From Seattle Public Schools:
Proposed maps to be made public on Tuesday, October 6
Seattle – Reflecting a desire to consult with families from as many areas of the city as possible about the next step in its new student assignment plan, Seattle Public Schools today expanded the schedule of community meetings to review proposed attendance area boundary maps that, if adopted, will play a significant role in where students will attend public school in Seattle.
The updated schedule adds opportunities in the central, northeast, and southwest parts of Seattle.
The proposed maps will be released on October 6 at a work session of the Seattle School Board to be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the John Stanford Center auditorium.
After reviewing all comments, the district will formally introduce recommended boundary maps — including any revisions — at the School Board meeting on Wednesday, November 4. The School Board will vote on the recommended boundary maps on November 18, 2009 (see schedule here).
“We want families to have plenty of opportunities to hear more about the plan, understand how it works, and to learn about the data-driven process we used to create attendance area boundaries,” said Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D. “We welcome the input of all families and will have interpretation services available at the public meetings on our schedule to ensure that all voices are heard.”
Extensive community engagement was also a cornerstone in the creation of the new student assignment plan. In that process, families expressed their desire for a predictable, equitable, and easy-to-understand plan—as well as one that supports greater family participation in schools, brings needed services closer to where students live, fosters diversity, and is feasible and cost effective to implement and sustain.
Predictable Assignment Hallmark of New Plan
The general idea behind the new student assignment plan is that students will receive an initial assignment to an attendance area elementary-, middle-, or high school. This assignment will be based on their address. A student can choose to apply to a school outside their attendance area; that assignment will be based on a series of tiebreakers.
If a student is currently enrolled at a school outside their attendance area, they can stay at that school through its highest grade under a process called “grandfathering” — as long as the services the students need are available at that school.
The new plan will be implemented in phases, beginning in the 2010-11 school year; the assignment rules for the current 2009-10 school year will remain the same.
New Attendance Areas to Replace Outdated Boundaries
If adopted by the School Board, the new attendance area boundaries will replace a set of school reference areas that haven’t been updated in decades, no longer reflect city demographics, and do not accurately address the capacity of the District’s facilities, according to district officials.
By comparison, the development of the new attendance boundaries has been a data-driven
process, one designed to reflect demographic shifts and building capacity more accurately—as well as provide greater assignment predictability while preserving choice options.
Community Meetings Span Seattle
There will be a number of public meetings related to the release of the new attendance area boundary maps over the next two months. Interpretation services will be available at all meetings.
Families who cannot attend the meetings can submit comments via e-mail to newassign@seattleschools.org and by postal mail to Seattle School Board, P.O. Box 34165, MS 11-010, Seattle, WA, 98124-1165. They can also visit the recently refreshed new student assignment plan Web site at http://www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/
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