The Blue Plan Debacle

Following is the letter I sent the Wake County School Board asking them to stop working on the blue plan and get more feedback from parents:

To the Members of the Wake County Board of Education:

On behalf of the parents and taxpayers of Wake County, I request that you immediately stop pursuing the “Choice-Based Plan” (formerly known as the Blue Plan) and begin looking for an alternative model that meets the true needs and desires of Wake Schools families. From the beginning, you’ve forced the public into a false choice between the "Blue Plan" and “Green Plan”, ignoring common sense approaches. Thursday night’s information session made it clear to me that this plan will not be ready for implementation in a few months as planned. After the never ending controversy and upheaval we experienced with previous assignment policy, it should be clear to you that any new assignment plan must have transparency to be successful. Under this controlled choice model, parents may not get their first, second or even third choice in this plan and they will never know why. We need an assignment plan that addresses the core principles that voters have asked for, including base assignments to schools which are reasonably close to home, magnet and calendar choice options for those that seek alternatives to their base school, diversion of transportation spending back into the classroom, and simplicity in how the plan is administered.

Consider the following:

• The public has insufficient information to evaluate these options. How many students live within 1.5 miles of each school? How many have each school as their closest school? Where are the maps illustrating these numbers?
  

• The Blue Plan is overly complex and is lacking in the transparency in assignment decisions that voters demanded in the 2009 elections.

• You asked parents if choice was important and they responded with a resounding ‘yes’, but you failed to ask the critical questions: Do parents really want to choose from 5 base schools? Or do they want a choice of calendar and magnet programs? You must answer these crucial questions before proceeding any further. Rather than asking parents what they want, it seems the question was designed to fit the plan that staff already had in mind.

• Feeder patterns are disruptive in many areas.

• The proposed assignment model may result in bus transportation to numerous non-magnet ‘base’ schools being provided to students living on the same street. We simply cannot afford to spend money on school buses instead of teachers in this challenging economic environment.

• The model’s use of “achievement schools” is perilously close to repeating the mistakes made by previous school boards: attempting to use an assignment plan to address an educational issue – something Wake County voters resoundingly rejected in 2009.

• In Cambridge, MA, which uses a similar controlled choice model, only 83% of families received their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice for the school year 2009-10. What factors contributed to this and could that be repeated here in Wake County?

• Transportation costs have still not been calculated for the plan and one Student Assignment Task Force member expressed concern that those costs will ‘blow up the plan’.

• Magnet programs and how they fit in the assignment model have not been adequately discussed and neither have our new ‘themed’ schools. We cannot develop a lasting student assignment plan without an objective review of those schools and their roles in the system.

Once again, the needs of parents and students have been forgotten, and your “Blue Plan” only takes us further from a path to a sensible assignment model. Please don’t waste any more time and resources toward developing this flawed model. The results of the Blue Plan "test drive" made it clear that the factors most valued by parents were proximity and calendar choice. We only have one chance to get this right. For the time being, let’s focus on fixing any onerous school assignments remaining from the previous assignment policy and let’s have a discussion about magnet programs and themed schools. Staff should be able to quickly develop a sensible assignment model which reflects the desires of Wake County parents and taxpayers in a transparent and user-friendly manner.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Mansfield
Wake County taxpayer, parent of 2 WCPSS students, and long time advocate for equity in Wake Schools

Speaking Out About the Blue Plan

I spoke at the July 12 BOE meeting to share some thoughts about the Blue Plan. You can hear my comments here at the 29:30 mark.

What are your thoughts? Are there too many choices? Are your choices different enough to matter? Do you just want to go to closest school or do you have a reason for wanting a different school? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can comment here on the blog or email me privately at voiceforequity@gmail.com.

Rick & Donna Martinez: Rick & Donna 07/28/11

Rick & Donna Martinez: Rick & Donna 07/28/11: "School Board candidate Jennifer Mansfield comes in-studio to tell her plans for Wake Co. Schools. MP3 File"

Blue Plan--What's Missing?

Before the BOE votes on which of the two plans to pursue, they really need to take some time to think about what information is missing from these plans. There are several pieces of information that I would like to see released and questions answered so we can better understand how the plan will affect each of us.

