Austin Board of Trustees Election Tomorrow

The Austin Board of Trustees Election is tomorrow, Saturday, May 8th.
Polling Station: Mills Elementary
Time: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

We can vote in two races: District 7 (Southwest Austin), and District at Large 9.

District 7:
Robert Schneider
Warren Faulkner

District 9:
Tamala Barksdale
Cassandra Enoch Brown
Julie Cowan
Dianne T. Mendoza
Mike Reed

The Austin Statesman reports that Julie Cowan, and Tamala Barksdale are in a close race, and that PTA groups have the power to decide who will win. So, get out there and vote!!!

Community Dialogue about Austin ISD School Facilities

Austin Independent School District

The Power of Your Voice Will Help Guide the Emerging Facility Master Plan for Austin Schools

Thursday, May 20, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Travis High School, Cafeteria
1211 E. Oltorf St.

Refreshments and child care provided.

Please forward this information to friends and colleagues who may be interested:

Use the Power of Your Voice to Create a New Generation of Schools

Community Dialogue about Austin ISD School Facilities

Discuss issues that directly impact our public school facilities with
educators, parents, students, civic and business leaders, and other engaged
community members.

Your insights and opinions will help shape the future of public education
in Austin. Please attend, listen, and speak up. Bring your neighbors and
friends.
For more information, call AISD Facilities Management, 414-2667, or check
the website, www.austinisd.org

Check out the new candidate video presentations from AISD.

http://www.austinisd.org/inside/board/election.phtml

AISD Board of Trustees Early Voting

Early Voting:
Monday, April 26, 2010 - Tuesday, May 4, 2010

SOUTHWEST
Randalls South Mopac and William Cannon
6600 South Mopac @ William Cannon
Mon–Sat 7 am–7 pm, Sun Noon–6 pm

Randalls Brodie and Slaughter
9911 Brodie Lane @ Slaughter Lane
Mon–Sat 7 am–7 pm, Sun Noon–6 pm

Community Impact SW Austin article on Candidate's Forum

http://impactnews.com/southwest-austin/144-news/7925-aisd-candidate-forum-at-mills

AISD candidate forum at Mills Elementary

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By Yvonne Lim Wilson Thursday, 08 April 2010

Budget priorities dominated the conversation at candidate forum hosted by the Mills PTA on April 7 held at the Mills elementary school cafeteria. The forum was for Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees candidates running for District 7 (Southwest Austin) and At-large District 9.

Incumbent Robert Schneider and retired educator Warren Faulkner are running for the District 7 seat. Tamala Barksdale, Cassandra Brown, Julie Cowan, Dianne Mendoza and Mike Reed are running for the at-large seat. All listed candidates except for Mendoza and Reed attended the forum.

The district’s $7.1 million shortfall was a source of many of the audience’s questions. All the candidates expressed reservations for a tax increase, saying they would prefer looking at budget cuts first.

“I have not heard a lot of support for a tax increase right now,” said Cowan, who supports first examining programs that are not working and could be cut.

Brown added that the board needed to give superintendent Meria Carstarphen a chance to look for efficiencies before going to voters to ask for a tax increase. However, she did say that she believed a tax increase would be needed at some point in the future.

“Tax cuts are the very last thing to me,” Barksdale said.

Schneider also said he is not in favor of tax cuts at the moment and said that structural deficits need to be addressed.

Faulkner echoed similar sentiments about looking for program cuts and efficiencies first, but also added that a small tax increase to support the strategic plan and salary increases for teachers could be approved by voters.

“We don’t need to sell our citizens short,” he said, adding that the last tax increase was approved by 60 percent of voters three years ago.

Other topics discussed included plans for a new high school in southwest Austin, school closures and ideas to improve school boundary processes.

Currently, District 1 incumbent Cheryl Bradley, District 4 incumbent Vince Torres and District 6 incumbent Lori Moya have no challengers. District 1 encompasses East and Northeast Austin and District 6 encompasses South Central Austin.

Early voting takes place April 26 through May 4 and Election Day is May 8. For more information, visit http://www.austinisd.org/inside/board/election.phtml.

