Friday, January 14, 2011

It's baaaack! Descriptor Code: JBCC - Student Assignment

So, at the last board meeting, Ramona Tyson quietly pulled the new board policy on student assignment (transfers) from the agenda. Now, we see the new policy (we're interested in Part F) has emerged on the eBoard website, still allowing for a range of interpretation. Still clear as mud.

Here we go:

Instances in which students may attend school outside their attendance area are outlined below. The District will publish written and/or electronic materials further explaining each of these options.

Students who do not reside in the District are not eligible for enrollment in a District school, except as required by state law or as provided below.

A. ESEA/NCLB Public School Choice
Pursuant to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind Act (“ESEA/NCLB”), students attending a school designated as Needs Improvement may be eligible to transfer to another school that is on the District’s list of receiving schools. Each year, the District provides notice to parents or guardians of students who are eligible for ESEA/NCLB transfer.

B. Special Needs Students
In certain circumstances, special needs students requiring special education student services will be placed in a school other than the school serving their attendance area, in accordance with special education procedures.

C. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (Senate Bill 10)
Qualifying special needs students may attend another public school within the District that has available capacity and that has a program with the services agreed to in the student’s existing individualized education program.

D. Limited School Choice (House Bill 251)
Students may enroll in certain schools outside of their attendance area where space is available. The House Bill 251 receiving schools to which a student may transfer are publicized each year after seat availability has been determined.

E. Other School Choice Programs
The District offers a number of academic options for students, including, for example, charter schools, magnet programs, and theme schools; these options are referred to as School Choice Programs. The available School Choice Programs and the relevant admissions criteria are published yearly. Every eligible student, regardless of circumstance, must follow the published criteria and process.

The Board, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, and as allowed by applicable laws and regulations, may move a School Choice Program to a different facility or cease the operation of a School Choice Program.

F. Children of Full-Time District Employees
Subject to review by the Office of Student Assignment, a student whose custodial parent or legal guardian is a full-time school-based employee of the District may enroll in the school in which the parent or legal guardian is employed, regardless of whether the employee and student reside in this or another school district. Transportation will not be provided by the District. Children of employees who do not reside in the District will not be required to pay tuition.

A student whose custodial parent or legal guardian is a full-time school-based employee at a theme school may enter the lottery to attend the respective theme school, regardless of the student’s residence. The student must comply with the school’s published admissions procedures.

Because of the unique nature of magnet programs, which have special admission criteria and competitive selection processes, children of magnet program employees will be given no special preference in the application or lottery process for admission to the respective magnet program. Students wishing to enroll in the program must follow the published admission procedures and meet the admission criteria for the program. Moreover, because of the special cost to the District in providing magnet programs, these programs are limited to students who reside in the District.


This provision does not apply to pre-K programs.


Employees’ children who, at the time this Policy is enacted, are attending a school at which they would not be entitled to enroll under this Policy shall be allowed to remain in their current school until they have completed the highest grade at that school.

G. Hardship Transfers
In exceptional circumstances, and on a case-by-case basis, hardship transfer requests will be considered. Upon receiving documentation of an extenuating situation, the Superintendent or designee may approve a recommendation by the Office of Student Assignment that a student be allowed to attend a school other than the school serving the student’s attendance area. State law allows for transfer requests in certain circumstances based on placement in a nonpermanent classroom or excessive travel time or distance, as specifically defined by state law and the rules of the Georgia Department of Education, and such requests may be considered by the District. For all hardship transfer requests, available capacity in the requested school at the time of the request will be considered. If capacity is not available, the Superintendent may approve transfer to another school in the District. Transportation will not be provided by the District.

H. Unsafe School Choice Option
1. A student who is the victim of a violent criminal offense, as defined by state law, while in or on the grounds of a public elementary school or secondary school that the student attends, may transfer to another school within ten days of the offense.

2. Federal law also provides for transfers out of a school that is designated as a “persistently unsafe school.” If a District school is designated as “persistently unsafe,” the District will provide procedures for students wishing to transfer from the school.

I. Seniors Moving out of the District
A current or rising senior at a District school who moves out of the District may complete his or her senior year at the District school if the student furnishes transportation, maintains regular attendance, and pays tuition as set forth in Policy JBCBA.



School-based employees. Does that include teachers as well as all other employees, such as cafeteria workers, janitors, bus drivers, security, etc? That could mean several thousand more employees, and several thousand more transfer students. If this "perk" is meant to attract the best and brightest teachers, should it not apply strictly to teachers? If this "perk" is meant to allow teachers the flexibility to stay late and help or tutor students, shouldn't this perk apply to teachers only? Can we afford to offer this perk to say, 10,000 employees rather than the 6,500 who are teachers?

One more thing, please take note of the admission that magnet programs cost more per student to operate.

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, as a teacher and county resident, I'm going to do what ever I can to prevent a policy that gives selected (oh yeah, favoritism will be at play) employees a ten-thousand dollar a year bonus in the form of tuition and property tax free education.

Also, invariably when ever we have a student who is extremely demanding (usually behaviorally) and from outside the attendance area the promised "paperwork" from the super or their designee never, ever, ever appears. In other words, No paper-trail which means no accountability and No transparency.

What's missing from the policy is a statement that all exceptions will be a matter of public record and available to the public.

Anonymous said...

I thought allowing children of teachers that live out of the county was a state regulation not a local one. I understood this to be a courtesy offered to teachers as an aid with childcare issues that do crop up.

Making all exceptions a matter of public record would be subject to privacy laws. Would you really want someone who is in the witness protection program or moved because of bullying information in the public domain? Please don't let you frustration cloud your good judgment. There are legitimate reasons for some children to be reassigned.

Anonymous said...

Teacher lives in Henderson Middle zone but works at Druids Hill.

She has a son at Druids Hills with her. Younger son is about to be in 7th grade, can this son go to Druids Hills middle?

Anonymous said...

@ 10:07 The problem is that it is more than teachers bringing their children to their school. We have grandmothers who are teachers bringing their grandchildren to their school. We have office workers in schools and the Palace selecting the school that their children go to. We have janitors and maintenance workers who choose where their children go. We have high school teachers who get to pick the elementary school and then send their children to school all the way through. We have elementary teachers sending their children not just to their school, but all the way through and not going back to their home school. We have teachers of theme schools choosing where their children go to school.

