Category — Uncategorized

Why does the latest round of schools identified for replacement/renovation differ from the list created in February 2008?  The 2008 list (Oregonian 2/28/08) included:

Fernwood

Rieke

Bridger

Chief Joseph

Clark

Faubion

Lewis

Markham

Sitton

Winterhaven

Have you seen  this yet?

Some friends attended the boundary change “meeting” at Harrison Park today.  The meeting consisted of a table with one person staffing it.  The PPS staff member asked my friend for her address, entered it in the computer and told her that her child would attend Marshall next year.  Someone might want to let Smith know the school is going to be open.

I stopped by tonight to see which school my child would attend.  The “meeting” had moved down the hall and the main doors were locked making it unlikely that anyone would know there was a “meeting.”  I picked up an interesting flyer called Addressing Overcrowding in Our Schools:

What are the best ways to reduce the crowding?  Please rank the following from 1 to 4 with 1 being the option you want PPS to explore first and 4 being the option that you view as a last resort:

• Add modular classrooms to expand the building
• Change boundaries to reduce the number of students assigned to your school over time at the kindergarten level (Existing students remain)
• Change boundaries and move some existing students to a different school next year.
• Shift some grades to a different school.  (For example a K-8 could become a K-5 and 6th through 8th graders attend another school)

What the hell are they thinking?  Oh by the way, we’re going back to K-5s and 6-8s.  Seriously?

PPS sent this out by email on Thursday:

Does anyone know how this process is laid out?  Why not have some districtwide or clusterwide meetings? 

It’s interesting to me that what was supposed to be a “systemwide” redesign has been geographically focused.

Have you checked out the board book for next Monday’s meeting?  Smith’s performance has earned her a 3 year extension.  I’d like to know why the public isn’t involved in her evaluation.  If the board is so confident in Smith’s performance, why not let the public weigh in? 

Also on the agenda – PPS is receiving another $300,000 for offering up poor kids to the military.  Those military recruiters located next to Marshall will have to travel because of Smith’s plan to close Marshall.  She’ll probably pay for their transportation to Madison and Franklin.

Monday’s agenda also includes contracts for capital improvement consultation services.  I have two words for Smith – hell no.

As we all know, the school board voted on October 12 to close Jefferson and Marshall as neighborhood high schools. The School Board Policy governing those actions reads, in part (emphases added):

II. School Closure Report

(1) The Board shall determine whether schools will be closed.

(2) Board determination on school closure shall be made only upon a recommendation by the Superintendent accompanied by a School Closure Report which shall contain a full and adequate analysis of the following:

(a) Financial impact

(A) Actual cost per student.

(B) Projected overall cost or savings to the district including impact on other schools and potential transportation costs.

(b) Projected enrollment of the school over the next five years and how a school based on that projected enrollment does or does not meet the needs of the students in that community.

(c) Facility in which the school exists, including building capacity, current and potential use of the facility, cost of operations, ADA accessibility, physical condition, environmental concerns, and capital needs.

(d) Community/cluster analysis:

(A) how the proposed closure will maintain or improve equity of access to schools offering high quality educational choices

(B) how the school closure and redistribution of students will affect other schools within the cluster and, if applicable, schools outside the cluster, both in the quality of the cluster’s educational programs and in the number of students attending each school. Analysis of the location of the school in relation to other schools, community resources, and transportation options and barriers.

(C) history of requested and actual transfers into the school or out of the school’s attendance area to other schools.

(D) current community partnerships and possible community impact.

(E) Operational plan for implementing the recommendation, including a map showing the new boundaries.

 Has anyone seen Supt. Smith’s Closure Reports that include all of the information required above?  If not, why not?

In addition, the School Board approved the initiation of a new focus option at Jefferson High.  The School Board policy (http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/board/6_10_022_P.pdf) governing that action reads, in part (emphases added):

(2) The approval process shall be consistent with the following criteria:

 (a) Furthers the mission, core values, and strategic objectives of the district.

(b) Meets district identified budget priorities.

(c) Enhances the district’s educational program and the Student Achievement Policy.

(d) Minimizes barriers to equal access to the option to meet the needs of all students in the district.

(e) Demonstrates an achievable program, including realistic space and staffing requirements and program needs with a budget appropriate to the proposed option, and the capability to implement the option.

(f) Demonstrates sustainable support by educators, students, their families and the community.

(g) Develops a written operations plan.

 (3) Approval of educational options shall be contingent on funding availability.

Again, was all of this information provided BEFORE the School Board voted to approve the new program?  If not, why not, especially in view of the fact that School Board policy (and, by extension, state law) requires it?

Every year PPS seniors are required to complete Exit Surveys.  The results are interesting.  Here’s a brief look at Pauling Academy at Marshall and Grant high school: 

Rate how influential each person was to your success in school:

Parent/guardian/family member identified as extremely influential    

Pauling 57.7%         Grant 70.3%

Teacher identified as extremely influential

Pauling 36.5%          Grant 17.3%

During my senior year, I was employed in a job outside of school:

No  -   Pauling 51%          Grant 62.8%

Yes   -  Pauling 49%          Grant 37.2%

Data provided by PPS Research & Evaluation

Remember this?  A new school could open in the Pearl just as Marshall closes.

It’s time to revisit this story before the board closes another school.

Matt Shelby from PPS Communications department was recently featured in a Portland Tribune story.  In it, he told about a school renaming situation where someone wanted to rename the newly merged Fernwood and Hollyrood “Dick Cheney.” 

If you had to rename the BESC based on what’s taken place there in the last 10 years, what would you rename it and why?