Sunday, December 5, 2010
Board member Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie responds...
From: "Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie" <pollyannalevangie@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 4, 2010 11:29:38 PM
Subject: Boundary Change Proposal
Dear Parents,
During this last week I have been away from town on business and told you that I would respond to your email concerns related to the Sims boundary change proposal. There are a number of you who sent me emails and voiced similar, if not exact, concerns so I am writing one response to all of you. If any of you have further questions or if you feel I did not respond to a specific question you posed, please contact me or I will see you at the community meetings on December 6 and 14.
The purpose of the boundary changes is to address imbalance in our school attendance areas. The TJMS/FrHS area has seen a great increase in residing student population while the HEMS/LCHS area has seen a steady decrease in residing student population. As of October 2010 the residing student populations were as follows: EPMS - 334, COHS - 571,
TJMS - 1,764, FrHS - 3,186, HEMS - 938, and LCHS - 1,902. Just by looking at the residing population you can see that there is an imbalance. The district's target student enrollment at middle school is 1,200 and high school is 2,200. Both TJMS and FrHS have residing populations that exceed the capacity. I do not believe that the boundary proposal has arisen due to the board's or district's poor planning. The natural state of a community is that newer communities will have younger families to populate that area. As the community ages the students matriculate through the grades, eventually graduating, leaving homes without children to attend the schools. That is what is happening in the Laguna Creek area. In contrast, the Franklin area is still relatively "new" with many young families. Our boundaries must remain fluid and changing to respond to the changes in community populations.
The opportunity of Open Enrollment has come up as a concern. Following is a summary of the number of students open enrolling into a particular school. Please remember that neither TJMS or FrHS were eligible for Open Enrollment because of their already high enrollment numbers. HEMS - 62, EPMS - 386, LCHS - 47, COHS - 242. The board allowed Open Enrollment to give parents choices in their children's education. I have heard the suggestion that we should close Open Enrollment to all schools and will take this into consideration, but my personal belief is that choice for parents is good when we have the capacity to offer choice.
Sims is not the only area being considered in the boundary changes. The proposal also includes moving Elliott Ranch Elementary to the EPMS/COHS area and unsplitting Carroll Elementary to TJMS/FrHS. Some of you have asked that Carroll be moved instead of Sims so that all of Carroll attend EPMS/COHS. This would mean that families that live right next door to or across the street from TJMS/FrHS would be asked to travel a farther distance. The distance between Sims and HEMS is roughly 5 miles, between Sims and LCHS is 4.5 miles, and between Sims and TJMS/FrHS is 4.7 miles. These other boundary proposals have been included with the Sims area to balance the enrollment at all three MS/HS sites.
TJMS/FrHS have the most feeder schools in the district (7 - 4 partial and 3 whole schools), while HEMS/LCHS have 5 (3 partial and 2 whole) and EPMS/COHS have 4 partial feeder schools. One of the goals in the boundary proposal is to unsplit schools. This proposal allows us to unsplit Sims and Carroll. We have already approved moving more of IB West Elementary back to HEMS/LCHS to increase the residing population on the east side of the school's boundary area. Donner Elementary has been moved before and I don't support adjusting their boundaries again. When Sims was built my son went to Kindergarten there and at the time the 6th grade students matriculated into HEMS/LCHS (TJMS/FrHS did not exist; although the were planned, the schools were not built until 2002).
Many of you expressed concern that this seems very sudden. I completely understand your feelings and will take that into consideration. I know that change is difficult and I believe our district will try to ease some of this anxiety. I have made a personal note to ask our Superintendent to bring boundaries to the communities attention on a more regular basis so that new families understand that our boundaries do change and will change. I have also heard your concerns regarding making some of these changes over time and the concern of 8th grade parents who have students ready to attend high school next year (and the 6-year program that is emphasized at TJMS/FrHS).