The law is that a teacher may take his/her child to his/her school. It does not say that the children of secretaries, palace workers, administrator, and such get to pick which school they go to or that the children get to go all the way through DCSS and a parent doesn't even live in the county.

This is a perk that is no where else that I have taught in other states. States that provide its children a better quality education.

Sorry this is a perk that the county residents do not have extra money for. Many of these kids that have this special permission are trouble makers and disrupt the classroom-has happened more than one time to me in the 3 years that I taught in DCSS-and these same parents wasted more tax payer money fighting solid decisions made by the principal through involving people in the palace, because they did not like the decisions made for their disruptive child. Many who have this perk use the system and feel entitled instead of lucky to give their child a better education for no money.

Cerebration said...

As far as magnet costs, below are the costs strictly for central office administration of special programs:


According to the budget for 2011, there is a budget of $1,054,699 for the office of student transfers, led by Dr. Felicia Mayfield.

Comprised of $362,692 for Administrative transfers and $415,849 for administering the magnet programs, with an additional $5,558 for theme schools. $13,894 for school choice and $5,558 for teacher advisory as well as $5,558 for customer service as well as money for other items.

In addition, there is a budget of $69,471 for things such as travel, consultants, postage, printing, cell service, etc.

Below is the list of personnel necessary to run the office of student assignment and the pay scale level-

The budgeted salaries for these 11 employees total $985,228

STUDENT ASSIGNMENT - Personnel List

Associate Supt. Support Serv. M21
Executive Assistant M21
Secretary to Associate Supt T21
Coordinator, Magnet/Theme Sch M21
Director, Magnet/Theme Schools M21
Secretary to Associate Supt T21
Secretary to Director T21
Secretary, Executive T21
Coordinator, Public Relations M21
Director, Govtl Relations & SP M21
Secretary, Executive T21

http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/budget/budget-detail-school-operations.pdf

Cerebration said...

Interesting that 5 of the 11 employees are secretaries. I rarely see a secretary in the business world these days.

Cerebration said...

CANCELLATION OF RE-SCHEDULED DEKALB BOARD OF EDUCATION BUSINESS MEETING:

As a result of inclement weather, the re-scheduled DeKalb Board of Education business meeting scheduled 1:00pm, Friday, January 14, 2011 has been canceled. A re-schedule date will be posted as mandated by the Open Meetings law once conditions have improved.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10:07. So you think that most of the transfers are for witness protection and bullying? Kids who transfer will usually tell you why and in twenty years, I've never come across a witness protection transfer. Does it happen, I'm sure but reason not to be transparent with my money? I think not. Never met a bullying transfer either, but they can be protected without keeping all the other transfers hidden from the public.

Anonymous said...

@10:18, you brought very reasoned points as to why this policy should be strictly adhered to. If it means adding clarification regarding attending schools in teh feeder pattern, that should be done. Section F already says "student whose custodial parent or legal guardian" so if there are cases where employee grandparents are legal guardians, they pass the test.

Out of the 14,000 employees, let's say 10% live outside of DeKalb and have a child in the district. That would be 1,400 students, which is just under 2% of the overall student population. You could make the argument that it costs the taxpayers $14,000,000 to educate this children (assuming $10,000/student). How much additional value might DeKalb be receiving from their parents in unpaid overtime and services for children in DeKalb. Does that make an even tradeoff for this courtesy?

Anonymous said...

Teaching is a profession, this is a state law for teachers to have children attend the school that they teach. Teachers-not everyone in the district.

This is something that does not happen in states were the education children receive is at a much higher level.

This is a rule that costs tax payers money and could mean that we were able to shut another school down and save more money.

All teachers everywhere spend time out of the school day to grade papers, plan lessons, and speak with parents. This is the nature of the job. Having the children of teachers come to the school in which they teach is one thing, but educating these children for all 12 years in some of the most sought after schools where home owners pay high taxes is not a perk that tax payers want to pay or can afford to allow any longer.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10:39, no, I don't believe that most transfers are for that reason. 9:53 suggested the ALL exceptions should be a matter of public record. I believe you agree that all exceptions should not be a matter of public record becuase you acknowledged there might be some cases that demand exclusion.

There has to be a middle ground that acknowledges transfers and reason without identifying the student by name, i.e. Lakeside, 5 transfers, Administrative, 1 transfer, bullying, etc. The right to privacy (and in some cases safety) should trump the publics right to know the name.

Can you agree with this? If not, what would you suggest?

Anonymous said...

Why do we keep fighting at the margins? Compared to the real problems of DCSS this is a small detail. Lets keep hammering on the real issues.

Besides, who in their right mind would live in a school district outside of Dekalb and bring their kids in to this mess?

Anonymous said...

@ 11:05 People who live in the surrounding counties. They want their children to be with them. I have see teachers who live in Atlanta, Clayton, Gwinnett, just to name a few.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:05, you are absolutely right! Looking at the numbers provided at 10:45, this does seem to be a small issue. They should tighten up this policy but but this won't make a big impact on student learning for all the students in the system.

Cerebration said...

I would wage the argument that this is not a marginal issue. There are most likely 1500-2000 or more special transfer students (children of employees other than teachers) attending schools other than their assigned district school - or even from another county. This could be throwing our overall FTE numbers off, as well as causing crowding at select "high performing" schools like Lakeside, Druid Hills, Livsey, etc. Fine, except that when the redistricting involves moving 100-150 students who live very close to a school - out of that school due to crowding - then I think we need to take a look at where that crowding is actually coming from.

Anonymous said...

"That would be 1,400 students, which is just under 2% of the overall student population. You could make the argument that it costs the taxpayers $14,000,000 to educate this children (assuming $10,000/student)."

Let's slow down here. If the student comes from another DeKalb school, the school system is collecting state money and our local tax money to put toward the child's education. Regardless of where a student lives in the county, the school system has budgeted money for that child's education. I think the problem is not nearly as expensive as you are thinking. The questions you should be asking are: Does the school system recover from the state any of the costs of educating a student from another district? How many children enrolled in DeKalb schools live in another county? IMHO the real problem has more to do with the student taking a seat in a school that she wouldn't otherwise be allowed to have.