AISD Board Candidates Info

If you weren't able to attend our recent Candidate's Forum at Mills Elementary, here is a few of the candidate website addresses and Facebook pages. This is not an endorsement, but information for you to learn more about the candidates and the events they are having. I am following these, and have learned the most about the candidates on Facebook.

Tamala Barksdale
http://www.tamalaforaisd.org/
Facebook: Tamala Barksdale for AISD

Jill Cowan
http//www.juliecowan2010.com
Facebook: Julie Cowan for AISD School Board At-large Place 9

Warren Faulkner
Facebook: Friends of Warren Faulkner

Bowie Makes the List

Group ranks Central Texas schools

by KVUE News

Posted on April 19, 2010 at 4:12 PM

Some local schools are celebrating after being ranked among the best schools in Austin.

The group Children at Risk released its rankings Monday morning at Canyon Vista Middle School in Northwest Austin.

The group evaluated dozens of campuses in seven Central Texas counties --- considering graduation rates, scores on college entrance exams, and other factors.

Among high schools, Westwood tops the list. Other schools that made the grade include Westlake High School, Wimberley High and NYOS charter school.

Two Austin ISD campuses made the list -- Anderson and Bowie high schools.

Trustees Name New Southwest Elementary

April 6, 2010 - Trustees Name New Southwest Elementary School
Austin School Trustees have voted to name the new Southwest Austin Elementary School for Ross Baldwin, a long-time AISD student mentor, successful business owner, and community leader.

Austin School Trustees have voted to name the new Southwest Austin Elementary School for Ross Baldwin, a long-time AISD student mentor, successful business owner, and community leader. Mr. Baldwin was an active mentor at Joslin Elementary School for nearly 30 years, mentoring several students each year, and supporting their success by attending games, plays, scout meetings, and other activities. In 2005, he was named AISD Mentor of the Year. A World War II veteran, he was also the founder and owner of Baldwin Beauty Schools, as well as an active member of the Oak Hill Rotary Club for more than 25 years. Mr. Baldwin died in 2007 at the age of 82.

Ross Baldwin Elementary School, located at 12200 Meridian Park Blvd., will open in August, and is a project of the District’s Apple at Work Bond Program.

Naming New Southwest Elementary

The Austin ISD Board of Trustees will be naming the new Southwest Elementary School at tonight's board meeting. Check out all the possible name ideas at:

Board Agenda

Kiker Transition Details

This information is in Mrs. Butler's column this week:

Kiker Transition Activities


For those families who will be attending Kiker Elementary next year, there are some transition activities planned for Thursday, April 15. They will start with Principal Lori Schneider hosting a coffee for parents at 8:00. Mills students will visit Kiker from 9:30-10:30, and Kiker will host an open house for Mills families at 6:00. More information will be provided to the families affected by this move.
 
As we get more information, I'll post it here.

Candidate Forum

Not sure how many of you out there are still following the blog.  We'd really like to invite all of you who were so active during the boundary process to participate in a candidate forum scheduled for Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30pm. 

Here are the details:

The Mills Elementary PTA is sponsoring a candidates’ forum for those seeking District 7 and At-Large District 9 seats. We will hold the forum on Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30pm in the Mills Elementary School cafeteria. The event is open to the public and will be widely publicized in the District 7 area.


Questions will be solicited from the audience and screened by a question screener for appropriateness. The moderator will ask the question of each candidate and a time keeper will ensure each candidate gets the same time to answer. After about an hour of questions, we will allow each candidate to give a summary of no more than five minutes. Our goal is to end the event at 8pm.

------------------------------
 
Both of these races are contested...so your vote really counts.
 
District 7:
Robert Schneider is the incumbant - was first elected to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees in May, 2002 and re-elected in 2006. He has recently retired from fulltime work on massively parallel computing systems at The University of Texas at Austin after 30 years of research and departmental work. Mr. Schneider has a long history of community involvement serving on numerous neighborhood, environmental, and school committees and task forces. His primary interests include site-based decision making, promoting academic achievement, and studying models of board governance. Mr. Schneider serves as chair of the Board's Audit Committee. Mr. Schneider has been married to his wife, Kathleen, since 1986, and has four children who attend AISD schools.



