Anonymous wrote:

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree that the lottery, as structured, would negatively impact and diminish access to a whole slew of families who move into the county too late to participate in the lottery who otherwise would be prime candidates for the program. One of my frustrations watching this process is that Claremont and Key really do have a different enrollment dynamic, and much of the impetus to change things with Key has almost nothing to do with there being a need for change with Key's boundaries. It is driven more by a combination of Claremont's enrollment patterns (where surrounding neighborhoods seem to not like their local school option and they choose immersion to escape rather than out of a love for immersion, which creates an unnatural increase in the demand for immersion within the Claremont boundaries) and people's anger at the way ASFS transfers are managed. I get the need to level the playing field for choice schools, but the inability to register late for spanish speaking families who move in across the street from Key - at least that aspect of the proposed lottery system seems like a bad change, not a good change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One of the great aspects of Key being a neighborhood school for spanish speaking students was the ability to late-register and still have guaranteed admission. Many of our spanish speaking students have a higher mobility rate and frequently register at the last minute, moving to the community because of metro access, affordable housing units, and word of mouth that there is a spanish immersion school in close proximity. Those students will be out of luck under the proposed system that is being billed as more equitable in an effort to give higher-income families from other parts of the county more equitable access to immersion. So while it may be well-intended, there is a very direct negative impact that disproportionately impacts lower income spanish speaking families who are less likely to own a house and more likely to be renters without a full understanding of the need to establish residence before the lottery closes.

I understand this concern- but I do think if the lottery is properly implemented it won't be a concern. Basically this means that you go 50/50, and it doesn't close for the Spanish dominant families. So yes they get priority if they apply by April 15th, but their are effectively 50 seats set aside for spanish dominant families in the rising Kindergarten class.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree that the lottery, as structured, would negatively impact and diminish access to a whole slew of families who move into the county too late to participate in the lottery who otherwise would be prime candidates for the program. One of my frustrations watching this process is that Claremont and Key really do have a different enrollment dynamic, and much of the impetus to change things with Key has almost nothing to do with there being a need for change with Key's boundaries. It is driven more by a combination of Claremont's enrollment patterns (where surrounding neighborhoods seem to not like their local school option and they choose immersion to escape rather than out of a love for immersion, which creates an unnatural increase in the demand for immersion within the Claremont boundaries) and people's anger at the way ASFS transfers are managed. I get the need to level the playing field for choice schools, but the inability to register late for spanish speaking families who move in across the street from Key - at least that aspect of the proposed lottery system seems like a bad change, not a good change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does tonight's vote also get into high school issues or are we just dealing with choice and transfers?

Murphy is going to recommend the hybrid option tonight. It's already in the presentation. I believe there's a link in this thread on one of the later pages:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/645195.page

Anonymous wrote:Does tonight's vote also get into high school issues or are we just dealing with choice and transfers?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One of the great aspects of Key being a neighborhood school for spanish speaking students was the ability to late-register and still have guaranteed admission. Many of our spanish speaking students have a higher mobility rate and frequently register at the last minute, moving to the community because of metro access, affordable housing units, and word of mouth that there is a spanish immersion school in close proximity. Those students will be out of luck under the proposed system that is being billed as more equitable in an effort to give higher-income families from other parts of the county more equitable access to immersion. So while it may be well-intended, there is a very direct negative impact that disproportionately impacts lower income spanish speaking families who are less likely to own a house and more likely to be renters without a full understanding of the need to establish residence before the lottery closes.

I understand this concern- but I do think if the lottery is properly implemented it won't be a concern. Basically this means that you go 50/50, and it doesn't close for the Spanish dominant families. So yes they get priority if they apply by April 15th, but their are effectively 50 seats set aside for spanish dominant families in the rising Kindergarten class.

Anonymous wrote:

One of the great aspects of Key being a neighborhood school for spanish speaking students was the ability to late-register and still have guaranteed admission. Many of our spanish speaking students have a higher mobility rate and frequently register at the last minute, moving to the community because of metro access, affordable housing units, and word of mouth that there is a spanish immersion school in close proximity. Those students will be out of luck under the proposed system that is being billed as more equitable in an effort to give higher-income families from other parts of the county more equitable access to immersion. So while it may be well-intended, there is a very direct negative impact that disproportionately impacts lower income spanish speaking families who are less likely to own a house and more likely to be renters without a full understanding of the need to establish residence before the lottery closes.