Anonymous said...

Well, as a teacher I know I'm not the only one plotting my escape...

Most school districts do offer the perk of allowing children of TEACHERS to continue in the feeder pattern of their parent's school. Teachers are professionals and this is considered a professional courtesy.

When I was hired into Dekalb 4 years ago I had that understanding. Which is why I pulled my daughter from her home school to my school. Where she made new friends. Now she will lose all of her friends because she has to go to a different school for middle school. Teachers kids are not the problem. Corrupt admin sending everyone they know to whatever school they choose is the problem.

And the REAL problem is that those in the Palace are still there with their inflated way-way-way-above teacher salaries.... It is pathetic that secretaries make more than I do, even though I hold 2 Masters...

Cerebration said...

Hey, things could be worse - check out what's going on in the Raleigh school system.

Republican school board in N.C. backed by tea party abolishes integration policy

The new board there is halting transfers completely - going so far as to say that -

"If we had a school that was, like, 80 percent high-poverty, the public would see the challenges, the need to make it successful," he said. "Right now, we have diluted the problem, so we can ignore it."

Gee - doesn't that sound like what some people say about Cross Keys - and now Clarkston? Funny how sometimes we think it's a good idea to scoop all "like" people together in the name of "efficiency" yet, at the same time, there is this uncontrolled entitlement going out to those "in the know"...

Many of you may not be aware of the special transfer issue - as these transfers tend to only effect a few "select" schools. I doubt if we see many at Columbia, MLK, Stone Mt, Towers, Stephenson, etc. Administrators would never send their own children to those schools. NO, they feel entitled to choose the best of the best for their children. Just write it up! No wonder they don't show a whole lot of concern for schools that under-perform. They are able to avoid them very easily. It's classism. Why are the blacks in south DeKalb not angry that the high ranking blacks in the system have chosen to abandon them? Truly, as "out-there" as she can seem, Sarah Copelin Wood is the only person on the board who seems to really get this.

Arabia is the shining example of the separation by class I am talking about. The leadership in no way wants that to be a regular school. Even "regular" students who apply must adhere to standards and wear uniforms. It's elite. Special. Inaccessible. Heck - they won't even allow their AYP transfers to step foot on the actual Arabia compound - sticking them instead on an Arabia "satellite" at MLK... Why are those students not offended by this?

Anonymous said...

My question is where the line should be drawn: if a teacher teaches at an elementary school, what benefit accrues (besides the obvious) to the teacher in having the child continue to the middle school and high school in the feeder pattern?

Granted the schools are probably closer to the elementary than the child's home school would be, but the hours are different. If the elementary teacher has to be at work at 7:15 and the middle school doesn't start until 8:40, what does the student do?

Conversely, if the parent teaches at a middle school and the child is in elementary school.the parent can get the child there early enough and then go on to the middle school, but the parent's day doesn't end until much later than elementary dismissal - possibly not until 5 or so, because of after-school obligations of the teacher and wrapping up for the day/preparing for the next day (I know a teacher's day does not end at the end of school hours). What happens to the child?

Many people here have been able to cite instances of abuse of this policy, and I am inclined to go with a SCHOOL-BASED employee (i.e. one who works all day in the particular school) being able to bring their child to the school where they work. Period.

(As an aside, does anyone know of examples of a teacher who lives in a district with an adequate or better school who teaches at a NI school and brings the child with them? Or do they make arrangements....?)

Anonymous said...

Cerebration:

Something is wrong with the figures -(Not saying that you misquoted - the data must be miscategorized)) It can not cost $415k to just place magnet students. There are only a couple hundred in the whole county! Where is the AYP transfer management costs?

We keep getting parents pitted against parents over mis-information.

Cerebration said...

Double check my take on the budget - they obviously do more than place students in programs - they "market" programs as well...

School Operations Budget

Beginning on p 41 - Student Assignment

2 MAIN AREAS

Administrative Transfer - $362,692
This office oversees the administration and implementation of Administrative Transfers which grant students permission to enroll in schools outside of the assigned home attendance area.

The Office of Student Assignment (OSA) responds to administrative transfer requests and concerns during the school year to make every effort to offer the appropriate number of transfers throughout the school district.

The Office of Student Assignment makes every effort to ensure the appropriate placement of students in schools and to offer and provide administrative transfer options in order to enhance and improve student achievement.


Magnet Programs - $415,849
This office oversees the administration and implementation of Magnet (system wide) Programs. These school choice programs offer parents and students in grades K - 12 the opportunity to enroll in instructional programs to enhance their academic and social skills, talents, and interests.

This office expanded the marketing strategies by conducting the 2010 School Choice Fair and implemented the Health Medical Sciences High School Magnet Programs at Arabia Mountain, Druid Hills and Miller Grove High Schools.

Goals: To continue to provide magnet programs to students' academic, social skills, talents and interests. Offer new high school magnet program options August 2010. Automate the application and lottery processes.

Cerebration said...

They also manage theme and choice programs - as well as other responsibilities -

Theme Schools Programs $5,558
This office oversees the administration and implementation of Theme (cluster area) School Programs. These school choice programs offer parents and students in grades Pre-K - 8 to opportunity to enroll in instructional programs to enhance their academic and social skills, talents, and interests.

School Choice $13,894
This office oversees the administration and implementation of regional programs. These school choice options offer parents and students the opportunity to enroll in instructional programs to enhance their academic and social skills,
talents, and interests.


Customer Service $5,558
This office oversees and supports the system-wide Customer Service initiative used to provide local schools, centers, and departments with professional training to develop a uniform style of customer service to support the school system's stakeholders, community members, businesses and staff members.

The customer service sessions have been made available and completed by local schools, centers, departments, and district level staff members.


Teacher Advisory $5,558
This office oversees the administration and implementation of the teacher advisory committee which allows elementary, middle, and high school teacher representatives from schools across the district and from the various departments the opportunity to communicate challenges and interests to the Superintendent, Deputies and other
district level administrators.

A forum for the Teacher Advisory committee was formed to allow the representatives to have direct communication with the Superintendent, Deputies and other district level administrators.