Challenger Warren Faulkner is retired from AISD in May 2009 after 29 years of service as a teacher and administrator. He is currently a substitute teacher and administrator, a weekly mentor, and serves on the advisory board of a local child development center. His primary interests are improving AISD’s high school graduation rate, supporting cumulative examination of student knowledge with a goal of 100% passing rate, representing all students of AISD, remaining abreast of district growth and planning accordingly, being a good steward of district money, and fair compensation and retention of teachers, administrators, and classified district employees (office staff, teaching assistants, custodians, cafeteria servers and monitors). Mr. Faulkner has lived in District 7 since 1983. To learn more about Mr. Faulkner, visit friendsofwarrenfaulker.yolasite.com, or email him at friendsofwarrenfaulkner@yahoo.com.
 
We've been assured both of these candidates will attend the forum.
 
The at-large position is fairly crowded with 5 different candidates - Tamala Barksdale, Cassandra Enoch Brown, Julie Cowan, Dianne T. Mendoza, & Mike Reed.  More on these candidates to come.




So bring your questions for the candidates for Board of Trustees, and be ready to vote in the election that comes up Saturday, May 8!

Parents Transitioning to Kiker

This note came out today from Mrs. Butler and contains some information from Kiker Principal Lori Schneider about their letter writing/class placement process.

If you will be going to Kiker next year, please see the following letter that Kiker sent home regarding input for class placements. If you would like to provide input, the forms are available in our front office - Ms. Butler


--------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It is hard to believe that we are already thinking about the next school year when there is so much yet to do for the remainder of this one. After we return from Spring Break, we will begin our process of placing students in classes for the 2010-2011 school year. This process begins at the end of March with input from you and input from all of your children's teachers. This process lasts approximately five months and will not be final until August. It is critical that we are diligent and purposeful as we create classes that will lead to success for all.


We consider many criteria as classes are formed. First and foremost, we consider your child and the best teacher and environment for him or her. Other criteria include: gender, general achievement levels, student behavior, special needs, academic programs and services, etc.


If you would like to provide input for your child’s placement, you are invited to do so by completing the form that is available in the school office. Feel free to come and pick one up anytime between March 2nd (Tuesday) and March 12th (Friday). The form will not be available after that date.


As you begin to provide us information about the many gifts and talents of your child, as well as any struggles you wish us to consider, please do not request a specific teacher by name. Although it is incredibly tempting, there are so many factors to consider during this process. The administration and counselor know best each teacher's style, strengths, skills and talents and will work with your child's teacher to make the best placement for your child. Please do not ask your child’s current teacher or possible future teacher to arrange a particular placement for your child or to request one teacher to recommend another teacher. This can be awkward for our faculty and may not provide the outcome you are seeking.
Again, the teachers, administration and counselor will work together to assign students to classes. Each child is hand placed into a class. In addition, although teachers of prior siblings may seem like the best option, remember that all children are different with unique talents, strengths and needs and must be assigned accordingly.
Final placement will not be complete until August 2010; some students leave us, and new students enroll.
Completion of the form is optional—it is NOT required. If you decide to complete it, please return it to your child’s teacher or to the school office no later than Friday, March 12. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Lori Schneider



Kiker Elementary Principal


(512) 414-2584

Plan 3 Approved

Congratulations to everyone who spoke, came to meetings, got up early to wait in line, created petitions, signed petitions, filled out surveys and followed this crazy boundary process over the last 6-7 months.  I, for one, am glad it's over.

Plan 3 was approved last night by the Board of Trustees. 

In one way, I feel elated that our community came together with one voice, created a plan and saw it through.

In another, I'm selfishly sad because my family has to leave Mills. Thankfully, I'll have lots of familiar Mills faces at Kiker as we transition to a new and wonderful school community.