For those of you wondering about options that will be available to you should this boundary change come to pass, here are some options. I may be missing one or two, but they will all be presented at the community meetings. 1. the district offers a daycare provision for middle schoolers in which the child may attend school in the boundary area which their daycare is located, 2. the district offers an application for sibling consideration so that if you have two or more children attending a school they can stay together (application would be considered based on current capacity/enrollment at school site), 3. application into a school with a specialized program (ie., STEM at FrHS or the Culinary Academy at COHS or MPTA at LCHS), 4. Special Education considerations.
There are some concerns regarding the program at LCHS. LCHS is on the block schedule just like FrHS. The school also has high quality technology; it was one of the first schools in the district to get Smartboards in classrooms. LCHS boasts three outstanding academies: MPTA (Manufacturing Production Technology Academy), Green Technology Academy, and the Sports Sciences Academy. This year teachers are working on the final phase of becoming an IB school for the next school year. The school has a strong principal and many wonderful teachers as well as an active parent body.
Finally, I want to tell you that I truly believe that ALL of our schools are good schools, schools worthy of sending our children to. I would hope that whatever decision is made students are not unduly influenced to make preconceived judgments on any school before visiting or attending. I extend a personal invitation to any of you who would like to take a tour of HEMS or LCHS with me. I know that this is a very difficult and emotional time for you. I also know that you must each be an advocate for your child(ren) and I totally support you in this endeavor. Should you choose another school in Elk Grove USD, in another school district, should you choose private school, or should you choose to move, I truly believe that ultimately you must do what you feel is best for your own child. I believe that my job as a board member is to look after the welfare of the entire district, and although I am your trustee I am really the trustee of all the children in the district.
I thank you for your time in composing letters to me. Your concern for your children tells me that they are very lucky and will be successful in the future. Again, if you have any further questions or concerns or if you would like to meet with me personally or tour HEMS or LCHS, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie
Sent: Saturday, December 4, 2010 11:29:38 PM
Subject: Boundary Change Proposal
Dear Parents,
During this last week I have been away from town on business and told you that I would respond to your email concerns related to the Sims boundary change proposal. There are a number of you who sent me emails and voiced similar, if not exact, concerns so I am writing one response to all of you. If any of you have further questions or if you feel I did not respond to a specific question you posed, please contact me or I will see you at the community meetings on December 6 and 14.
The purpose of the boundary changes is to address imbalance in our school attendance areas. The TJMS/FrHS area has seen a great increase in residing student population while the HEMS/LCHS area has seen a steady decrease in residing student population. As of October 2010 the residing student populations were as follows: EPMS - 334, COHS - 571,
TJMS - 1,764, FrHS - 3,186, HEMS - 938, and LCHS - 1,902. Just by looking at the residing population you can see that there is an imbalance. The district's target student enrollment at middle school is 1,200 and high school is 2,200. Both TJMS and FrHS have residing populations that exceed the capacity. I do not believe that the boundary proposal has arisen due to the board's or district's poor planning. The natural state of a community is that newer communities will have younger families to populate that area. As the community ages the students matriculate through the grades, eventually graduating, leaving homes without children to attend the schools. That is what is happening in the Laguna Creek area. In contrast, the Franklin area is still relatively "new" with many young families. Our boundaries must remain fluid and changing to respond to the changes in community populations.
The opportunity of Open Enrollment has come up as a concern. Following is a summary of the number of students open enrolling into a particular school. Please remember that neither TJMS or FrHS were eligible for Open Enrollment because of their already high enrollment numbers. HEMS - 62, EPMS - 386, LCHS - 47, COHS - 242. The board allowed Open Enrollment to give parents choices in their children's education. I have heard the suggestion that we should close Open Enrollment to all schools and will take this into consideration, but my personal belief is that choice for parents is good when we have the capacity to offer choice.
Sims is not the only area being considered in the boundary changes. The proposal also includes moving Elliott Ranch Elementary to the EPMS/COHS area and unsplitting Carroll Elementary to TJMS/FrHS. Some of you have asked that Carroll be moved instead of Sims so that all of Carroll attend EPMS/COHS. This would mean that families that live right next door to or across the street from TJMS/FrHS would be asked to travel a farther distance. The distance between Sims and HEMS is roughly 5 miles, between Sims and LCHS is 4.5 miles, and between Sims and TJMS/FrHS is 4.7 miles. These other boundary proposals have been included with the Sims area to balance the enrollment at all three MS/HS sites.