Proximity & Capacity

• How many students live within 1.5 miles of each school?
• Maps showing each school's 1.5 mile assignment area.
• How many students have each school as their 'closest' school?
• Maps showing each school's 'closest school' assignment area.
• How many seats are available in each school? How is that capacity determined? Will capacity be manipulated to ensure achievement balance?
• How many 'achievement choice' seats are being set aside in each school?
• Maps for each achievement school showing which low performing nodes have that school as an achievement option.
• Maps for each school showing which nodes have that school as one of their base options.
• Which schools have enough capacity (after the achievement seats are set aside) to accommodate all the children living within 1.5 miles? Which can accommodate all children who have each school as their closest? How many seats are left over at each school after accommodating all 'closest' and 'achievement' students?
  

Magnets

• What is the percentage of magnets seats set aside for magnet application students? Will it be the same percentage for each magnet school? If not, how will the percentage be determined for each magnet? Currently, magnets range from about 7% to 73% magnet application students.
  
• How will the magnets located in higher wealth areas be handled? We currently have several magnets that have their low income students bused in from outside the surrounding base nodes. Those are also the magnets that have experienced overcrowding and lowered the number of magnet acceptances to deal with that crowding.
• How will magnet seats be doled out? Will it be a true lottery? The green plan mentions using achievement as the criteria but there is no mention of any criteria at all in the blue plan. (Unless I am missing something--I looked and looked. If I'm wrong, somebody please point it out to me!)
  
• "In addition, a set percentage of non-magnet school seats will be reserved to accommodate calendar and achievement choices for students living in close proximity to magnet schools". What exactly does this mean? Are there seats set aside in each of the non-magnet choices on their list? What percentage?
• Is there enough room for all students who live near magnet schools to get a traditional calendar? Is there enough room in their proximate school options for all who want to stay close to home? Washington Terrace students (node 76), for example, are given the following elementary school choices (in proximity order): Hunter, Powell, Olds, Green, Dillard & Weatherstone. Hunter and Powell are both magnets with a limited amount of seats available to area students and Olds is one of our smallest elementary schools. How many students living in node 76 can be placed in those 3 schools? Green is Year Round, which has proven to be unpopular with lower income families. That leaves Dillard and Weatherstone as their remaining 2 traditional options; Dillard is about 6 miles away and Weatherstone is 16 miles away. I fear that low income children will still be bused far away for 'balance' whether they want to be or not.

Calendar

• What will be done to ensure calendar choice for people who only have one traditional or year round choice in their list of schools? If the only school with the calendar you desire is not your closest school, what are the chances you will get in?
• Will track continuity be guaranteed for elementary and middle school? The plan states ". . . track preferences will not be guaranteed other than the assurance that families with more than one student in a year-round school will be guaranteed track continuity within the family." Does that mean more than one student in a particular year round school or more than one student on the year round calendar? I would assume that it would be the latter but I have learned over the years that you can't assume anything.
  

Achievement

• Will we have access to achievement scores for all schools, with the data for each component of the calculation? Is it possible that an achievement school can be failing its low achieving students?
• Will feeder patterns be logical or will they be developed with achievement balance in mind? For instance, will a high performing, sought after elementary feed into a lower performing under enrolled middle school to increase achievement? Will a low performing elementary school feed into a high achieving middle school for balance?
• If parents do not participate in the choice process, where will they be sent? The plan states "Families who decline to make selections will be assigned to a school by the school system based on available seats consistent with the overall intentions of the plan". Will they be assigned to one of the base schools on their list or could they be placed anywhere the system wants to send them for achievement balance? If the latter is the case, then there isn't much incentive for WCPSS to promote parent participation.
  

It's Official!

I am very excited to announce that I have decided to run for School Board in District 3! If you are interested in helping me in my campaign, please contact me at: jennifer@mansfieldforwakeschools.com or 696.7247. As many of you know, monetary donations are important, but volunteers have just as much, if not more, impact in an election. Any level of support is greatly appreciated. I'd also love to hear your input on the issues that face District 3 and WCPSS as a whole.

Jennifer Mansfield Will Run For Wake
County School Board District 3

Jennifer Mansfield will file with the Wake County Board of Elections to run for the District 3 Wake County School Board seat in the October 11th, 2011 election.