Mrs. Butler is working with Mrs. Schneider to create some transition events - I'll post those plans here, if there are specific things you want to see, feel free to post a comment.

BUT WAIT!  There's more!

On May 8, the School District will hold elections for some current Board of Trustee members.  Since we've gone through this process, Lisa and I feel it's important that parents and community members have an opportunity to meet the candidates for the District 7 Board position - the position that represents SW Austin.

We're working with the PTA to set up a candidates forum in March, where you'll be able to submit questions for the candidates to answer - so look for details on that coming soon!

We made it. 

REVISED AGENDA FOR TONIGHT

PUBLIC COMMENTS START AT 6:10PM

REVISED AGENDA:


I. CALL TO ORDER

6:00 PM

II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

6:02 PM

III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

6:05 PM

IV. PUBLIC HEARING: SOUTHWEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BOUNDARIES

(90 Minutes)

6:10 PM

V. BOARD DISCUSSION

(60 Minutes)

7:40 PM

VI. ADJOURNMENT

8:40 PM

Come one, Come All

To the Final Elementary School Boundary Forum

This is your last chance to publicly support the Boundary Plan before the AISD Board of Trustees. A public forum will be held Thursday, February 11, at 6pm at AISD headquarters.

We need as many parents and residents as possible to show up wearing Mills T-shirts, carrying Pro-Plan 3 Signs, and ready speak publically in support of the task force plan. Other schools are coming out strongly in opposition to the plan.

Interested in speaking? Come to a meeting TONIGHT, Tuesday, February 9 at 6pm in the Mills Library. Or, contact Lisa Chatham at lisadhc@yahoo.com for more details.

The Board of Trustees will vote on the plan at their February 22nd regular meeting.

New Article:
http://impactnews.com/southwest-austin/258-recent-news/7043-public-comments-on-southwest-school-boundaries-sought

KVUE Interview with Dr. Carstarphen

She talks about the Strategic Plan - and also the "turnaround" plan which is looking at addressing underperforming and under utilized schools.

HEADS UP: Community Meeting Feb. 11

The Board of Trustees will have a public meeting February 11 at 6pm.  This meeting will strictly be for the board to hear from community members regarding the current FUBTF recommended boundary plan.  Sign up proceedures are the same for the speaking at a regular board meeting.

We will hold a meeting for Mills parents Tuesday, February 9 at 6pm in the Mills Library.  Can't make the meeting?  Email millsrep@gmail.com for more information.

------------------------------------------------------------

Just got this from Joe Silva with AISD...More information on how to sign up coming soon.  But please, mark your calendar's now.  We will need a solid turnout.
---------------------------

HI Everyone,


Just wanted to let you know that the District will releasing a press release later today (if it hasn't gone out yet) that the Board of Trustees will be holding a public forum on Thursday February 11, 2010 in the Board Auditorium to get community input regarding the FUBTF final recommendation that will be presented to them on February 8, 2010.

The process to sign up to speak will be same as Citizen Communications. Signup for speakers will start at 7:45 on 2/11/2010 in the Superintendent's office.

New schools in Austin despite empty classrooms

Mills parents,

Read this new Statesman editorial:

New schools in Austin despite empty classrooms

Please don't let this editorial go unanswered. It's time to be clear why this plan is sound, while being respectful of other schools. After you comment on the editorial, don't forget to sign the petition:  http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/FUBTFrecsupport/

Kiker Transition Meeting

Ms. Butler and Ms. Schneider are in touch with one another and plan to have a transition meeting for the Mills students who will be moving to Kiker next year. 

However, we need to wait until after the Board of Trustees votes on the plan in order to get the meeting together.  That happens Feb. 22. 

Please hold off on calling Kiker to ask about the meeting - I promise I will post information here as soon as something is decided.

Thanks!

Oak Hill Gazette: The community newspaper for Southwest Austin

Another reason to have people who support Plan 3, the plan recommended by the FUBTF attend the Feb. 8th Board of Trustee meeting. Wear your t-shirts, bring signs.

