KPLU Local News
(2009-10-04)
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Students walking to their neighborhood school get help with safety from a crossing guard.
AP Image.
Seattle currently uses a pretty complex system of assigning students to schools. It's been heavily based on choice - no matter where you live in the city, you could choose a school around the corner or across town. That's made transportation expensive, and seen some neighborhoods abandoned for schools further away. Many believe it's helped create inequities. Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson says neighborhood schools make sense. "When families attend their neighborhood schools, it gives them a better opportunity to participate. And when you have strong family, parent participation, it improves the school."
The tricky part of the assignment plan is drawing the attendance boundaries. It's anticipated lines will divide some neighborhoods.
Ballard parent Jerri Harden says the effects could be long-lasting. "Arbitrarily drawing boundaries takes away that sense of community," she says.
Harden lives almost two miles north of Ballard High, where her kids go to school. It's an area where there's anxiousness over the new maps. They identify as Ballard, but worry they may be drawn into Ingraham High's boundaries, on the city's northern border. Harden is with the Seattle PTSA, and says there are other neighborhoods with similar concerns. Still, she supports the effort to move away from school choice toward a more fair system.
"I think that's the main issue. That there's quality- equal quality - in all of the schools, so that none of the schools are over enrolled, which is what choice has done to some of the schools," Harden told KPLU News.
Once the maps are released, a number of public meetings are scheduled. The superintendent is aiming for approval in November. It's important to note the plan will take a few years to implement, and doesn't mandate that students be reassigned from their current schools. And it doesn't mean students are able to go to their closest neighborhood school right away, either. District leaders say working out all the details will take time. Gary Davis, KPLU News, Seattle.
Seattle Student Assignment Plan Community Meetings:
The proposed maps will be released on Tuesday, October 6th, at a work session of the Seattle School Board, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the John Stanford Center auditorium, 2445 3rd Avenue South.
Community Feedback Meetings:
Saturday, October 10th, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Eckstein Middle School
3003 NE 75th Street
Saturday, October 10th, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Washington Middle School 2101 S Jackson
Monday, October 12th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
McClure Middle School 1915 1st Ave W
Tuesday, October 13th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Aki Kurose Middle School 3928 S Graham Street
Wednesday, October 14th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Ballard High School 1418 NW 65th Street
Thursday, October 15th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
West Seattle High School 3000 California Ave SW
Friday, October 16th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Denny Middle School 8402 30th Ave SW
Saturday, October 17th, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Mercer Middle School 1600 S Columbian Way
Saturday, October 17th, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Mercer Middle School 1600 S Columbian Way
School Board Workshop Attendance Area Boundaries
Tuesday, November 3rd, 4:00 pm
John Stanford Center Auditorium 2445 3rd Avenue South
School Board Meeting: Introduction of Attendance Area Boundaries
Wednesday, November 4th, 6:00 pm
John Stanford Center Auditorium
Community Information Meetings:
Thursday, November 5th, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Roosevelt High School 1410 NE 66th St
Saturday, November 7th, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Rainier Beach High School 8815 Seward Park Ave S
School Board Public Hearing: Attendance Area Boundaries
Monday, November 9th, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
John Stanford Center Auditorium
School Board Meeting:
Action On Attendance Area Boundaries
POSSIBLE VOTE
Wednesday, November 18th, 6:00 pm
John Stanford Center Auditorium 2445 3rd Avenue South
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