any new boundaries at a community meeting held at Mills, tentatively scheduled for early December. More details coming soon.
* Dinner for the boundary reps starts at 5:30pm, the meeting starts at 15 minutes later.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Task Force Meeting, October 20
Here's a recap of the meeting:
No preliminary maps were presented, we did more discussion about school priorities, process and covered requests for information. The information pack will be posted on the task force website.
I've expressed concern about the pace of the meetings, given we only have 3 left, before maps are presented to the CACs. That gives us approximately 9-10 hours of worktime left to solve this very complicated problem.
We voted to trust the demographer's data – although it's not entirely perfect, it's close and what we have to work with. (Read this post on population projections.)
We are allowed to ask to break down certain geographic segments. Lisa and I will be asking for those, but the staff wants us as a group to submit those all at one time, because those have to go to the demographer for processing, but those requests were not taken last night.
The other issue that we considered was how to tackle the boundaries. The group voted 10 to 8 to attack the boundary for the new school first, treat it as a draft, THEN begin the process of balancing all of the elementary schools. The new school boundary may be tweaked based on our work in the second phase. The staff said they would give us a "straw" map at the next meeting (November 3) to start on the new elementary school boundaries.
Lisa and I voted against this process, prefering to tackle all schools at once, because we feel that it would treat all schools equally. I suggested we tackle the schools based on tracking patterns, but that went nowhere. The facilitator said we were going to rank the task force priorities, but we never got back to that.
The facilitator asked us to share some of the pressures we are facing - in light of our school's priorities. We shared the results of our parent survey. Here's what the facilitator wrote.
Mills Issues/Pressures
• By a ratio of 7:1, the community has said they do not want to leave Mills
• The middle school boundary line change (affecting the north part of the area) has been particularly difficult
• They are basing their concerns on:
Quality of education
Location
Grandfathering - They are hoping there might be some sort of “Grandfathering” put in place (that was a request submitted tonight) These were the top three issues in our parent survey. See the presentation about the survey results here.
Other schools shared:
Cowan Issues/Pressures
• Their boundaries have changed 2 times in the last 5 years
• They feel they have been through too many changes and too much chaos
• Their numbers are on target currently and on target with the projections provided
Sunset Valley, Patton and Boone all want more students.
If you're keeping track, Kiker, Clayton, and Oak Hill did not share. Oak Hill is currently surveying their parents and plans a meeting October 27 to define their priorities. Visit the Oak Hill boundary blog.
No preliminary maps were presented, we did more discussion about school priorities, process and covered requests for information. The information pack will be posted on the task force website.
I've expressed concern about the pace of the meetings, given we only have 3 left, before maps are presented to the CACs. That gives us approximately 9-10 hours of worktime left to solve this very complicated problem.
We voted to trust the demographer's data – although it's not entirely perfect, it's close and what we have to work with. (Read this post on population projections.)
We are allowed to ask to break down certain geographic segments. Lisa and I will be asking for those, but the staff wants us as a group to submit those all at one time, because those have to go to the demographer for processing, but those requests were not taken last night.
The other issue that we considered was how to tackle the boundaries. The group voted 10 to 8 to attack the boundary for the new school first, treat it as a draft, THEN begin the process of balancing all of the elementary schools. The new school boundary may be tweaked based on our work in the second phase. The staff said they would give us a "straw" map at the next meeting (November 3) to start on the new elementary school boundaries.
Lisa and I voted against this process, prefering to tackle all schools at once, because we feel that it would treat all schools equally. I suggested we tackle the schools based on tracking patterns, but that went nowhere. The facilitator said we were going to rank the task force priorities, but we never got back to that.
The facilitator asked us to share some of the pressures we are facing - in light of our school's priorities. We shared the results of our parent survey. Here's what the facilitator wrote.
Mills Issues/Pressures
• By a ratio of 7:1, the community has said they do not want to leave Mills
• The middle school boundary line change (affecting the north part of the area) has been particularly difficult
• They are basing their concerns on:
Quality of education
Location
Grandfathering - They are hoping there might be some sort of “Grandfathering” put in place (that was a request submitted tonight) These were the top three issues in our parent survey. See the presentation about the survey results here.
Other schools shared:
Cowan Issues/Pressures
• Their boundaries have changed 2 times in the last 5 years
• They feel they have been through too many changes and too much chaos
• Their numbers are on target currently and on target with the projections provided
Sunset Valley, Patton and Boone all want more students.
