Student Placement Task Force Student placement option presentation - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Student Placement Task Force Student placement option presentation Maize Board of Education | Feb. 10, 2014

Introduction:

• Peggy McNeive, Commissioner Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service

• Student Placement Task Force members
• Lori O’Toole Buselt, Maize Director of

Communications

About the task force:

• Members are volunteers.
• Members include Maize USD 266 employees,

parents, high school students, community/business leaders.

• The task force met in May, June, August,

September, October and November 2013 and in January 2014.

About the process:

• Task Force divided into five work groups
• Discussed concerns about and possible

solutions for current placement model

• Identified and discussed pros and cons of
• ther models to consider: reconfiguration,

boundaries, feeder patterns and select combination options

Factors to consider:

• A placement process change will require a

transition plan.

• There is no one perfect solution.
• Community communication about any change

will be imperative.

About tonight’s presentation:

• Members volunteered to present options in

groups on behalf of and representing the work

• f the entire task force.
• The presentations are findings – not

recommendations.

• A member’s involvement in a presentation is

not his or her endorsement of that option.

Questions?

Placement option: Status quo

Group members: Shari Grabman, Karen LaMunyon, Randall Mark and Andi Shipman

Explanation of placement option: Status quo: Maize USD 266 students/parents elect a building preference before entering the middle and high school levels. Elementary students are randomly assigned to buildings, and siblings follow siblings.

Top concerns of this placement option:

• Lack of consistency/clarity
• Mentally, preference = guarantee
• Communication about how process works
• Negative perception

– “Squeaky wheel” – Attitude in and out of the district is a lack

• f trust in the system’s chance of success

Top concerns of this placement option (continued):

• Creates fractured communities

– Student/parent stress on making preference – Student separated from friends at critical age – Inequalities between schools in areas of special education, extra-curricular activities and socioecomonics

• Recruitment – both athletic and academic

Top concerns of this placement option:

• Supply (number of seats) does not always

meet demand (preference)

• Creates unhealthy school rivalry

Top solutions of this placement option:

• Communication on how the system works:

Educate parents to make a sound decision

• Boundaries
• Building reconfiguration
• Feeder system with configuration
• Preference for Kindergarten and new students
• Transfer based on KSHSAA guidelines

Questions?

Placement option: Reconfiguration with one high school

Group members: Duranda Fessenden, Rocky Helm, Craig Ratzlaff and Theresa Schultz

Explanation of placement option: Reconfiguration with one high school: Students would be placed at random or according to boundaries and would feed through the schools on two separate patterns that would merge with a ninth-grade center at Maize South High School and with grades 10 through 12 at Maize High School.

Maize High 10-12 Freshman Academy Maize South High School Maize Middle 7-8 Maize South Middle 7-8 MCE K-6 PWS K-6 MES K-6 VES K-6 MSE K-6

Top pros of this placement option:

• Friends stay together at all grade levels (K-6,

7-8, 9, and 10-12)

• Optimizes building capacity, facilities and is

financially responsible

• Eliminates rivalries and the potential for

recruiting people to go to certain schools

Top cons of this placement option:

• Loss of extracurricular opportunities, and

participation is limited

• Difficult staff divide/staff turnover
• Contradicts community wishes for a smaller

high school

Questions?

Placement option: Preference for Kindergarteners and new students

Group members: Candace Allenbach, Michelle Bliss, Mike Domnick, Jenny Ecord, Angie Jennings, Bill Perkins and Raquel Tyrell

This option involves preference, reconfiguration and two separate feeder patterns. The first feeder pattern involves a contained Maize South Campus.

• Maize South Elementary School would house grades K-4.
• Maize South Middle School would house grades 5-8.
• Maize South High School would house grades 9-12.

The second feeder pattern would have three transitions in buildings on the north side of the campus.

• Pray-Woodman Elementary, Maize Elementary and Vermillion Elementary schools

would house grades K-4.

• Maize Central Elementary School would house grades 5-6.
• Maize Middle School would house grades 7-8.
• Maize High School would house grades 9-12.

Normal transfer rules according to the KSHSAA rules. Open enrollment up for discussion.

Top pros:

• There is a definitive plan in place.
• All existing buildings used appropriately regarding capacity (at or

below 200 students per building per grade level)

• It allows room for transfers to each campus.
• Transparent process
• Eliminates recruiting for all programs
• Extracurricular consistency
• Siblings stay together.
• School/community allegiance
• Potential space for Early Childhood Center at each campus
• Still provides for preferences with additional structure

Top cons:

• Cost to remodel versus bond for new

construction

• No preference after initial enrollment
• Potential for uneven demand
• High school curriculum availability to some

and not others

Questions?

