Reworked, school plan awaits votes
The proposed system emphasizes students' addresses over race.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 25, 2007
A majority of the Pinellas School Board is ready to approve a new system that would fill schools based on students' addresses instead of their race. Here are some questions and answers about that plan and what lies ahead.
I haven't been keeping up with the new student assignment plan. Am I a bad person?
No. And you're not alone. In a St. Petersburg Times poll of public school parents last week, 41 percent said they had only "some" knowledge of the plan. Twenty-five percent had heard nothing about it.
So where do things stand now?
After months of work, a 5-2 majority of the School Board indicated at a workshop Tuesday that they are ready to vote on the plan at two upcoming meetings. They spent the day making final changes.
What did they change?
They added more features that will make the transition easier for families who want to stay in their current schools.
Reversing an earlier decision, board members agreed that all students who qualify will get bus service -- even if they don't move to their new neighborhood school. They also agreed that children not yet in the system can later join an older sibling in any school, even if it's not their assigned neighborhood school.
In addition, they approved an "open enrollment" period that would allow families who don't like their neighborhood school to explore other options.
Can we start from the top? Tell me everything the new plan would do.
Starting next year, it would change the way Pinellas students are assigned to schools, steering most students into a close-to-home school, but also offering other choices.
Because schools would mirror the makeup of their neighborhoods, several schools would become predominantly black for the first time since the busing era began more than 30 years ago.
Every school would be surrounded by a zone and students would be assigned to the school in the zone where they live. Students could attend their close-to-home school or apply for a magnet program, fundamental school or another special program. They also could ask to attend any regular school in the county, provided that school had space and the student could get there without a district bus ride.
Zones would be structured to make it easier for families to predict which schools their children would attend from kindergarten through high school.
Also under the plan, two additional schools would become magnets, and the district would strongly encourage more schools to become fundamentals. Four schools would be closed to deal with enrollment declines -- Clearview Avenue, Largo Central and South Ward elementaries, and Riviera Middle School.
What if my new close-to-home school is not the one my child is in now? Can't we just stay at our current school instead of being uprooted?
Yes. The School Board will allow all students to be grandfathered into their current schools. This is a change from earlier versions of the plan, which would have uprooted many students. The board made the changes after parents complained.
Will the new plan still try to keep schools racially integrated?
To some extent. Several schools would be mostly black, but that trend is starting under the current choice plan. For example, this year's kindergarten classes at five St. Petersburg elementary schools are more than 60 percent black.
A major factor is the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently limited what districts can do to achieve integrated schools. The ruling prohibits schools from sorting children based on race, but suggests other integration methods might be allowed.
After years of busing, Pinellas now will rely mostly on magnet programs and fundamental schools to create diversity. Both types of programs tend to draw a diverse mix of parents.
Another feature that could help create diversity will be the new open enrollment period, which might get students to explore schools outside their neighborhoods.
Why are people concerned about predominantly black schools?
Some research shows that minority students -- many of whom tend to be from poor families -- don't do as well in schools where they are clustered. In addition, some argue that diverse schools better prepare kids for adulthood and generally create a better society. School board members acknowledge the situation is not ideal, but they also note that large majorities of parents of all races say they want neighborhood schools. Board members say they will supply predominantly black schools with enough resources. They say it's time to concentrate on curriculum instead of race.
What happens next?
The School Board will vote twice on the plan, first on Nov. 13 and again on Dec. 11. Both meetings will be public hearings.
What happens to all those students whose schools will be closed?
They will be absorbed into other schools, but many of the details are pending. On Tuesday, the district released a chart showing where students at each of the schools might end up. At Riviera Middle School, for example, students will fan out to 10 other schools next year. The top four are Meadowlawn, John Hopkins, Azalea and Bay Point middle schools. Here is a list of the soon-to-be closed elementary schools and the top four schools their students would be sent to: Clearview Avenue -- Tyrone, Westgate, Lealman Avenue and Sexton; Largo Central -- Belcher, Ponce de Leon, Belleair and Mildred Helms; and South Ward -- Belleair, Ponce de Leon, Skycrest and North Ward.
Won't the closings mean layoffs for teachers?
No. District officials and union leaders say the system typically needs all the teachers it can get. At least 600 teachers resign or retire each year.
Thomas C. Tobin can be reached at tobin@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8923.