If you're keeping track, Kiker, Clayton, and Oak Hill did not share. Oak Hill is currently surveying their parents and plans a meeting October 27 to define their priorities. Visit the Oak Hill boundary blog.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Location, Location, Location
We consider location when we buy a house. Or choose a neighborhood. It's important to us.
So important, that Mills parents ranked it #2 of the issues they wanted the boundary reps to consider when redrawing boundary lines. Location matters.
However, it looks like location will not be part of the boundary task force priorities.
Here's why:
Everyone at Mills lives within approximately 2 miles of the school. We can't use location alone to decide new boundary lines - everyone's close. There are children who can walk or bike to Mills today, who will be on a bus next year, going to another school. There's nothing we can do to change that. The school is too crowded.
Beyond Mills, other schools involved in the boundary process have similar problems with location. Neighborhoods that are closer to one school may be sent to another school, further away, to solve overcrowding. Or if you pick one group of kids to attend a local school, it's likely that you will push out another group who could also walk or bike to their school.
In this case, location can not be consistently applied, because of the placement of our schools and the density of our population. This becomes clear when you begin to look at the map, and use the known priorities given to the task force.
Current Task Force Priorities:
- Achieve capacity targets that ensure efficient operation of facilities
- Affect the fewest students possible
- Attend to the alignment of feeder patterns, as reasonable, and balanced against the other criteria (tracking)
- Prevent multiple reassignment of students among schools, by developing stable, long-term assignment plans.
So important, that Mills parents ranked it #2 of the issues they wanted the boundary reps to consider when redrawing boundary lines. Location matters.
However, it looks like location will not be part of the boundary task force priorities.
Here's why:
Everyone at Mills lives within approximately 2 miles of the school. We can't use location alone to decide new boundary lines - everyone's close. There are children who can walk or bike to Mills today, who will be on a bus next year, going to another school. There's nothing we can do to change that. The school is too crowded.
Beyond Mills, other schools involved in the boundary process have similar problems with location. Neighborhoods that are closer to one school may be sent to another school, further away, to solve overcrowding. Or if you pick one group of kids to attend a local school, it's likely that you will push out another group who could also walk or bike to their school.
In this case, location can not be consistently applied, because of the placement of our schools and the density of our population. This becomes clear when you begin to look at the map, and use the known priorities given to the task force.
Current Task Force Priorities:
- Achieve capacity targets that ensure efficient operation of facilities
- Affect the fewest students possible
- Attend to the alignment of feeder patterns, as reasonable, and balanced against the other criteria (tracking)
- Prevent multiple reassignment of students among schools, by developing stable, long-term assignment plans.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
An Epiphany about Population Projections
Lisa and I had a bit of an epiphany last night about the District's demographic data. The "Population Projections" that the demographer comes up with....drum roll, please....are actually correct. Really correct. Let me explain.
A lot of people (um, including me, for full disclosure) want to question the demographic data because it's so far off what actual membership ends up being each year.
Terms:
Population projection = the number of AISD students the demographer says lives in the school's attendance zone.
Membership = actual students who show up and attend that school.
So, let's look at the last two years.
The Population Projection for 2008-2009 was 988, but we had an actual membership of 1061. Why the big difference? Transfers: The number last year was 73. The numbers add up exactly.
This year, population projection (2009-2010) is 1019, but we have around 1080 students. The difference? You guessed it - transfers. We have 71 this year.
Now, we've talked a bit on this blog about transfers and Mrs. Butler has talked about it, too - it's the district policy to allow certain kinds of transfers (those are detailed in the presentation below.) And yes, they allow priority transfers even when a school is as overcrowded as Mills.
You may not like that policy - but don't get mad at Mrs. Butler, she's just doing her job. Write letters to the board, go to their meetings and speak, if you want to.
The point here is that the demographer data is pretty close - dead on for last year and this year.
So what does the demographer say is going to happen to the Mills population? Over the next five years, our population gradually reduces by 40 children by 2013-2014. Whatever boundary changes are made, we should definitely factor in - not only this slight reduction in population, but a realistic number of transfers similar to what we've seen in the past few years.
A lot of people (um, including me, for full disclosure) want to question the demographic data because it's so far off what actual membership ends up being each year.
Terms:
Population projection = the number of AISD students the demographer says lives in the school's attendance zone.
Membership = actual students who show up and attend that school.
So, let's look at the last two years.