A founding member of the Wake Schools Community Alliance, Mansfield began her involvement in Wake County educational issues by exposing the shortcomings and limitations of previous board assignment policies, leading to the launch of her blog, www.voiceforequity.com. She is known across Wake County for her willingness to help parents understand and navigate the magnet application process, and for her depth of knowledge in matters of assignment and academic achievement. A regular contributor at school board meetings and community forums, Jennifer has earned a reputation as a pragmatic bridge-builder, willing to consider facts and opinions from all sides of an issue.

Families and schools in District 3 are each faced with unique challenges:

• The pains families feel in calendar continuity and stability of assignments
• The pressures associated with high population growth
• The frustrations and negative impacts of schools enrolled both under and over capacity

“Every day, I hear from my neighbors and fellow residents of District 3 that our voices are unheard and our concerns are not represented. I intend to change that and bring a passionate advocacy to the school board on behalf of our students, their families, and taxpayers across District 3 and the wider county”, states Mansfield.

While Wake County has made some good progress toward community schools and calendar choice over the past two years, too often our school board has let partisan politics get in the way of doing what’s best for our children. This year’s election gives the voters of District 3 a chance to tell the school board that we are tired of the politics and political maneuvering, and that we want leaders who are beholden to the students and to the voters, not to party politics. Jennifer is an Independent voter and a dedicated supporter of community-based schools and academic excellence. Mansfield notes, “Wake County voters have grown tired of school board members bickering, of issues with high school accreditation, and of the politicization of our school system. For me, politics are--and should forever be--irrelevant in school board proceedings. We need to focus on our core mission: providing excellent educational opportunities and building a track-record of increased student achievement. I’ll bring a students-first approach to the school board, and become the voice of the many Wake County parents who want education, not politics in our schools.”

Jennifer Mansfield’s priorities for Wake County schools include:

• Improving calendar choice and calendar continuity
• Establishing a strong baseline of academic opportunity and rigor in each and every school.
• Responsible stewardship of school funding, with the willingness to ask for what’s needed to fund a world-class school system.
• Finding and implementing programs that improve academic performance for our struggling students.
• Maintaining strong magnet schools with a renewed focus on ensuring all students an equal opportunity to benefit from the programs
• Ensuring that each school is led by an effective Principal.

A parent of two students in Wake County Public Schools, Jennifer has volunteered at her children’s schools in many different capacities. She considers her involvement as a coach and coordinator with the “Odyssey of the Mind” programs at Joyner and Wildwood Forest Elementary Schools as her most rewarding contributions to date. In addition, Jennifer continues to be active in Wake Schools Community Alliance, which is a grass roots, non-partisan organization of parents and stakeholders across Wake County committed to community-based schools that make academics a top priority.

Jennifer Mansfield will be reaching out to Democrats, Republicans and Independents across District 3 and the rest of Wake County, to ask for their support in the October 11th School Board election. If you have any questions or would like to get on board with Mansfield’s campaign, please contact her directly using the above email address or telephone number.

Magnet Lottery 2011

So what are your chances for getting into a magnet school next year? If WCPSS uses the same criteria as last year, they will be as follows:

Rounds 1 and 2: Your base school must have a current crowding factor at least 95% of the adjusted building capacity. Round 1 is for applicants who submitted an application for the same program last year.

Adams YR
Apex
Aversboro
Baileywick
Baucom
Brassfield YR
Brentwood magnet
Briarcliff
Brooks magnet
Cary
Cedar Fork
Combs magnet
Davis Drive
Dillard Drive
Douglas magnet
Durant Road YR
Farmington Woods magnet
Forest Pines
Forestville Road
Fuller magnet
Green Hope
Heritage YR
Hodge Road YR
Holly Springs YR
Hunter magnet
Jeffreys Grove
Jones Dairy YR
Joyner magnet
Kingswood
Lockhart YR
Lynn Road
Millbrook magnet
Mills Park
North Forest Pines YR
North Ridge
Northwoods
Oak Grove YR
Olds
Partnership magnet
Poe magnet
Powell magnet
Root
Stough
Swift Creek
Underwood magnet
Wake Forest
Washington magnet
Wiley magnet
Yates Mill

Carnage magnet
Centennial magnet
Davis Drive
Dillard Drive
Fuquay-Varina
Heritage YR
Leesville Road
Ligon magnet
Martin magnet
Wake Forest-Rolesville
Wakefield

Athens Drive
Broughton
Cary
East Wake School of Arts, Education & Global Studies
Enloe magnet
Garner magnet
Green Hope
Holly Springs
Leesville Road
Millbrook magnet
Panther Creek
Sanderson
Wake Forest-Rolesville

Round 3: Base school must have a current crowding factor of 90% or greater.