Oak Hill Gazette: The community newspaper for Southwest Austin

New Petition Circulating

Debby Clarke, a concerned community member who's been following the boundary process, has created a petition that supports Plan 3, the plan voted on by the FUBTF and the plan that will be presented to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 8.

If you would like to read or sign the petition, click here:  http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/FUBTFrecsupport/

Also, if you plan on speaking at the Feb. 22 Board meeting, please contact Lisa Chatham directly at lisadhc@yahoo.com, she is coordinating and will have specific information for you.

Update: Letters

Hey everyone,

I just got off the phone with Robert Schneider, our Board of Trustees Representative.  He says that when we send an email to trustees@austinisd.org, it goes to the Board secretary which collates the letters and places them into a binder for the trustees.  However, there's no guarantee that the board representatives will see the letters.

If you would like a better chance for the board representatives to read your letter, you will have to resort to the US Mail.  Print your letter and MAIL it to the following addresses (published on the AustinISD website.)  Yes, I know - it's a lot of stamps.

Mark Williams, District 5, President
Term Expires: May 2012
2801 Scenic Drive
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2590

Vincent M. Torres, District 4, Vice President

Term Expires: May 2010
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2550

Lori Moya, District 6, Secretary

Term Expires: May 2010
1111 W 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2610

Cheryl Bradley, District 1

Term Expires: May 2010
1198 Angelina
Austin, TX 78702
OFFICE: 472-9554
 
Sam Guzman, District 2

Term Expires: May 2012
1111 W 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2530
 
Christine Brister, District 3

Term Expires: May 2012
1111 W. 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2570
 
Robert Schneider, District 7

Term Expires: May 2010
8031 Doe Meadow Drive
Austin, TX 78749
CELL: 619-3973
 
Annette LoVoi, At-Large Position 8

Term Expires: May 2012
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2560
 
Karen Dulaney Smith, At-Large Position 9

Term Expires: May 2010
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-9609

Mills needs to be represented at the next two board meetings, Feb. 8 which is a work session and when the FUBTF Plan will be presented to the board.  The board will vote on the plan Feb. 22, which is the next time the board will allow public comments.  To find out more about how to sign up to speak at that meeting, visit the board's website.  http://www.austinisd.org/inside/board/meetings.phtml - see citizen's communication policy.

Support Plan 3

Last night, the Board of Trustees had public comment at their regular meeting and heard from 4 Boone parents who spoke against Plan 3.  The board heard from no one who was in favor of Plan 3.

If you support Plan 3, you can do 3 things:

1) Write a letter to the Board of Trustees supporting Plan 3 at trustees@austinisd.org.  Use your talking points from the Jan 5 public comments meeting using the boundary task force's four criteria: tracking, balance capacity, long term stability, affect fewest students possible.

- Plan 3 is similar to Plan 0 than staff proposed.
- Meets tracking for all but one school, where we were told parents supported moving out of tracking.
- Look at underutilized schools separately, as part of the Board-approved strategic plan.
- Underutilization is a systemic problem in South Austin, should be looked at as separately.
- For Mills and Kiker to be stable for long term, needs to be between 105%-110% capacity, since it's an established neighborhood.

2) Attend the Work Session of the Board of Trustees Feb 8 at 6:30-10pm.  Take Signs, Wear T-shirts.  You can not speak at this meeting.  This is the night the FUBTF will present Plan 3 to the board.

3) Sign up to speak during the Board of Trusteees meeting Feb 22 at 7pm.  You must sign up in the morning at the headquarter's downtown.  Public Comment is limited to the first 30 speakers.  More details on sign up at http://www.austinisd.org/inside/board/meetings.phtml

Plan 3 is not final until the Board votes on Feb. 22.

More information on the last FUBTF meeting, including the recommendation to the board can be found at: http://www.austinisd.org/inside/2004bond/boundaries/swes.phtml  Look under Jan. 21 heading.

Plan 3 Moves Ahead

Plan 3 was approved by the majority of the FUBTF members last night.  The plan now moves to the Board of Trustees.  Selected FUBTF members will present the plan to the AISD Board of Trustees on February 8 and the board will vote whether to accept the plan on February 22.  To view Plan 3, visit the AISD FUBTF homepage.