TJMS/FrHS have the most feeder schools in the district (7 - 4 partial and 3 whole schools), while HEMS/LCHS have 5 (3 partial and 2 whole) and EPMS/COHS have 4 partial feeder schools. One of the goals in the boundary proposal is to unsplit schools. This proposal allows us to unsplit Sims and Carroll. We have already approved moving more of IB West Elementary back to HEMS/LCHS to increase the residing population on the east side of the school's boundary area. Donner Elementary has been moved before and I don't support adjusting their boundaries again. When Sims was built my son went to Kindergarten there and at the time the 6th grade students matriculated into HEMS/LCHS (TJMS/FrHS did not exist; although the were planned, the schools were not built until 2002).
Many of you expressed concern that this seems very sudden. I completely understand your feelings and will take that into consideration. I know that change is difficult and I believe our district will try to ease some of this anxiety. I have made a personal note to ask our Superintendent to bring boundaries to the communities attention on a more regular basis so that new families understand that our boundaries do change and will change. I have also heard your concerns regarding making some of these changes over time and the concern of 8th grade parents who have students ready to attend high school next year (and the 6-year program that is emphasized at TJMS/FrHS).
For those of you wondering about options that will be available to you should this boundary change come to pass, here are some options. I may be missing one or two, but they will all be presented at the community meetings. 1. the district offers a daycare provision for middle schoolers in which the child may attend school in the boundary area which their daycare is located, 2. the district offers an application for sibling consideration so that if you have two or more children attending a school they can stay together (application would be considered based on current capacity/enrollment at school site), 3. application into a school with a specialized program (ie., STEM at FrHS or the Culinary Academy at COHS or MPTA at LCHS), 4. Special Education considerations.
There are some concerns regarding the program at LCHS. LCHS is on the block schedule just like FrHS. The school also has high quality technology; it was one of the first schools in the district to get Smartboards in classrooms. LCHS boasts three outstanding academies: MPTA (Manufacturing Production Technology Academy), Green Technology Academy, and the Sports Sciences Academy. This year teachers are working on the final phase of becoming an IB school for the next school year. The school has a strong principal and many wonderful teachers as well as an active parent body.
Finally, I want to tell you that I truly believe that ALL of our schools are good schools, schools worthy of sending our children to. I would hope that whatever decision is made students are not unduly influenced to make preconceived judgments on any school before visiting or attending. I extend a personal invitation to any of you who would like to take a tour of HEMS or LCHS with me. I know that this is a very difficult and emotional time for you. I also know that you must each be an advocate for your child(ren) and I totally support you in this endeavor. Should you choose another school in Elk Grove USD, in another school district, should you choose private school, or should you choose to move, I truly believe that ultimately you must do what you feel is best for your own child. I believe that my job as a board member is to look after the welfare of the entire district, and although I am your trustee I am really the trustee of all the children in the district.
I thank you for your time in composing letters to me. Your concern for your children tells me that they are very lucky and will be successful in the future. Again, if you have any further questions or concerns or if you would like to meet with me personally or tour HEMS or LCHS, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Reply to our response from the District...
Ms. Penna - we appreciate your response below, but still have concerns. We've been told that the meetings are to gather suggestions and alternative solutions from the parents, however, we believe that without specific answers to our questions, we do not have the information we need to thoroughly understand the situation and make suggestions. If your intent is to answer our questions at the meetings, then a subsequent set of meetings for ideas and solutions would be warranted.
We have had opportunity to review the information on the School Accountability Report Cards. Though we found a great deal of information about current enrollment levels and disciplinary action on the campuses, we could not find the enrollment data we're looking for.
It's clear that having opened the COHS/EPMS campus and allowing open enrollment has caused an imbalance in your enrollment numbers. What is not clear is how many students are currently attending schools that are not their home school. We'd like to see enrollment numbers for intra-district transfer students currently attending FHS and TJMS as well as COHS and EPMS. We believe that transfers and open enrollment should be stopped and all students should be returned to the school in their home boundaries before boundary changes are made.
