Ma Charrette - Oh lá lá!

I went to the Chamblee Charrette and thought I'd report back. The turnout was enormous - I would estimate approximately 300-350 at a minimum were present. The overwhelming majority appeared to be from Chamblee attendance but there were a few Lakeside, Dunwoody, and Cross Keys folks present.

Add "large projection screen" to the wish list

Everyone gathered in the Bulldogs' gym for an intro - I missed the first fifteen minutes but the format was fairly simple. While the group was assembled, a brief summary slide show was presented describing the "2020 Vision" thing. Then the MGT of America folks passed out remotes to everyone and guided us through a few live survey questions with results projected over head (kewl!). That was fun but not particularly enlightening.

A sample question was something like, "Do you think portable classrooms are a viable, long-term solution for capacity planning?" Strongly Agree -> Strongly Disagree ... really?

After that, smaller groups of thirty or so split up and migrated to various rooms to fill out a simple form rating a school facilities (your choice). Then, a facilitator guided us through some questions and discussion points about priorities and concerns. Again, nothing particularly interesting or new here. Most folks in my group were Chamblee parents and talked a lot about the bad facilities and the lack of trust of leadership and absolute paranoia about being districted out of Chamblee.

At the end of our session, one astute CMS parent asked if the MGT reports would be available for the public to review. At which point, the lead consultant, Dr. Carnes (I think I have that correct) came over and said all reports would be available through the school system. I pointed out that having direct access to the reports would be a good idea since trust, or lack thereof, was the major theme of the night and offered up our humble blog as an alternate medium.

Dr. Carnes brought up the recommendations from a similar effort in St. Louis and suggested we could look at that to see what to expect in the final report. They took the todo to find it and I believe I have spotted it already here:

MGT Report for SLPS

He did say with great confidence that they will put everything on the table as they did in St. Louis. In that case, they recommended the closure of twenty-nine schools. In the end, that system closed seventeen of those recommended. He was very adamant that their report would include specific school closures and re-districting plans among other recommendations. So, I think we can expect a  very interesting report from them. Whether our leadership takes the recommendations to heart is an entirely different matter.

The irony of sitting in a planning charrette in CCHS was not lost on me. Whatever expert recommendations might end up in the MGT report about the CCHS area they are dead before the surveying is done and it is written. That ship has sailed and CCHS programs and attendance areas are now in a protected status. So this begs the question: If the System can manage planning CCHS facilities and attendance with no charrette, why is it necessary anywhere?

Discuss ...

AYP transfer invasion breaking the back of CCHS

This week's Dunwoody Crier informs us that Chamblee has been pushed over capacity by NCLB transfers.

Already over capacity, Chamblee Charter High School may receive several hundred more students before August 30 under the No Child Left Behind initiative for schools who fail repeatedly to achieve federal benchmarks.

But parents are firing back and have asked DeKalb School officials to rethink their decision to make CCHS a receiving school for 2010-11.

According to school officials, parents and other sources, about 200 ninth graders are scheduled to start school at Chamblee sometime before August 30. The school already has 198 students from previous admissions through NCLB. The students, according to sources, would stay through their high school careers at Chamblee, if the transfers are approved.

Last week, the county delivered four trailers to the school’s property and is in the process of refurbishing them, supposedly in anticipation of the extra students.

Lakeside and Druid HIlls are also seriously over-capacity largely due to transfers of all kinds. With a current enrollment topping 1,800 students in a building with a capacity for 1,350, Lakeside has over 20 trailers on-site to accommodate the overflow.

However, Arabia, which is not yet even at capacity and also must serve as a "receiving school" for transfers, has been allowed to set up an "annex" facility - housing their transfer students at the Lithonia High School Campus.

In response, there will be a Community Meeting at Chamblee Charter High School TOMORROW night, Tuesday, August 24, at 6:00 pm to discuss the situation regarding student transfers.

We have been told that Bob Moseley, the Deputy Chief Superintendant, and other DCSS officials will be there.

Apparently CCHS was just notified of this meeting this morning and are relying on parents to get the word out.

Please come and show your support for Chamblee Charter High School!

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UPDATE: In the words of Emily Latella, "Nevermind!" 
The meeting has been cancelled.