You have two opportunities to speak to the board regarding this plan:  January 25 and February 22.  The Board of Trustees allows public comment ONLY at their regular board meetings (the dates above). 

The board allows members of the public to speak for 2 minutes at either of these meetings.  To do so, you must go to the Superintendent's office on the morning of the meeting at 7:45am.  Speakers are limited to the first 30 people who sign up - first come, first served.  Lisa and I believe it would be helpful to have positive comments about the plan at one or both of these meetings.  Comments should address the task force criteria and should be delivered similar to the public comment meeting on January 5.

More information from last night:
Last night, the task force voted to grandfather incoming 5th graders at the schools that were affected by the boundary changes.  We learned that there are 31 students in VP and CCN who are incoming 5th graders next year and impacted by the grandfathering plan.  The district estimates that only 1/2 of those will choose to stay at Mills and only half of those will have one sibling.  (I'm not sure this is correct, but that's their formula.)  They estimate about 24 students will be grandfathered into Mills next year.  In addition, AISD staff estimates that we will have 63 incoming transfers, based on an average of transfers from the last four years.

So, that brings us to the estimated number of students at Mills next year.
Original Estimated Population for 2010:   1075 (without transfers)
Subtract Students moving to Kiker: 181
Projected New Population for Mills 2010: 894
Add Estimatd Transfers: 63
Add Estimated Grandfathered students: 24 (which could be more)
Total Expected Population: 981  or 117% of Mills functional capacity.

So when it's all said and done Mills reduces by about 120 students from current levels.
At this morning's principal's coffee, Mrs. Butler said she would be getting very strict on transfers given the current situation.

Kiker looks like this:
Original Estimated Population for 2010: 682
Add Students moving from Mills: 181
Projected New Population for 2010: 863
Plus their estimated transfers: 52
Minus grandfathered Mills students: 24
Estimated Kiker Population: 891  or 104% of functional capacity

Circle C North

I've been hearing the same misconception repeated from some of my Circle C North neighbors about moving to Kiker.  And it is simply this:  "Why are you moving us from one overcrowded school to another?"

Let me explain how this is not the case.

What is overcrowded?
AISD staff considers a school to be overcrowded when the ratio of membership (actual students in the school, including transfers) to permanent capacity (the number of students the school was built for) exceeds 115%.   Mills is currently at 1078 students, or 129% of permanent capacity.  Mills has been "overcrowded" or above 115% capacity since the 2007-2008 school year.

What is ideal?
Getting the right level of capacity depends a lot on what kind of neighborhood you're talking about. For the new SWES, the ideal level of capacity is much different than an existing neighborhood like Kiker, because construction is still ongoing in the neighborhood around the new school, so the demographer expects it to quickly expand its student numbers. 

Kiker is what they consider an established neighborhood, where all the houses have been built, and growth has slowed, if not reversed.  For these established neighborhoods (like Kiker and Mills) AISD staff says capacity should be between 105-110%.

Without any new students, Kiker is projected to have only around 682 students, or 84% of it's permanent capacity.   So, clearly it could benefit from additional students, especially since the demographer projects that the neighborhood will not grow in the number of elementary school students over the next five years. 

Moving Vintage Place and Circle C North to Kiker, brings Kiker up to 863 students or 106% of their capacity of 816 students.  Comparitively, under the current plan, Mills stays at 897 students or 107% of its capacity of 836 students.  So, the schools are about the same size in terms of capacity and will have similar number of students.  So, we're balancing the schools, not overcrowding one in favor of the other.

Students who will be moving to Kiker, including my own, will be transitioning from a school with 1100 students to a school with less than 900.  If you've been at Mills a while, we haven't seen those numbers since before 2004. 

What will next year really be like?
One other thing to think about.  Although this has not been decided yet, it's likely that the boundary task force will approve transfers for incoming 5th graders and their siblings (what's known as grandfathering).  The district typically allows the students entering the final grade level of the school to have the option of staying for their final year.  I would project (we haven't been given exact figures on this) a grandfathering plan to impact the number of students moving from Mills to Kiker next year, perhaps as much as 10% of the 181 students, which will lower the capacity at Kiker for next year.