Additionally, we have yet to see compelling evidence as to the importance of balancing the enrollment numbers. The biggest questions on everyone's mind are 1) why is the boundary change important (particularly in light of the financial struggles the school district and the community face right now, is this really top priority) and 2) Why now? If this is important, why now and why in such a hurry without allowing ample time for parents to get information, make plans accoringly, etc.
We would greatly appreciate answers to these questions by Monday 12/6. If that's not possible, then we would expect the district to postpone returning to the board with this proposal until parents have been given an opportunity to review all the information and meet again with the district to provide suggestions and alternatives.
Thank you,
EGUSD Parents
- Show quoted text -
On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:01 PM, Tina Penna in Secondary Education <CPenna@egusd.net> wrote:
Dear Parents, On behalf of our Board of Education, and our Superintendent, Steven M. Ladd, I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to your November 18th email. Our Board members and our Superintendent received your questions and comments and appreciate your communication.I am providing links (below) to the School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) for Cosumnes Oaks, Franklin and Laguna Creek high schools. These SARC reports provide a variety of information that I believe you will find helpful.COHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/CosumnesOaksLong.pdf FRHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/FranklinHSLong.pdf LCHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/LagunaCreekLong.pdf With regard to your inquiry regarding the reason for looking at boundary changes, it is due to an imbalance in residing attendance boundary populations at several schools which impact our educational offerings, respectively.The community meetings scheduled for your area are intended to present the district’s boundary proposal, but equally importantly to engage in a conversation with the community and provide information that will address many of your questions. If you have further questions, I would encourage a representative to call me at 686-7719 so that we may speak personally about your questions and concerns. Sincerely,Christina PennaAssociate Superintendent, Secondary Education
fromPollyanna Cooper-LeVangie <pollyannalevangie@hotmail.com>
toegparents@gmail.com
dateSat, Nov 20, 2010 at 2:24 PM
subjectRE: Boundary change questions - plesae reply immediately
mailed-byhotmail.com
hide details Nov 20 (12 days ago)
Dear Parents,
As I am sure you received an email from our Board President, our district administration is researching answers to your questions and as soon as they have a response I'm sure Ms. Amavisca will email you.
Thank you for stating your concerns with the boundary proposal. I'm sorry that you are not happy with this proposal. Change is always difficult, and I appreciate that you are advocating for your children. As a board member I find that my duty is to look out for the welfare of the entire district, not just pockets of children. We have numerous high-functioning schools in our district, and I am proud of all of our schools.
If after you receive a response to your questions you find that you have further questions or concerns, please email me or call me (my home phone number is 684.4768 if you would like to speak to or meet with me in person).
Sincerely,
Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie
fromJeanette Amavisca <jeanetteforkids@frontiernet.net>
toEGUSD Parents against Re-Districting 2010 <egparents@gmail.com>,
pcox@egusd.net,
pollyannalevangie@hotmail.com,
kiddiekop@aol.com,
bilugg2729@att.net,
cmadisonsr@aol.com,
1ayrowlett@frontiernet.net,
sladd@egusd.net
dateFri, Nov 19, 2010 at 11:25 AM
subjectRE: Boundary change questions - plesae reply immediately
hide details Nov 19 (13 days ago)
Dear Parents: Thank you for your e-mail. The purpose of the planned meetings is to answer the exact questions that you are asking. However, I am going to refer your request to our administration and ask that someone respond prior to the January meeting.
Please be assured that the meetings are just the first step. Our district is not in the habit of making major changes without input from the community. In fact, in the past we have received thoughtful alternatives, from our communities, that have been implemented.
Once again, thank you for your correspondence.
J
Jeanette J. Amavisca, President
Elk Grove Unified School District
Elk Grove, CA 95624
(916) 682-6728
from
We have had opportunity to review the information on the School Accountability Report Cards. Though we found a great deal of information about current enrollment levels and disciplinary action on the campuses, we could not find the enrollment data we're looking for.