Student Advisory $5,558
This office oversees the administration and implementation of the student advisory committee which allows elementary, middle, and high school student representatives from schools across the district the opportunity to communicate challenges and interests to the Superintendent, Deputies and other district level administrators.

A forum for the Student Advisory committee was formed to allow the student representatives to have direct communication with the Superintendent, Deputies and other district level administrators.


Citizen Comments/Questions $5,558
This office oversees the coordination of citizen comments and concerns to communicate to the Board of Education and Superintendent to support student achievement efforts. This office also oversees the facilitation of the citizen comments and responses for various community meetings

Media and Public Relations $84,082
This office provides press release counsel to the Superintendent and staff. This office provides informative, urgent information to the community, media and school system staff on weather updates, student recognitions, and educational events. This office provides programming content and video production support to the DeKalb County School System Educational Access Channel, PDS-TV Channel 24 on Comcast, as well as non-broadcast videos.

Open Records requests are processed by this office.

Cerebration said...

Government Relations $150,394
Serves as the legislative liaison for the DeKalb County School District by developing relationships with local, state and federal elected and appointed government officials to secure legislative and financial support for the District. This office also monitors legislation and provides the analysis of bills before the State and Federal legislatures to determine their relevance to the interests and programs of the School District;

Staff members will continue to review and prepare local, state, and federal periodic legislative reports consisting of all proposed legislation that has been summarized for review by the Board, Superintendent and other appropriate district staff members and stakeholders; review of information from state and local publications and preparation of analyses for the School District staff to apprise them of developing trends in legislation which could impact the District.


The budget for this department - Student Assignment - has continued to increase year over year -

2008 - $1,067,767 (Actual)
2009 - $1,177,146 (Actual)
2010 - $1,211,367 (Budgeted)

Cerebration said...

$1.2 million divided by Dr Lewis' standard number for a teacher (including benefits) $65,000 Equals

18 classroom teachers!

Anonymous said...

"My question is where the line should be drawn: if a teacher teaches at an elementary school, what benefit accrues (besides the obvious) to the teacher in having the child continue to the middle school and high school in the feeder pattern? "

The advantage for teachers is that their children can pick up a school bus in the neighborhood where they teach and get to school. It means less commuting time, but there is also a safety issue. Imaging having to leave your 12-year-old home in the mornings to catch the school bus or walk to school because you have to be at work by 7:00 AM. Can you rely on your child to get to the bus stop on time without someone being there to remind him? Do you have a neighbor who can help out in an emergency? Teachers work long hours. Someone has to open that school so parents can drop off their kids before the sun comes up. Late conferences or an unexpected meetings are part of the job.

Lots of people think the middle and high school students need less supervision. I found that my children still needed good supervision when they were in middle and high school. I'm not saying you have to hover, but I always kept track of who they were with, where they were going, and there was always an established time to be back home.

Anonymous said...

Did I miss something? As a teacher in Dekalb, I was told that I am not allowed to put my children in the feeder schools. We are only allowed to bring them to the schools where we work. Why is this an issue? I'm sure there are teachers who live in Dekalb and teach in an adjacent school district that take their kids to school with them. I'm sure it all balances out. Seriously, Dekalb teachers already took a pay cut. We also have increased insurance premiums, less retirement, etc. We pay double prices for school lunch for the same amount of food. The only perk we have is taking our kids to school with us. I'm so broke right now that I'm wondering when my own kids will qualify for free lunch! What else do you want from us?

Anonymous said...

"Besides, who in their right mind would live in a school district outside of Dekalb and bring their kids in to this mess?"

Employees who like Dunwoody, Lakeside, or Dunwooody HS.

Cerebration said...

Teacher, no one is saying to take this away from teachers. In fact, we ENDORSE allowing teachers to bring their children to the school where they teach. Some of us disagree as to whether that applies to the feeders, I happen to say - yes - let teachers keep their children in the feeders. This is one perk we can use to attract the best and brightest teachers to DeKalb.

It's not necessary for administrators - as those jobs are no different from regular 9-5 corporate jobs that the rest of us deal with.

Anonymous said...

IMO - Teachers should be allowed to bring their children to school with them and go on the feeder schools.

LOL - DCSS has gotten rid of so many teacher positions (often they are outnumbered even in the schoolhouse by the admin and and support) that shouldn't be a problem at all.

Anonymous said...

THERE IS NO DRUID HILLS MIDDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Druid Hills Middle is the new name for Shamrock Middle

Anonymous said...

Cere, these numbers, like $415,849 for marketing magnet programs, are scary.

We don't need elaborate School Choice Fairs. Aren't there too few seats and too many lottery applicants already? Wouldn't a well-designed web site showcasing magnet options suffice?

But wait a minute, DCSS needs tons of $$$ to prop up eSIS/Parent Portal as it is, and provide "customer service" to leagues of frustrated parents who can't enter their children in School Choice lotteries online because of recurring eSIS/Parent Portal IT snafus.

Anonymous said...

Let's clarify Dekalb policy on teachers being allowed to put their children in the feeder schools- As of now we are not permitted to do this. The children of teachers who are already in feeder patterns must be grandfathered in or something.

Anonymous said...

Anyone ever see the brochure for where the " school choice " fairs are held? Stonecrest Mall is the first one that comes to mind, not sure if I recall any being held in north dekalb. What is wrong with this picture?

Anonymous said...

Regarding these budgeted items
referred to under Dr. Felicia Mayfield. . .

Media and Public Relations $84,082
This office provides press release counsel to the Superintendent and staff. This office provides informative, urgent information to the community, media and school system staff on weather updates, student recognitions, and educational events. This office provides programming content and video production support to the DeKalb County School System Educational Access Channel, PDS-TV Channel 24 on Comcast, as well as non-broadcast videos.

Why aren't Dickerson and Cohn/Wolf handling these reponsibilities as part of their contracts? And, why isn't the remaining highly paid PDS-TV staff, now under the MIS budget, handling these other responsibilities?

Cerebration said...

Maybe they are. This was the 2010 Budget - not actual. This position may have been RIFd for all we know.

Anonymous said...

"Let's clarify Dekalb policy on teachers being allowed to put their children in the feeder schools- As of now we are not permitted to do this."