Placement option: Feeder/Reconfiguration

Group members: Heather Blankinship, Pam Dearmont, Marv Schellenberg and Joyce Schreiner

This option involves a feeder pattern with a reconfiguration of the existing

• buildings. It includes:

1) Two building transitions for students 2) Two feeder paths:

• South campus: Grades K-4 at Maize South Elementary School, 5-8

at Maize South Middle School, 9-12 at Maize South High School

• North campus: Grades K-6 at Pray-Woodman, Maize Central,

Maize and Vermillion elementary schools, 7-8 at Maize Middle School, 9-12 at Maize High School 3) In combination with one of two possible entry options:

• Random: placement at Kindergarten or upon entering the district
• Boundaries: based on home address

Pros of this placement option:

Feeder:

• Clear-cut placement – kids, parents, faculty know where students will go
• Relationships – friendships, school pride, parent/student/staff familiarity
• Program

– academic/extracurricular consistency and continuity – less promotion and recruiting

• Facilities – could utilize existing buildings

Feeder with random placement:

• Certainty of placement once in the system
• Efficiency of building utilization
• Maintains current socio-economic balance

Feeder with boundaries:

• Certainty of placement until boundaries need to change (grandfather for existing)
• Ability to choose based on where you live

Cons of this placement option:

Feeder:

• Confusing – two different feeder patterns based on building capacities
• K-6 and 5-8 may not be optimal age groupings socially and developmentally
• Must reconfigure existing buildings to accommodate

Feeder with random placement:

• No preference
• Loss of students if no preference

Feeder with boundaries:

• Placement could change over time as boundaries must be reset
• Moving home could result in feeder school change (5th/6th graders)
• On-going cost to revalidate boundaries

Questions?

Placement option: Boundary/reconfiguration with middle school options

Group members: Kathie Bowles, Kevin Frye and Laura Wheeler

Explanation of placement option: Boundary/reconfiguration with middle school

• ption: Boundaries would determine high

school placement. Middle school options would provide a flow into high school. Boundaries or assignment would determine elementary school placement.

Top pros of this placement option: High School Boundary

• Eliminates recruitment (academic, extra-

curricular and athletics)

• Clear communication system
• Sense of community (neighborhood, friends,

teachers)

Top cons of this placement option: High School Boundary

• Inequalities of socioecominics
• Continued reconfiguration of boundaries
• Less family choice

Top pros of this placement option: Third Middle School

• Utilizes all existing facilities
• Reduces middle school crowding
• Feed into assigned high school (Maize South

Middle School to Maize South High School and Maize Middle School/new middle school to Maize High School)

Top cons of this placement option: Third Middle School

• Maize Middle School could be perceived the

inferior school

• More splitting of friend and groups
• Added long-term cost of three staffs

Top pros of this placement option: Large New Middle and Conversion of Maize Middle School (Career Tech Ed/Early Childhood Center/Maize Virtual School/Shared Teacher Classes Building/Sixth Grade Center)

• Clear identities/school pride/equality
• Long-term cost benefit (staff, resources, busing)
• Creates opportunity for more community use

(YMCA, Maize Rec., etc.)

Top cons of this placement option: Large New Middle and Conversion of Maize Middle School (Career Tech Ed/Early Childhood

Center/Maize Virtual School/Shared Teacher Classes Building/Sixth Grade Center)

• More cost upfront (new building and renovations)
• Lessen 6-8 teacher collaboration (if sixth grade

center)

• More student transition (if sixth grade center)

Questions?

Placement option: Boundaries with feeder system that crosses the campus

Group members: Brett Barney, Justin Carlson, Doris Prater and Angela Stockam

Explanation of placement option: Boundaries with feeder system that crosses the campus: Three elementary schools would feed to Maize South Middle School and then to Maize High School. Two elementary schools would feed to Maize Middle School and then to Maize South High School.

Top pros of this placement option:

• Low cost to district
• Boundaries create:

– neighborhood schools – predictable and transparent district policy

Top cons of this placement option:

• Geographic location of middle schools/high schools

and shared use of outdoor facilities on the south campus

• Delayed implementation to allow current 5-7

graders to remain at currently assigned middle school

• The establishment of boundaries would require

immediate reorganization of elementary placement

Questions?