Don't let 'choice' sneak up on you

By this time next year, parents need to be able to decide where they want their children to go to school in 2003.

By DONNA WINCHESTER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 12, 2001

With the start of a new school year less than two weeks away, the last thing on most parents' minds is the following school year. Even more remote are thoughts of the school year that will begin two years from now.

But by this time next year, parents need to be prepared to make an informed decision about where they want their children to go to school in 2003, the year the district's new student assignment plan -- the choice plan -- goes into effect.

Parents "don't know what they don't know" about the changes in store for their children, said Andrea Zahn, communications and marketing coordinator for the choice plan. "Most of them know it's coming, and that it's coming in 2003, but that's all they know."

This year will be the "big push" to get the word out about choice, Zahn said. The district is brainstorming ways to inform parents so they will make good decisions.

Here are some frequently asked questions to get parents started on the information-gathering process.

1. Why is the method of school assignment changing?

In August 2000, the Pinellas County school district was released from a court order for desegregation that had been in effect since 1971. The court order required busing to help the district meet mandatory racial percentages for schools. The school system was declared a "unitary" school system, which means that all signs of discrimination that once existed have been eliminated.

One factor in any unitary settlement is student assignment. The School Board adopted the "choice plan" in October 2000 based upon the requirements of the court. The plan gives parents a voice in the selection of schools for their children. It is the plan that will be used to assign students to schools beginning in the 2003-2004 school year.

2. How will the choice plan differ from the current school assignment plan?

For more than 30 years, desegregation has been accomplished through busing. The current school assignment plan is based on the address of a child's parent or legal guardian, creating an attendance zone for each elementary, middle and high school. Unless a child has a special attendance permit or attends a fundamental or magnet school, he or she is required to attend a "zoned" school. With the choice plan, students are still considered members of a particular attendance area, but there are multiple choices within that attendance area from which a parent can select.

3. What will the choice plan achieve?

After a four-year transition period (2003 through 2007) when racial percentages will still be one of the factors in assigning students to schools, the district hopes that diversity will occur naturally because parents have made choices for their children based on factors other than where they live. These other factors will include placing their children in programs specific to particular schools that will meet their individual needs. The long-range goal is to develop a choice-based student assignment plan that will create a system in which desegregation is the result of parent choices rather than school assignments being determined entirely by the school district.

4. When will the choice plan go into effect?

The plan goes into effect in August 2003. Until 2007, students will be assigned to schools using their attendance area residence, the capacity of schools, and preferences and racial percentages as guides. Beginning with the 2007 school year, required racial percentages will be dropped when assigning students to schools.

5. When will parents need to make the decision about where they want to send their children in 2003? How will they communicate their choice?

Beginning in the fall of 2002, parents will indicate their school choices for 2003-2004 by filling out an application. Between now and then, parents need to gather as much information as possible about schools in their attendance area so they will be able to make an informed decision when their opportunity comes.

6. Does everyone need to fill out an application?

Parents of students entering kindergarten; parents of students new to the district; parents who have children in one school but want to change their school assignment; and parents of students entering grades 6 and 9 who don't want their children to attend the middle or high school they would have been zoned to before the choice plan went into effect will need to fill out a choice application.

7. What happens if a parent in one of the above situations fails to fill out an application?

The district will assign the child to a school.

8. Will all requests for specific schools be granted?

When the application process is completed, school assignments under the choice plan will be made from a computer selection process. Every effort will be made to give parents one of their top three choices.

9. What happens if more parents request space in a particular school than there are spaces available?

In those cases, applications will be processed using the "preference provisions" of the choice plan, which include the following:

a. Grandfathering preference. Once a school assignment is made, a student can remain at the school until completing the highest grade at that school. Under "extended grandfathering," a student can continue to attend a school he or she would have been zoned to attend prior to the choice plan, as long as the family remains at the residence established in school records as of June 6, 2001. (Please see questions 13 and 14.)

b. Family preference. Family members living at the same address will be granted a preference to attend the same school as another family member.

c. Proximity preference. Students who live close to a school will be given preference. Up to 35 percent of the available spaces remaining after grandfathering and family preferences have been applied can be used for this preference.

d. Professional courtesy preference. Children of full-time school district employees will be permitted to attend the school where their parents work.

e. Diversity preference. Students will be given preference in cases where to do so would help the overall diversity of the student population.

10. How long does a student stay at a particular school once he or she is assigned under the choice plan?

Until he or she completes the highest grade at that school level; until he or she chooses and is assigned to attend a different school in the same attendance area; until he or she moves to a different attendance area.

11. How will the choice plan affect students in magnet and fundamental schools and high school academies?

There will be no change in the rules for attendance at countywide magnets, fundamental schools or high school academies. Elementary and middle fundamental schools will be open to countywide applications. Magnet schools such as Perkins, Melrose and Bay Point elementaries and John Hopkins Middle and Bay Point Middle will be open to countywide and attendance area applications.

12. How will the choice plan affect children with special attendance permits?

Students with special attendance permits will be allowed to remain in their schools until they complete the highest grade offered by that school. They will need to participate in the choice process when transitioning to middle or high school.

13. What is 'grandfathering'?

Grandfathering allows students to remain at a school until promotion to the next school level or until the family moves out of the attendance area.

14. What is 'extended grandfathering'?

Extended grandfathering applies to students who were enrolled at their zoned school on June 6, 2001. These students are "exempted" from the choice plan and will be permitted to attend the middle and high school they would have been zoned to before the choice plan went into effect, as long as they maintain the residence recorded in school records on June 6, 2001, and they maintain continuous attendance at those schools.

15. How can I get more information about the choice plan?

Additional information is available at Pinellas County Schools' Web site: www.pinellas.k12.fl.us.

- Information from Pinellas County Schools and Times files was used in this report.

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