However, plenty of admin and support not based in the schoolhouse have their kids there in transfer.

Anonymous said...

Cere 2:24
"This position may have been RIFd for all we know."

The only position that was RIFd from this department was Ms. Nancy VanWyk who was responsible for making sure all of the school councils were in compliance with the state. Also she read and critiqued school charter petitions, was the PTA Council liaison and performed other duties relevant to government relations.

Anonymous said...

@ 2:18 Having seen the brochure, I would say that it is geared to families in South DeKalb. I do not know of any other malls that host this program.

Anonymous said...

I am a teacher who lives and works in Dekalb County. I go to work early and work late every day. I volunteer to tutor children before and after school, and I also co-sponsor school clubs. Please let me keep my children in my school feeder pattern. It would make it so much easier for me to help YOUR child.

Anonymous said...

@2:18, as I understand, outreach was made to North DeKalb, Northlake and Perimeter Malls. Two wanted to charge and one never return the call. Stonecrest offered to host the even at no charge. What would you do?

Anonymous said...

Meant to say host the 'event' free. Should also add that they have not charged the past two years either.

Anonymous said...

@ anon 4:31 - Obviously you have information that most folks would not be aware of, maybe?

If I had not had the pleasure
( yes, sarcastic ) of interacting with the DCSS Choice staff for the past three years, I might go for it - Unfortunately, I have interacted with them on multiple occasions and the trust meter - well not so high.

I have personally observed applications being turned in past the deadline at their office, I have personally been given misinformation.

Just as the general population doesn't trust DCSS to do the right thing - I don't trust their implementation of the choice programming or events.

Sorry, doesn't feel good to say, but it is true.

Anonymous said...

"Employees’ children who, at the time this Policy is enacted, are attending a school at which they would not be entitled to enroll under this Policy shall be allowed to remain in their current school until they have completed the highest grade at that school. "

This looks like a solution for those already enrolled - like those 100 at Fernbank,several hundred at Lakeside, etc. I guess the redistricting will occur, and the neighborhood kids will be moved out. Maybe they'll let the neighborhood kids back in as the

IMO - The admin transfers should all go back to their home schools with the exception of the teachers' children.

I'm not sure moving the kids that are residents of a district to make room for the non-residents will fly with parents.

Anonymous said...

AYP students should not be considered in the count. After all, look what happened to Dunwoody. It attracted so many AYP students, it became no longer able to make AYP. AYP student numbers wax and wane due to this problem.

DCSS Teacher said...

As a DCSS teacher, I can't imagine that teachers having their children in the school where they teach, is a very big deal financially. How many of these teachers are there,actually? I'm not talking about support staff, just teachers.

Most jobs have some form of professional courtesy--has anyone reading this blog EVER benefited from it or maybe, even, extended it to someone? DCSS teachers have not had a raise or a step increase in 4 years; we don't have administrators we trust or, sometimes, even know (e.g., Beasley, who I wouldn't recognize walking down the street); we're continually threatened with layoffs for unspecified reasons (and do you know that if we're laid off due to "downsizing", the grounds for that are indistinguishable from a regular layoff for bad performance?); and we're expected to stay after work as late as needed to grade all the papers from our vastly overstuffed classes--which for some, has led to an increase of 20% or more in grading time over the last two years. Plus, we often have to stay late to meet with working parents

Having your own child in your same school makes all of this a bit easier to bear, and a lot easier to do the stay-after-school thing with a clear mind. We want younger teachers to stay in the profession, not leave because they want to have a family. C'mon now...as Austin Powers would say, "Throw us a bone here!"

Anonymous said...

I should have said that Dunwoody did not make AYP for 2007-08 and 2008-09 and did not have to accept AYP students for 2 years so their scores went back up. Now they will have to accept AYP transfers so their scores will go back down in a year or so and then the process will start all over. That's why you can't predict AYP numbers.

Cerebration said...

Again, I don't know how you can read this blog and not figure out that 99% of us here SUPPORT teachers bringing their children to the schools where they teach (and for me, the feeders too)... But that's it - no admin, no other staff... just teachers.

Anonymous said...

Bloggers, I urge you to call and email Ms. Tyson and the BOE members to urge them to ONLY give teachers (not school based support staff and not personnel outside the schoolhouse) the right to bring their children to the schools they teach in. This used to be the rules and they worked just fine.

Cerebration has an email link to Ms. Tyson and all the BOE members on the right hand side of the home page of the DeKalb County School Watch blog. Please use it and email anyone you know to urge them to make it known to the superintendent and the BOE that only teachers should be allowed to enroll their child in the school they teach at.

Anonymous said...

Cerebration, Dekalb teachers know that you support us and we certainly appreciate this support. This blog provides one of the very few places that our voices can actually be heard. I think some of us are upset that certain people feel that sending our kids to the feeder pattern schools would be such a drain on taxpayer dollars. Please! It's actually a moot point because for the past couple of years teacher kids have not been permitted to attend feeder pattern schools. I guess this is a privelage reserved for the children of the DCCS elite at the Mountain Industrial complex.

Anonymous said...

Since teachers are often requested to work overtime without pay, they are the ones that have the need to bring their children to the school they teach at.

Parents often want to meet with teachers before and after school, and if grades are due and eSis goes down, they are required to stay and enter the grades.

No one in the school system works longer hours than the teachers because the system has designated everyone EXCEPT school based teachers, administrators and counselors must receive overtime if they work over an 8 hour day.

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous 5:49

"It's actually a moot point because for the past couple of years teacher kids have not been permitted to attend feeder pattern schools. I guess this is a privelage reserved for the children of the DCCS elite at the Mountain Industrial complex. "

You're absolutely right. I know of an NON-SCHOOL BASED administrator who lives out of DeKalb County that who has a child that went to Henderson Middle and is now at Lakeside - no problem for her. It was not even questioned.

Anonymous said...

When is this new policy coming up for a vote?

Anonymous said...

