Reply to Proposal Implications: Loss of Proximity, Forced to go to Lowest Performing School, Concerns OOB

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Reply to "Proposal Implications: Loss of Proximity, Forced to go to Lowest Performing School, Concerns OOB"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just a note that if proximity were the only factor then some current Hearst families would actually be going to Janney or Murch now (there are houses in bounds for Hearst that are closer to Janney and some I think closer to Murch).

The issue is that you can't always just use proximity to a school for assignment because the schools are not distributed evenly around the city; it is just a fact that some schools end up close to the edge of their boundary.[/quote]

That's true about some current Hearst families.  But I disagree about your conclusion that that fact undercuts the importance of proximity to the discussion.  As Mary Cheh has said several times recently at events, you should take proximity first always and then layer other things on top of that.  You should never discount proximity.  The blocks that are closer to Janney or Murch then Hearst now should be rezoned to their closest school too.  As I understand it, the principal of Janney thinks that would make sense and that schools shouldn't be close to the edge of their boundary and should be more centralized in their zones.  If a wholesale rezoning is needed, proximity should come first and schools should be moved closer to the center of the communities they serve and then some creative solutions should address the further out neighborhoods that aren't proximate to any school.  The schools aren't distributed evenly around the city but that doesn't negate the value that should be placed on proximity from a city planning perspective.  The city should never send children out of their own neighborhood for school assignment in order to bring children into the neighborhood in cars from further away.  To the extent that is happening now any efforts currently underway should seek to remedy it.  And any new plan certainly shouldn't exacerbate the situation.The DME plan has done no transportation study and made no effort to evaluate the implications of these changes in that way. [/quote]

I don't think there's money in the budget to move schools.  Murch, Janney, and Lafayette are all significantly overcrowded.  Moving some of the students to Hearst, which is less than a mile away, makes more sense from a proximity standpoint than spending money to add slots at Murch while other families travel all the way across the city to Hearst.

I'm not sure you need a transportation study to evaluate moving kids from a school that is in easy walking distance from their home, to another school that is also within easy walking distance from their home, albeit a few blocks farther.

How do you know that the DME didn't make an effort to evaluate the implications of these changes?[/quote]

Because I've been to tons of meetings that have been held on this subjec where people on the Advisory Committee have spoken and they have stated that they haven't evaluated these questions.[/quote]

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