Friday, January 21, 2011

Boundary Advisory Committee action Thursday night

Scott Rider, a member of the BAC and chair of the Alameda Neighborhood Association, released the following statement Friday morning, January 21, 2011:


The boundary committee met again last night and here is a summary of the suggestions that will be made to the Schools' Superintendent:

A simple majority voted in favor of recommending a slightly modified version of the "Orange" option that was presented at the community forum. Sabin remains a K-8 and continues to house ACCESS. Alameda remains a K-5, and Beaumont remains a M.S. Alameda is the only feeder into Beaumont. Beaumont will increase the number of transfers from across the Grant cluster by around 35 students per year. Students wishing to transfer out of Alameda will have priority. Grandfather clause for Alameda students who are affected by the boundary change that will allow them to attend Beaumont instead of Sabin.

Others on the committee recommended that the PPS Board adopt the "Blue" option, and one committee member recommended holding off on changing anything for the 2011 school year to give more time to review options.

A boundary change will occur. A majority of the committee recommended that the board look at zones B, A, C, O, and E in that order. Several committee members dissented on sections O and E.

All of this information will be posted on the PPS site in the next couple days and there will be another community meeting next week, date to be determined.

4 comments:

  1. Pardon me

    Could you clarify this point: "A boundary change will occur."

    I was under the impression that The PPS board has final say. So it might be presumptive to say that. Just saying.

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  2. I respect Scott's criticism of the process and data, but it was clear that in an effort to protect section E, the BAC failed to follow the requirement to consider proximity as a significant factor in their determination. Unfortunately E (even the parts closer to Sabin) are considered more "Alameda-ish" than others. So some families will face close to a mile walk so others - who live closer to Sabin - are protected. Scott commented at the end of the January 9th meeting at Freemont Church that he didn't want to break up E or M because he considered them to be the core of the Alameda neighborhood. I would have hoped that he would have felt it his responsibility to represent the entire Alameda neighborhood not just what he deemed it's core. If there was fair representation on the BAC I'm sure the outcome would have been different.

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  3. Thanks Scott. I don't like the outcome but I know everyone worked hard on this and that something has to be done. Take care.

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  4. It's easy to dissent on O and E because people on the committee live there or have friends there. Apparently they don't have friends in A, B, or C. This is nothing but gladhanding and friends looking out for friends. It's an abomination. Shame on PPS for creating a situation where a community needs to hurt itself and it's neighbours. They should have left Alameda OUT of the decision-making process. My kids may get grandfathered in to Alameda, but I will never be able to look at the other parents the same way again.

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