There are many bus drivers, crossing guards and other non school based employees whose kids go to the schhols that they work near and not the home school. What about district office administrators. One area asistant superintendant has his kids at Midvale and he lives in Gwinnett. Do his kids get to go to a dcss middle school? I also know an assistant principal who is a single mother and for safety/personal reasons brings her daughter with her. She lives in gwinnett also. All principals had to recently send in a report listing all kids out of county enrolled in their schools, current grade and reason. Why didn't they also ask for out of area students? I am especially curious about the tucker cluster since it is the most centralized successful cluster and closest to the Mountain Industrial complex.

Anonymous said...

Does this policy mention non-school based employees? I thought that was the big question and I don't see that addressed. Did I miss it?

Anonymous said...

@ anon 4:51, your experiences are your experiences. Though I haven't always gotten what I wanted, I did find those in that staff to be professional. I have witnessed citizens not get what they want thus give a bad evaluation of the staff. Go figure.

I was able to share that information because I asked the same questions you wondered about. I simply relayed what was shared.

Anonymous said...

We need State Rep. Mike Jacobs to draft legislation that requires DCSS to post data on transfers.

They should be doing it anyway, but they revel in hiding data from the public.

If the BOE had a clue, they would examine to issues on why there are so many darn transfers to begin with.

Anonymous said...

Dunwoody Mom and the rest of Dunwoody have forgotten that their public school system serves an entire county, not just their precious city.

http://dunwoodyschooldaze.blogspot.com/

If you want your children to only attend schools within Dunwoody, then you better darn well support the same for families in Avondale, Chamblee, Doraville, Stone Mountain, Pine Lake, Clarkston and Lithonia.

Dunwoodites wants theirs and to heck with the rest of us. Go ahead, start your own charter school system or join Milton County.

Anonymous said...

Look at the Dunwoody comments here, they are no better than the NIMBY Fernbankers and Lakesiders:

http://dunwoodynorth.blogspot.com/2011/01/dekalb-school-rezoning-maps-released.html

"If you pay property taxes in Dunwoody, your children should go to Dunwoody schools."

Anonymous said...

@ anon 7:43, this is anon 4:51 - You imply that I made statements about the staff because " I did not get my way ". That is not reality. In both instances I was simply the consumer. The staff were not necessarily rude, just imcompetent in their job performance and inconsistent in the application of guidelines for the program.
Nothing personal - just business as usual I fear. Again, it comes down to trust in the system - Something that is lacking from many parents.
Student assignment is simply a bigger concept. Decisions that have been made that are outside of guidelines by incompetent and self serving staff. TEACHERS ONLY , I say !!!!

Kim Gokce said...

... forgive my tangent ...

IMHO teachers should retain the privilege of having their child attend the school attendance area where they teach. Teachers should have just about any privilege we could dream up.

Our public system (not just in DCSS) has created an entirely new class of educrats. Until we put teachers back at the top of the pyramid, equity and ethics in transfers will remain an elusive situation.

System administrators make too much money and have too much power to be controlled consistently. Who "polices the police"?

This class of folks have to be rolled back and our teachers and principals must be the ultimately responsible authorities for the education of our children. Until this order is restored to our school houses, the game will continue ...

We need:

1. Fewer public meetings
2. More parent/teacher meetings

3. Fewer educrats
4. More educators

5. Fewer elected officials
6. More selected principals

7. Fewer "leaders"
8. More readers

Ok, it's late. My apologies to Jesse Jackson and every reading this ...

Anonymous said...

"Does this policy mention non-school based employees?"

Make no mistake. Finance has every employee in DCSS in the database affiliated with a cost center. If my cost center is MIS, then I'm listed as part of the MIS cost center. Tony Hunter is the Director of MIS so ultimately I report from him. If I'm in a school as a Parent Center coordinator, I do not report to the principal. I ultimately report to Audria Berry in the Office of School Improvement within the Central Office. If you are a bus driver, you report to Transportation - not the school you transport students to and from. Bus drivers often have 2 or 3 schools they transport students to and from.

If my cost center is Lakeside, then I will report to the principal of Lakeside. For example, all teachers at Lakeside report to the principal at Lakeside. If I am an itinerant teacher (i.e. I go between Lakeside and Druid Hills - e.g. Gifted teacher split between 2 schools), I still have a cost center HR assigns me to - called my "home school". It may be Lakeside or it may be Druid Hills.

This is a very easy database to pull up. If your cost center is a school and you are evaluated by the principal of that school, then you are a school based employee.

The best way of doing this and not redistricting resident students to another school in order to accommodate administrative transfers is to only let teachers transfer their children to the school they teach at. And if you are an itinerant teacher (go between 2 schools), then you can bring your child to your "home school", the one where you are evaluated and receive your paycheck.

Quite frankly, I'm against the "Palace" and "Upper Management" picking their children's schools because they have no skin in the game if their child's local school is a non-performing school. Let the upper level administrators who are zoned into failing schools have a real incentive to improve those schools. Currently, they have an easy way for their children to escape the very schools they have ruined, and absolutely NO incentive to improve them for the children left behind.

Anonymous said...

To Anon at 8:08:

Again, to clarify, I am a Fernbank parent and, I believe, no Fernbank parent wants to exclude any child who is at the school now. To the contrary, we would welcome, with open arms, additional students next year and beyond, no matter where they come from.

And by the way, IMO, from a recruitment and retention perspective, I think the current policy isn't analytically consistent or comprehensive. You have teachers with young children who are passionate about teaching at the high school level, and vice versa (and not to leave out MS, teachers who love teaching 6-8 grades, but who have children who are not within those grades). If the Board wanted to craft a truly sound and productive policy, teachers' children would be allowed to attend any school within a vertical feeder system (i.e. high school teacher's child can attend an elementary school within the feeder pattern, and any elementary school teacher's child, upon reaching high school age, can attend the cluster's high school), but not horizontally (from one elementary school to another elementary school), and not from the central office (the logistical reasons simply don't exist for central office employees to be allowed to send their children to any school across the county -- if they want that choice, then go teach in that schoolhouse or that schoolhouse's vertical feeder).

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous 9:23

"Again, to clarify, I am a Fernbank parent and, I believe, no Fernbank parent wants to exclude any child who is at the school now. To the contrary, we would welcome, with open arms, additional students next year and beyond, no matter where they come from. "

I taught at Fernbank for almost a decade and worked in admin and support for years so I know what you want.