The Population Projection for 2008-2009 was 988, but we had an actual membership of 1061. Why the big difference? Transfers: The number last year was 73. The numbers add up exactly.
This year, population projection (2009-2010) is 1019, but we have around 1080 students. The difference? You guessed it - transfers. We have 71 this year.
Now, we've talked a bit on this blog about transfers and Mrs. Butler has talked about it, too - it's the district policy to allow certain kinds of transfers (those are detailed in the presentation below.) And yes, they allow priority transfers even when a school is as overcrowded as Mills.
You may not like that policy - but don't get mad at Mrs. Butler, she's just doing her job. Write letters to the board, go to their meetings and speak, if you want to.
The point here is that the demographer data is pretty close - dead on for last year and this year.
So what does the demographer say is going to happen to the Mills population? Over the next five years, our population gradually reduces by 40 children by 2013-2014. Whatever boundary changes are made, we should definitely factor in - not only this slight reduction in population, but a realistic number of transfers similar to what we've seen in the past few years.
FUBTF Orientation
Some of this is the same as the Community presentation. I will draw your attention to slides 17 and 18.
Slide 17 - is showing our membership number compared to our permanent capacity. Membership is the number of students who actually attend Mills (including transfers.)
Slide 18 - shows the population projection of the number of students who are expected to attend Mills in 5 years - but the number DOES NOT include transfers.
So, you can not say that we will magically reduce from 129% to 118% in five years, because these are TWO different data sets.
The demographer projects Mills will basically stay flat, or slightly reduce (by about 40 students) over the next 5 years.
More on that in a moment...
Slide 17 - is showing our membership number compared to our permanent capacity. Membership is the number of students who actually attend Mills (including transfers.)
Slide 18 - shows the population projection of the number of students who are expected to attend Mills in 5 years - but the number DOES NOT include transfers.
So, you can not say that we will magically reduce from 129% to 118% in five years, because these are TWO different data sets.
The demographer projects Mills will basically stay flat, or slightly reduce (by about 40 students) over the next 5 years.
More on that in a moment...
Bond 2004 Swes Orientation 20091014
View more presentations from Mills Rep.
Existing Boundaries 2009
Current Boundaries for Elementary, Middle and High Schools in the SW.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Other sites to check out
The facilitator named to run the Boundary Task Force Meetings:
Patti Summerfield
Yahoo Group for the Boundary Process - I think this is being updated by Clayton and/or Kiker parents.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boundaryprocess/
Oak Hill Gazette - article on Community Meeting
First meeting of the Boundary Task Force is Tuesday, however, it is expected to be an orientation. I will tweet any significant news.
Patti Summerfield
Yahoo Group for the Boundary Process - I think this is being updated by Clayton and/or Kiker parents.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boundaryprocess/
Oak Hill Gazette - article on Community Meeting
First meeting of the Boundary Task Force is Tuesday, however, it is expected to be an orientation. I will tweet any significant news.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
AISD SWES Boundary Presentation
Here's the presentation district officials gave at last night's community meeting. You can find out more information on the District's FUBTF Home Page.
If you haven't seen this column written by Mrs. Butler this week for the millspta.org site, please take a minute to read it. It sums up the difficult task ahead of us and why we would like parents to give us input on a solution that is the most acceptable.
Thoughts on Re-drawing Boundaries
The next few months promise to bring some lively and stimulating discussions as we look at how relief might be provided for the overcrowding at Mills. However these conversations will also be emotional and sometimes difficult. It is already difficult to think about losing any of our Mills families, but unfortunately, we are in a position where we can’t afford to “do nothing”. There is no future classroom capacity, because we have no more land for additional portables, without encroaching on the track and playground. So we have exhausted the current resources to accommodate any new population growth. And while growth has slowed somewhat, I don’t forsee our enrollment declining anytime soon.
There will be no easy solutions, but I hope that we can all come together as a community to work together to find options that we can all live with. I encourage you to be involved in the process as the Boundary Task Force begins its work. Our representatives are Lisa Chatham and Michelle Reinhardt, and they, as well as our Campus Advisory Council have already done a wonderful job of providing information about this issue. As parents, you will be kept informed every step of the way about the proposals being put forth and how you can provide input. Please check the website and the Mills Messenger regularly for the most current information.