I want to thank the Kiker boundary representatives for their willingness to work with us during this process.  In addition, if this plan is approved by the task force and moves on to the Board of Trustees, Lisa and I will work with the Kiker representatives to set up a transition meeting with the Kiker administration for incoming parents.  The good news is that they know how to perform this kind of transition - they absorbed most of Clayton's kindergarten class this year, with few problems.

FUBTF Meeting, January 12

The FUBTF met January 12, with 21 members in attendance.  Another member joined the meeting late.

The task force did not decide on a final plan to recommend to the Board of Trustees.  Options affecting the boundaries of any school can be still be proposed.  Another meeting will be held Thursday, January 21 at 5:45 pm.

As it stands now, here are the changes that were approved by the task force, when compared to Plan 2.  To see Plan 2, visit the FUBTF home page.

- No changes to Clayton's boundaries.
- No changes to Kiker's boundaries.
- No changes to Cowan's boundaries.
- 149I,O,J,M,N1&N2 were added to the SWES.
- 349H, F,C1,C2,D returned to Oak Hill.
- 249A,E,D,C were added to Patton.
- 83C1 was added to Patton.
- 96H3,A2 were added to Mills.
- 173A, 273 were added to Sunset Valley.

Here are the new capacity numbers from Beth Wilson regarding these changes.  She's calling it Plan 3, although it's not been formally approved by vote.  The split for students from elementary to middle school also becomes more balanced for Mills.

Existing Boundaries: 1,075 students

37% of Mills (395 students) assigned to Small MS and Bowie HS
63% of Mills (680 students) assigned to Gorzycki MS and Bowie HS

Proposed Plan 3: 894 students
44% of Mills (395 students) assigned to Small MS and Bowie HS
56% of Mills (499 students) assigned to Gorzycki MS and Bowie HS

Again, I encourage you to be respectful to all schools and all persons on this blog.  Those who do not, will have their posts removed.  Thanks.

*2010-2011 School Transfer Requests Accepted Beginning February 6*

The Austin School District will accept requests for school transfers for the 2010-2011 school year from 7 a.m. until noon on Saturday, February 6, in the Auditorium (Room B100) of the Carruth Administration Center, located at 1111 West Sixth Street. Staff from the Office of Student Services will be available to accept requests and answer questions.


Beginning on Monday, February 6, 2010, requests may be submitted to the Office of Student Services (Room A200), Carruth Administration Center, during regular business hours, 7:45 a.m. until 4:45 p.m.
*NOTE: SOME SCHOOLS ARE FROZEN TO TRANSFER REQUESTS*

http://austinisd.org/newsmedia/releases/index.phtml?more=1942

Jan 5 Comment Card Analysis

I read through all the comment cards (118 pages worth) that were sent to the FUBTF and made a grid of the results. There are some comments that were made to the task force verbally that are not included in the comment cards. I guess the speakers did not submit their comments.

I indicated the map section if indicated by the speaker, and in the notes section summed up any global concerns expressed by the speakers.

Jan 5 Comment Card Analysis

View more documents from Mills Rep.

Back to School, Back to Boundaries

AISD will hold a community meeting to gather input about the current map, called Plan 2, for elementary school boundaries.  At this meeting you can submit comments about the merits and drawbacks of the current map.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 6:00 p.m.

Clayton Elementary School Cafeteria

7525 La Crosse Ave., 841-9200

• Sign up to speak when you arrive at the meeting.

• Comments must be no longer than 2 minutes.

• In the past, AISD has not limited the number of speakers.

• Submit a written version of your comments to AISD representative at the end of your remarks.

• Consider practicing your comments to make sure they fall within the 2 minute limit.

If you missed the meeting at Mills, but would like a copy of what was discussed, please contact Lisa Chatham or Michelle Reinhardt at millsrep@gmail.com.