"Ad Hoc Committee of PPS" will discuss Superintendent's Recommendation Feb.3 at 5:00pm

The Ad-hoc committee of the PPS Board will meet on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 pm to discuss the Superintendent's Recommendation for the Alameda-Sabin-Beaumont boundary and program change. This meeting is open to the public; however no public comment will be allowed during the meeting. This is where we can see whether we can expect the Superintendent's Recommendation to be brought to the PPS Board for approval.

The meeting is currently scheduled to meet at the Willamette Conference Room, Blanchard Education Service Center, 501 N. Dixon, Portland OR 97227. Check at the last minute to see if the location has been changed.

If you have not been to this building before, drive westbound on NE Broadway. Turn right at N.Larabee (just before the Broadway Bridge). Turn right at Dixon (the first street). Take the first left into the parking lot of the BESC (Blanchard Education Service Center). Visitor parking spots are immediately on the left.

No boundary change this year says Superintendent Smith's recommendation

By now you may have read the Facebook AlamedaPDX page with information, and the Willamette Week article online, and the Portland Tribune article online (24 minutes ago), that Superintendent Carole Smith recommended that no boundary change will be made this year, but instead several temporary changes would be made to ease crowding at Alameda School and try to boost enrollment at Sabin School. Alameda Students who wish to attend a less crowded school are offered a guaranteed place at Sabin.

Scott Rider, ANA chair, urges neighbors to bear in mind the Superintendent’s recommendation to the School Board means more work ahead for Alameda volunteers and that the teachers, students and their families at Alameda will bear the burden of crowding there.

A school board committee will review the Superintendent’s recommendation at a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3^rd , and the entire school board will vote on the recommendation Feb. 7^th. We believe the board is likely to vote in favor of the recommendation, but perhaps we should all wait and see. After all, most observers felt certain the BAC recommendation would be affirmed without question by the Superintendent. The final vote is that of the PPS Board. Then we can plan for the year. Meanwhile a gentle reminder: this was not a sports event, and there really is no “winning side,” only one hard choice instead of another.

A thank you email or letter to the Superintendent would be appropriate if you believe her decision was an appropriate one, and one to the PPS Board if, as expected, they concur.

Hello Neighbors,

Many families are feeling uncertainty as they wait for the Portland Public School Board to decide school configurations and any boundary redraws. We respect your right to express satisfaction or discontent with the recommendation of the Boundary Advisory Committee to the PPS Board and Superintendent. We suggest you address your letters and emails to them.

As resolved in our general meeting on January 24th, the ANA has delivered a letter, on behalf of our Neighborhood to the PPS Board and Superintendent, addressing specific items of concern. The ANA is not part of, nor is it supporting, any effort to initiate lawsuits against PPS.

Please remember that Boundary Advisory Committee members are volunteers, not paid elected officials. Please treat them with respect, and honor their family's right to privacy. The ANA does not condone any threats, personal attacks or harassment of any kind for any reason. Thank you for helping keep conversation and messages civil and focused on issues not people.

Scott

Scott A. Rider, ANA Chair

ANA will deliver a letter to PPS Board and Superintendent Smith today

Last night 27 people attended ANA's monthly board meeting. The school issue was the primary discussion. A draft letter from ANA to the PPS Board was examined and everyone had a chance to offer ideas for inclusion. Chair Scott Rider, who also had served as a member of the Boundary Advisory Committee explained the Committee's discussion at Sabin School last Thursday.  A member of the Irvington Community Association board who lives in the Alameda overlap advised that ICA Chair Archer was at this very moment at the PPS Board hearing to present the ICA perspective. Given the timing it was another missed opportunity.

A message from the Superintendent and the PPS Board said they are developing a recommendation that will be finalized in the next few days, and at this point have postponed the community meeting on the 27th while the Superintendent's plan is finalized.

Alameda Neighborhood Chair Scott Rider invites you to Mon. Jan. 23 meeting 7:00 pm

How difficult the past 6 weeks have been for many families! There will continue to be issues and challenges our neighborhood will need to address in the future (further boundary redraws, infill housing, neighborhood cell towers, sustainability, etc).

The Alameda Neighborhood Association needs strong support from it's residents, and the Board and Committees should reflect the socio-economic and geographic diversity that exists within our community, as well as the many different priorities and concerns we share. The ANA invites you to attend our monthly meeting and learn where you can make a difference in improving your neighborhood.

The Board will make time for a discussion on last weeks' BAC meeting and solicit final input on our position letter representing the neighborhood that will be submitted to the PPS School Board this week.

The January 24^th meeting (4^th Monday of each month) will start at 7:00 pm at Fremont United Methodist Church, 2620 NE Fremont Street 97212. Enter at the corner of Fremont and 26^th.  Hope to see you there! 

-Scott

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.

Final Meeting of PSS Boundary Advisory Committee Concludes With Votes

The meeting of the PPS Boundary Advisory Committee at Sabin School on Thursday night, Jan. 20^th, for all its length, had no surprises. After spending the first two-thirds of the time talking through details of options and plans the BAC had privately considered a day or so ago, ten of the twelve BAC members, with various degrees of reluctance, voted for the so-called “orange” plan with modifications, one voted for the “blue” plan, and one, Alameda representative Scott Rider, declined to vote for either plan on the grounds they were far too rushed for decisions of this scale.

Marshalled to their task by the extremely skilled independent consultant hired (we presume) by the PPS to see the BAC complete their assignment, the BAC members deserve a round of grateful applause for their valiant efforts to do their job. But it was like watching a trial with only a prosecuting attorney serving as judge. It was readily admitted that the statistics used for the demographics were years old, some from the 2000 census, student estimates based on current student enrollment not the number poised to enroll. Undisclosed authorities had declared that some sections on the district provided map of Alameda/Beaumont could not be considered. So the BAC dutifully limited their inquiry to the sections of Alameda (and a piece of Irvington) that were presented for surgery.

Some of the BAC felt more concern for the dicing of the grand old Alameda Neighborhood than others. But all (except one) yielded to the coaching of the consultant who assured them they owed it to the Superintendent to recommend not only one of the two plans, but a basis for cutting a new boundary.

In the final third (plus overtime) of the meeting, the consultant adroitly led the group to consider each of the segments that were helpfully labeled by the district for possible movement to the Sabin School boundary, and to decide the priority the Superintendent should use in determining which segments should be included to obtain the requisite number of students. Much discussion was devoted to deciding where the Tri-Met bus runs through Alameda. Perhaps Tri-Met has information about students-to-be that PPS lacks. The final series of votes were taken by having the BAC members show four fingers if they agreed, three if they agreed reluctantly, two if they had questions, and one finger if they declined to vote. Scott was polite, and it was suggested to him that he voted with the wrong finger.

It was hard to hear which segments were finally chosen for the prioritization, so that information will be posted Friday after consultation with our representative.