But politically, if Ms. Tyson lets you have your way, she will be in trouble with other factions that want to design their attendance areas as well. She knows she may have a much larger mess on her hands if parents at other schools point to Fernbank as an example of what affluent influence can buy (don't protest - that's what will be said).

Fernbank can only hold a finite number of children. Do you really want your neighbors to have their children in trailers (like they were before the expansion) just so your child can continue at Fernbank? Is that really what's best for the children in your neighborhood?

If you're smart, you'll push for all administrative transfers to be sent back to their home schools and ONLY have the teachers at Fernbank to bring their children to Fernbank. This will immediately free up space for the children of Fernbank's community to go to Fernbank.

It's hard to penetrate the politics of DCSS, but you must remember Ms. Tyson is hired by a BOE that is elected from all over the county. Exceptions for Fernbank are not going to be well received.

Anonymous said...

Part 1: The following was sent to the superintendent, BOE, office of student assignment 2 days ago.

I appreciate the tremendous efforts that you and the board are putting into reorganizing attendance at Dekalb County schools in a more equitable and cost-effective manner. While this contact is not specifically about those plans, the issues are certainly related and intertwined.

First, Policy AD-School Attendance Areas, is overall a well defined policy, but needs work on Part B regarding policies for when Attendance Lines are Altered. I do not understand the justification for excluding rising 10th graders from the "grandfathering" provision. They too have many credits, investment in their school culture, and participation in school organizations at stake. Of even more critical pertinence is forcing rising 10th graders to transfer to a new school between those high schools on block and those on 7 period day schedules. A provision needs to be included to offer the same options (grandfathering) and caveats (transportation, re-transfer) to rising 10th graders when the two affected schools are on different organizational schedules.

Anonymous said...

Part 2:
Secondly, I am concerned that Policy JBCC-Student Assignment, offers unfair advantage to transfer students that residents near a school do not enjoy. If a transfer student displaces a resident student because of capacity issues, then there is no reason to even have geographic-based attendance zones. If you offer the right to remain to the highest grade in a school to a transfer student, then you MUST offer that option to a resident student being re-districted because of attendance line changes. "Grandfathering" must apply to all students equally.

Furthermore, the Policy JBCC fails to define the restrictions and allowances for student enrollment by centralized non-school-based employees (Central Office, MIS/Brad Bryant, Sam Moss, and all other non-school based centers) and Board of Education members. Centralized staff /BOE must not be permitted to enjoy privileges not given to school-based employees, or to residents. Nor should they be denied privileges that other employees enjoy. On a Space-Available basis, children of centralized employees will be permitted to apply to schools ONLY in the feeder pattern in which the employee's headquarter office is located. To avoid centralized employees having a greater advantage than school-based employees, centralized employees may send their child to a school within the feeder pattern of their assigned office/headquarters, but may choose only 1 school of the 3 within the pattern, i.e. only to one school within elementary, middle, and high feeder pattern, of the employee's choice, on a school space available basis. Application by centralized employees to magnets, theme, and charter schools will follow the rules otherwise applicable to those programs, under the same rules for school-based employees. If the centralized employee does not reside within Dekalb County, then tuition will be charged for attendance at a neighborhood-based school.

In addition, the initials of students and their employee parent/cost center (school or centralized), along with the parent job title, as well as the student’s home school and Special Permission School of Attendance must be made available to the public in an online format, accessible through the DCSS website, at any time that a student is attending a DCSS school other than their residential home school. Only in this way can the public be assured that special favors and privileges are not being granted to employees. Transparency MUST be achieved in order to restore public trust.

Transfer students, whether employee or hardship based, should have to re-apply each year, and not enjoy an automatic tenure through the highest grade of a school; circumstances change and a student should not enjoy privileges if the original hardship no longer exists. In addition, proof of residency should be required for every student, every semester, and at every grade level. I am aware of many people who qualified for a school or who falsified application when their child first started , but later moved and are able to continue throughout the highest grade because nobody ever checks. Similar to Fulton County, more serious efforts should be made to verify actual residence and veracity of residency documents.

Anonymous said...

Part 2:
Secondly, I am concerned that Policy JBCC-Student Assignment, offers unfair advantage to transfer students that residents near a school do not enjoy. If a transfer student displaces a resident student because of capacity issues, then there is no reason to even have geographic-based attendance zones. If you offer the right to remain to the highest grade in a school to a transfer student, then you MUST offer that option to a resident student being re-districted because of attendance line changes. "Grandfathering" must apply to all students equally.

Furthermore, the Policy JBCC fails to define the restrictions and allowances for student enrollment by centralized non-school-based employees (Central Office, MIS/Brad Bryant, Sam Moss, and all other non-school based centers) and Board of Education members. Centralized staff /BOE must not be permitted to enjoy privileges not given to school-based employees, or to residents. Nor should they be denied privileges that other employees enjoy. On a Space-Available basis, children of centralized employees will be permitted to apply to schools ONLY in the feeder pattern in which the employee's headquarter office is located. To avoid centralized employees having a greater advantage than school-based employees, centralized employees may send their child to a school within the feeder pattern of their assigned office/headquarters, but may choose only 1 school of the 3 within the pattern, i.e. only to one school within elementary, middle, and high feeder pattern, of the employee's choice, on a school space available basis. Application by centralized employees to magnets, theme, and charter schools will follow the rules otherwise applicable to those programs, under the same rules for school-based employees. If the centralized employee does not reside within Dekalb County, then tuition will be charged for attendance at a neighborhood-based school.

In addition, the initials of students and their employee parent/cost center (school or centralized), along with the parent job title, as well as the student’s home school and Special Permission School of Attendance must be made available to the public in an online format, accessible through the DCSS website, at any time that a student is attending a DCSS school other than their residential home school. Only in this way can the public be assured that special favors and privileges are not being granted to employees. Transparency MUST be achieved in order to restore public trust.

Transfer students, whether employee or hardship based, should have to re-apply each year, and not enjoy an automatic tenure through the highest grade of a school; circumstances change and a student should not enjoy privileges if the original hardship no longer exists. In addition, proof of residency should be required for every student, every semester, and at every grade level. I am aware of many people who qualified for a school or who falsified application when their child first started , but later moved and are able to continue throughout the highest grade because nobody ever checks. Similar to Fulton County, more serious efforts should be made to verify actual residence and veracity of residency documents.