Brier Creek YR
Carpenter YR
Conn magnet
Fuquay-Varina
Lacy
Leesville Road
Morrisville YR
Pleasant Union YR
Rolesville
Sycamore Creek YR
Turner Creek YR
Vance YR
Vandora Springs
Wildwood Forest

Apex MS
East Millbrook magnet
Reedy Creek

Apex HS
East Wake School of Engineering Systems
East Wake School of Health Science
Fuquay-Varina


Round 4: Base school must have a current crowding factor of 85% or greater.

Bugg magnet
Fox Road
Holly Ridge
Laurel Park YR
Lead Mine
Middle Creek YR
Olive Chapel YR
Timber Drive YR
West Lake YR
Wilburn YR

Durant Road YR
Lufkin Road YR
Moore Square magnet
West Lake YR
West Millbrook

Knightdale HS
Middle Creek
SE Raleigh magnet


Last 10% Round: 10% of magnet seats are reserved for students applying from schools with less a crowding factor less than 85%

Alston Ridge 42.7% YR
Ballentine 81.3% YR
Banks Road 61.6% YR
Barwell Road 79.5% YR
Carver 71.7%
Creech Road 74.3%
East Garner 76.5% YR
Green 72.8% YR
Harris Creek 71.4% YR
Herbert Akins 71.1% YR
Highcroft Drive 71.9% YR
Hilburn 68.3%
Holly Grove 78.1% YR
Knightdale 80.2%
Lake Myra 52.5% YR
Lincoln Heights 58.6%
Penny Road 83.7%
Rand Road 67.9% YR
Reedy Creek 68.1%
River Bend 61% YR
Salem 83.7% YR
Sanford Creek 83.7% YR
Smith 79.9% magnet
Wakefield 76.9% YR
Wakelon 79.6%
Weatherstone 72%
Wendell 79% magnet
Willow Springs 81.9% YR
York 72%
Zebulon 79.9% magnet

Carroll 79.7%
Daniels 80.9%
East Cary 63.2% YR
East Garner 84.2% magnet
East Wake 71.7% YR
Holly Grove 58.3% YR
Holly Ridge 79.3%
Mills Park 84%
North Garner 81.6% YR
Salem 84% YR
Wendell 80.8%
West Cary 60%
Zebulon 57.9% magnet

East Wake School of Integrated Technology 74.8%
Heritage 48.9%
Wakefield 82.9%

A Partial Victory

As you may know, WCPSS changed the magnet lottery last year to remove the F&R status of your node and your assigned school. This was a great step towards making the magnet lottery a fair process for all students, but it is still not a true lottery. Your base school's crowding percentage is what determines whether or not you get into a magnet school now. While I do understand the reasoning behind this, we need to give all of our students an equal chance to take advantage of these amazing opportunities.

In addition to wanting an equal shot for each student, I'm concerned that the capacity numbers being used to determine your fate are not accurate. I spoke at the last board meeting and gave 3 examples of schools whose numbers were a bit misleading.

Daniels Middle School is listed by WCPSS as being at 81% of capacity, which would place Daniels in the last 10% round. But at a recent work session, that capacity was called into question. It seems that while Daniels has extra classroom capacity, they do not have cafeteria capacity to handle that many students.

Wakefield High School is listed at 83% of capacity, but much of that extra space is unused trailers that are going to be moved. I don't think that a date has been set for moving them, but it was pretty clear at that same work session that they have no intention of using those trailers anytime soon.

Wakefield Elementary School was one of the 22 schools converted to the year round calendar and has been under capacity ever since. It is currently at 77% capacity and the BOE has declined to convert it back to traditional, citing the need to save that capacity for future growth. In the meantime, those students are penalized in the magnet application process.

See for the facilities utilization report that lists the capacity and student population figures for each school.

Please send an email to the board members asking for a true lottery. All of our students deserve an equal chance to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that magnet schools provide.