Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
To Recap the Redistricting
One of our contributors did us all a big favor and created one map out of the two provided by the school system. These combined maps show the attendance lines before and after the approved redistricting plan. These are simple jpgs and can be viewed larger and/or printed by simply clicking on them.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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22 comments:
Wow! That's some transformational change! Nice job, Superintendant and School Board. Nice job.
$400,000.00.
Here's a fun tidbit that came to my ears today... I freely admit it is second hand, and speculative to boot... but it made me wonder...
I was chatting with a friend who is in City of Decatur, lives towards the Avondale Estates end. She said 2 things:
1. That many Avondale people that she knows are thrilled with the changes, because their kids can go to the Museum School charter and then Druid Hills.
2. More interesting, now that the Avondale High School is closing, the new Walmart down the road can apply for their license to sell liquor (which they could not before, as they were located too close to the school.)
Now... #2 is fairly heavy on the conspiracy theorist side... but seeing how so many other things go down in Dekalb, it wouldn't suprise me, that some business leader thought that would be a grand idea.
Avondale HS is not closing. DSA will continue to be housed at Avondale.
Say what you may want about Wal-Mart, but I do not think that they would sink to subterranean levels to do a deal with the renowned DCSS. But, then again, Jay knows how to wheel and deal. Remember, that it is all for the children
Avondale will still be a school --DSA will still be there AND the system did not decommission it. Expect there to be a plan to more fully use it and Avondale middle by next year in the final part of the plan.
I'm not sure the elementary map is completely accurate, at least in Dunwoody. It still has the "Austin 28" at Vanderlyn and the "WOVERS" at DES. The map doesn't take into account the changes made in the amendment at the board meeting on 3/7. I realize the map was to illustrate the differences the re-distrcting made, but Dunwoody folk love to flip out.
I disagree, 6:26...that green part is Dunwoody Village, not the 28. Everything north of Womack is shown going to Vermack. I'm one of those Dunwoodians who had NOTHING to do with all that fighting, so I'm not reacting...but the map looks correct to me.
I thought all split feeders were going away from the presentation made last month. Looks like Chapel Hill Elementary is still split between SWD and Lithonia.
Excuse me MLK, not Lithonia. Brain lapse!
Regarding DSA, drinking alcohol, and Wallmart, the question is will the redefined school building being used meet the legal distance requirement? Just thinking like a DeKalb County crook uh, sorry, I mean politician...
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but looking at these maps, it is hard to understand why people are so opposed to split feeders. When you look at the distances between high schools and middle schools in some clusters, or the fact that several middle schools are situated on the very edge of the cluster they serve, it makes a strong argument for sending kids to the nearest middle or high school. Keep the entire elementary school cohort intact so neighborhoods kids stay together. Enrollment balancing would be so much easier without the artificial "need" to maintain feeder patterns.
Interesting discussion about redistricting taking place in both Gwinnett and Fulton.
What is interesting in part is how similar some of the discussions taking place in Fulton and Gwinnett are to what just happened in DeKalb.
What is far different is the timeline -- 6 weeks and done! All the plans are on the table -- pick one, support one, but the board will decide mid April.
Think our board could ever do such a thing?
Links didn't work sorry --
http://alpharetta.patch.com/articles/redistricting-concerns-north-fulton-residents
http://duluth.patch.com/articles/duluth-position-statement-greeted-with-applause
I do not know about Gwinnett, but Fulton County is required to have 3 Public Hearings before the plan is adopted. At the Alpharetta HS meeting last night, there were community breakout sessions to discuss the plans. Not much different that DeKalb's.
My guess is that if DeKalb had done anything different than they did you would be complaining about that.
Here is Fulton's plan for public participation:
http://www.fultonschools.org/redistricting/bethany.htm
I missed something -- this plan doesn't go into effect until August 2012.
I think that DeKalb had to much parental input and ended up with a plan that DID NOT go far enough.
I am appalled that the BOE left Cross Keys attendance zone the way it was, following Buford Highway across the county. That is so blatantly segregated that it would be funny, if it didn't seem illegal. Nice to know there was someone with a sCORE plan for those kids--NOT!
Incompetence is just not limited to the DCSS Central office; our county CEO, spokesperson and head of Public Safety prove their incompetence here:
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/commissioners-question-dekalb-execs-876366.html
@"why people are so opposed to split feeders. When you look at the distances between high schools and middle schools in some clusters, or the fact that several middle schools are situated on the very edge of the cluster they serve, it makes a strong argument for sending kids to the nearest middle or high school. Keep the entire elementary school cohort intact so neighborhoods kids stay together. "
Molly, a split feeder is when entire elementary cohorts are NOT intact. A split feeder is when some of the graduating class goes to one school and the other part of the graduating class goes to a different school. It mostly happens after elementary but could happen after middle.
What you are talking about is vertical feeder alignment. That is when everybody goes to the same middle and high, regardless of where they are located within the feeder district. You are right. the location of many of the middle and high schools just don't align well. Someone could live MUCH closer to a middle school that is not part of their high school feeder pattern but live very close to a high school that is not aligned with the particular middle.
This came about in many cases due to converting high schools to middle schools. IN other cases, it is probably where the land was available, not necessarily where it would have been the most equidistant.
Apparently people feel very strongly that the continuum or vertical alignment needs to be maintained. If course offerings were the same at all middle and high, it would alleviate some of the concerns. Other than course differentials, I would love to hear from people about why vertical feeders, rather than geography based ones, are thought to be so superior. I've heard the argument that psychologists say it is better, but why is that so?
Educate me please.
@anon 11:32 So if a middle school has a split feeder pattern into 2 or more high schools, why isn't that a split feeder? It is simply being split at a higher level than an elementary split feeder.
I'm looking at these maps then I look at Gwinnett. There is one split feeder in Gwinnett - one elementary school that splits into the two middle schools that server Norcross High. Other than that, every elementary school feeds to exactly one middle school and every middle school feeds to exactly one high school. Some middle and high schools are very close, some districts not so much..... in fact it looks like one middle school (Radloff Middle, if you ever look at their maps) had to be almost squeezed into its high school district (Meadowcreek), but nevertheless, there aren't the number of splits I am seeing in this map. I have a funny feeling, though, we'll see less and less over the next 9 years as we move to that 2020 vision.
It is simply because of how Gwinnett grew that they have so few split feeders right now. Over time, split feeders will return.
Fulton County had one year where the Board passed a policy to "outlaw" split feeders. They had to undo the policy change the following year because it just doesn't work.
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