Thoughts on Re-drawing Boundaries
The next few months promise to bring some lively and stimulating discussions as we look at how relief might be provided for the overcrowding at Mills. However these conversations will also be emotional and sometimes difficult. It is already difficult to think about losing any of our Mills families, but unfortunately, we are in a position where we can’t afford to “do nothing”. There is no future classroom capacity, because we have no more land for additional portables, without encroaching on the track and playground. So we have exhausted the current resources to accommodate any new population growth. And while growth has slowed somewhat, I don’t forsee our enrollment declining anytime soon.
There will be no easy solutions, but I hope that we can all come together as a community to work together to find options that we can all live with. I encourage you to be involved in the process as the Boundary Task Force begins its work. Our representatives are Lisa Chatham and Michelle Reinhardt, and they, as well as our Campus Advisory Council have already done a wonderful job of providing information about this issue. As parents, you will be kept informed every step of the way about the proposals being put forth and how you can provide input. Please check the website and the Mills Messenger regularly for the most current information.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Boundary Community Meeting Tuesday, October 6th at Clayton
Mills Parents:
Tomorrow night, October 6th, there will be the 1st meeting in the boundary process. Please wear your Mills t-shirts. The Mills Boundary Reps and Committee will meet in front of Clayton at 5:45, and then go into the meeting where we can all sit together.
"AISD to Hold Community Meeting To Discuss Boundary Process for New Southwest Elementary School
September 22, 2009 - The Austin School District will hold a community meeting to discuss the process for determining attendance boundaries for the new Southwest elementary school on Tuesday, October 6. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m., at Clayton Elementary School, 7525 La Crosse Avenue.
A project of the 2004 Apple At Work Bond Program, the campus will open in August 2010, possibly affecting the boundaries of Boone, Clayton, Kiker, Mills, Oak Hill, Patton, and Sunset Valley elementary schools.
School construction has begun at 12200 Meridian Park Blvd. in the Meridian Park housing development.
For more information about the school — and the overall bond program — parents may visit the AISD website, www.austinisd.org, or call the AISD Boundary Process Hotline, 414-2667."
School construction has begun at 12200 Meridian Park Blvd. in the Meridian Park housing development.
For more information about the school — and the overall bond program — parents may visit the AISD website, www.austinisd.org, or call the AISD Boundary Process Hotline, 414-2667."
Friday, October 2, 2009
Boundary Survey Results
Results of the Boundary Survey. The slide regarding overcrowding at Mills has been updated with the District's numbers to reflect the permanent capacity at the school, which is the number the district uses to calculate overcrowding.
Boundary Survey Results
View more presentations from Mills Rep.
Joe Silva's Visit to the CAC
The CAC met Thursday and we were joined by Joe Silva with AISD's planning department. We shared the results of the parent survey. (Silva corrected some of the numbers I included in the presentation, so I will correct those slides before posting.)
Here's a short synopsis of what we learned about the upcoming boudary process:
1) The Board has still not approved the priorities for the boundary process. They will meet again October 12 for a work session.
2) The district is hiring a facilitator to run the boundary task force meetings. (In my opinion, this is a good thing and will help all views be heard.)
3) The district staff will come forward with a map of the proposed boundaries - probably after October 13. That date is the first task force meeting and it will be an orientation for the members.
4) According to Silva, most people who live in AISD do NOT have children in school. He said this is why the "best use" of facilities has come up as an issue. The district does anticipate going out to voters with a new school construction bond in the next couple of years. When they do, they want to be able to say that they are spending tax dollars wisely.
5) Meridian was built for 704, not 650 as we had previously stated. Silva stated that the district likes to open new schools at around 75% of capacity, which would be 528 students.
6) Cowan Elementary has been added to the boundary process.
Here's a short synopsis of what we learned about the upcoming boudary process:
1) The Board has still not approved the priorities for the boundary process. They will meet again October 12 for a work session.
2) The district is hiring a facilitator to run the boundary task force meetings. (In my opinion, this is a good thing and will help all views be heard.)
3) The district staff will come forward with a map of the proposed boundaries - probably after October 13. That date is the first task force meeting and it will be an orientation for the members.
4) According to Silva, most people who live in AISD do NOT have children in school. He said this is why the "best use" of facilities has come up as an issue. The district does anticipate going out to voters with a new school construction bond in the next couple of years. When they do, they want to be able to say that they are spending tax dollars wisely.
5) Meridian was built for 704, not 650 as we had previously stated. Silva stated that the district likes to open new schools at around 75% of capacity, which would be 528 students.
6) Cowan Elementary has been added to the boundary process.
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