It's clear that having opened the COHS/EPMS campus and allowing open enrollment has caused an imbalance in your enrollment numbers. What is not clear is how many students are currently attending schools that are not their home school. We'd like to see enrollment numbers for intra-district transfer students currently attending FHS and TJMS as well as COHS and EPMS. We believe that transfers and open enrollment should be stopped and all students should be returned to the school in their home boundaries before boundary changes are made.
Additionally, we have yet to see compelling evidence as to the importance of balancing the enrollment numbers. The biggest questions on everyone's mind are 1) why is the boundary change important (particularly in light of the financial struggles the school district and the community face right now, is this really top priority) and 2) Why now? If this is important, why now and why in such a hurry without allowing ample time for parents to get information, make plans accoringly, etc.
We would greatly appreciate answers to these questions by Monday 12/6. If that's not possible, then we would expect the district to postpone returning to the board with this proposal until parents have been given an opportunity to review all the information and meet again with the district to provide suggestions and alternatives.
Thank you,
EGUSD Parents
- Show quoted text -
On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:01 PM, Tina Penna in Secondary Education <CPenna@egusd.net> wrote:
Dear Parents, On behalf of our Board of Education, and our Superintendent, Steven M. Ladd, I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to your November 18th email. Our Board members and our Superintendent received your questions and comments and appreciate your communication.I am providing links (below) to the School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) for Cosumnes Oaks, Franklin and Laguna Creek high schools. These SARC reports provide a variety of information that I believe you will find helpful.COHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/CosumnesOaksLong.pdf FRHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/FranklinHSLong.pdf LCHS – http://www.egusd.net/schools/sarcs/long/LagunaCreekLong.pdf With regard to your inquiry regarding the reason for looking at boundary changes, it is due to an imbalance in residing attendance boundary populations at several schools which impact our educational offerings, respectively.The community meetings scheduled for your area are intended to present the district’s boundary proposal, but equally importantly to engage in a conversation with the community and provide information that will address many of your questions. If you have further questions, I would encourage a representative to call me at 686-7719 so that we may speak personally about your questions and concerns. Sincerely,Christina PennaAssociate Superintendent, Secondary Education
fromPollyanna Cooper-LeVangie <pollyannalevangie@hotmail.com>
toegparents@gmail.com
dateSat, Nov 20, 2010 at 2:24 PM
subjectRE: Boundary change questions - plesae reply immediately
mailed-byhotmail.com
hide details Nov 20 (12 days ago)
Dear Parents,
As I am sure you received an email from our Board President, our district administration is researching answers to your questions and as soon as they have a response I'm sure Ms. Amavisca will email you.
Thank you for stating your concerns with the boundary proposal. I'm sorry that you are not happy with this proposal. Change is always difficult, and I appreciate that you are advocating for your children. As a board member I find that my duty is to look out for the welfare of the entire district, not just pockets of children. We have numerous high-functioning schools in our district, and I am proud of all of our schools.
If after you receive a response to your questions you find that you have further questions or concerns, please email me or call me (my home phone number is 684.4768 if you would like to speak to or meet with me in person).
Sincerely,
Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie
fromJeanette Amavisca <jeanetteforkids@frontiernet.net>
toEGUSD Parents against Re-Districting 2010 <egparents@gmail.com>,
pcox@egusd.net,
pollyannalevangie@hotmail.com,
kiddiekop@aol.com,
bilugg2729@att.net,
cmadisonsr@aol.com,
1ayrowlett@frontiernet.net,
sladd@egusd.net
dateFri, Nov 19, 2010 at 11:25 AM
subjectRE: Boundary change questions - plesae reply immediately
hide details Nov 19 (13 days ago)
Dear Parents: Thank you for your e-mail. The purpose of the planned meetings is to answer the exact questions that you are asking. However, I am going to refer your request to our administration and ask that someone respond prior to the January meeting.
Please be assured that the meetings are just the first step. Our district is not in the habit of making major changes without input from the community. In fact, in the past we have received thoughtful alternatives, from our communities, that have been implemented.
Once again, thank you for your correspondence.
J
Jeanette J. Amavisca, President
Elk Grove Unified School District
Elk Grove, CA 95624
(916) 682-6728
from
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