Anonymous said...

@ anon 9:23 -
So what if a teacher at DHHS lives in, for example, the Briar Vista District, but choses to have her kids at Fernbank instead. Is that okay? Where do we draw the line? I ask, because this situation is common at Fernbank, and at the other high achieving elementary schools in other high school feeder patterns.

Anonymous said...

"I taught at Fernbank for almost a decade and worked in admin and support for years so I know what you want."

With all due respect, unless, in fact, you are me, then, in fact, you cannot know what I want. To say that you know what I want requires personal knowledge; anything short of personal knowledge is mere speculation.

I think Vice President Joe Biden's advice (passed down from another, whose name I don't have handy at the moment) is wise for all of us, and I paraphrase: when we have a disagreement, question the judgment, but don't question another's motivation. That's how we get to a better resolution for all. If we start or continue to snipe at each other's motivations (NIMBY, affluence, race, or any other dividing label), then the task at hand -- improving the overall state (competence, achievement, and on and on) of DeKalb County schools, is lost, and the reigning incompetence wins.

Anonymous said...

This is a no brainer. DeKalb has real problems to solve like hiring a new Supt. and hopefully increasing student achievement. I agree there may be some confusion on this issue, but it is about priority 501. Give all Dekalb employees the perks they have had until the DeKalb Deligation gets to work on claity of State and Federal laws and find ways to finance our public schools and stop these drastic cuts. Then, Tyson and Board can eventually get to these issues which by the way started with Halford as much of the other bad stuff. Brown statred straightening it out and was "ousted", Lewis took it to the APEX.

Anonymous said...

Do you people know anything about FERPA????? No identifiable information about students should be provided as public information. While I understand that you want to know everything, asking the central office to provide the initials of students who are administrative transfers is absolutely nuts. Initials and information about where a student has transferred from and to certainly provide, together, identifiable information.

I know that you all think that you know everything about transfers, but really, you don't. You have no idea what kids have potentially faced at their home schools. Even if there is dishonesty here, and I'm sure that there is, there are also legitimate reasons for transfers. You care only about your arguments and are not thinking broadly about the potential impact and legal ramifications of what you are asking. Really, you don't have the RIGHT to know everything about the kids at your school. You may want to, but you do not have the right. And I can just imagine how you would treat those kids and families if you knew (and probably already do). Geez. Have you heard of privacy laws?

Anonymous said...

"
I know that you all think that you know everything about transfers, but really, you don't."

I think the problem is posters are learning more about transfers than the DCSS administration would like them to know. FERPA is a valuable tool to uphold the right to privacy for students. What posters are concerned about is that the administration may hide behind FERPA laws with regards to administrative transfers for admin and support colleagues that have nothing to do with dangerous situations for students and everything to do with "picking" schools for their children without going through the established procedures any ordinary taxpayer would go through.

Distrust of the administration has fueled requests like for information which is as you pointed out is inappropriate. Posters would not like information given out about their children either.

The administration will continue having push back from parents though unless they send the administrative transfers back to their home schools that are NOT there for AYP, school-based personnel, or student protection.

Parents of students facing redistricting don't understand why administrative transfers that have no basis except the fact that they want a particular school for their child or just don't want to send their child to the home school they are zoned into. There are many of those. Everyone within the school system knows they exist, and now parents who are facing redistricting do as well. Ms. Tyson needs to make some moves to gain the confidence of these parents. Ending this practice of allowing admin and support personnel the "perk" of picking their child's school and sending those that have only this as a reason for taking up a seat in a school facing redistricting would be a real start in that direction.

Parents do not and should not have information to student records, but Ms. Tyson and her staff have this information. They need to use it.

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous 11:13

How long does this take? Johnny Brown got the BOE to commission a independent Compensation and Salary audit (you know - the ones taxpayers who paid for the audit have NO access to) that was finished with Ernst and Young's consultant Jim Landry presenting the summary to the BOE in 4 months.

Ms. Tyson and the BOE should have commissioned an up-to-date study by a reputable and independent firm like Ernst and Young as one of the first orders of business. They would then have the data to determine marketplace salaries and to publish standardized salary classifications for EVERY employee.

Ms. Tyson has had control of DCSS for close to a year. How can she make determinations on the bulk of DCSS expenditures (admin and support being the bulk of personnel cost and thus of DCSS overall expenditures) without objective data? Comparing admin and support numbers of personnel, salaries, and cost centers to metro systems and private industry would give her the information she needs to make real and substantive cuts in the admin and support and non-teaching positions.

I think we can all agree that DCSS does not suffer from too many teachers or too high pay for teachers. The teacher salary pay schedule is published, and how they rate against other metro systems is easy to ascertain by looking at the salaries and per pupil ratio of other metro systems.

It is the admin and support personnel and cost centers that are not publicly transparent in DCSS. The portion of the school system that costs taxpayers the most (admin and support personnel) is the portion with the least transparency and the least information for the BOE to make logical changes to.

Anonymous said...

Perusing the school director, I did a quick tally – Excluding special ed and the children of teachers I know (I might have counted some - and one I know comes from Gwinnett), I counted 40 students from outside the Oak Grove zip code area (I did not scrutinize 30033, tho we likely have some McLendon, Medlock & Laurel Heights kids, too).
What surprised me most: we have 20 first graders from out of district. Why on earth would a school that is redistricting the kids who live in the boundaries accept enough first graders from out of district to add a full class? Once they are in, aren’t they allowed to stay? It seems if we have that many transfers, it would mean we added a full class to our already crowded school for the next five years.

Anon 11:43:
my daughter and neighbors might have to change elementary schools next year AND be in the minority from Briarlake that split to a different Middle & high school from their neighbors. Is that fair?

Anonymous said...

My recollection is that Oak Grove was a receiving school for the new law in Kindergarten last year or the year before for 25 or so seats for whoever wanted them... I can remember the specifics on how it worked. Part of Oak Grove's issue is that many parents have historically waited to enroll kids until 1st grade, opting for private preschool and kindergarten.