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A districtwide school choice plan will begin in fall 2003, ending a system that assigned most students to schools based on their home address.
By KELLY RYAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000
Pinellas parents have lots of school choices now. They're going to have more in 2003.
The School Board voted early Oct. 25 to begin a districtwide choice plan in fall 2003 that will slowly end the system of assigning most students to school based on their home address.
The district will be divided into four areas for elementary school, three areas for middle and one elementary for high school. A student will apply to attend his favorite school in his area, and a computer will process the applications.
The board approved a privilege called extended grandfathering, which will allow some students to opt out of the choice system and attend the elementary, middle and high schools they are currently zoned to attend. To be eligible, a student has to be enrolled in Pinellas schools by June 7, 2001, the last day of school this year.
From that date forward, a student who moves to a new home loses the extended grandfathering privilege and must enter the choice system.
Another form of "grandfathering" was adopted to serve those students who don't qualify for extended grandfathering. When choice starts, those students will be allowed to finish the school level they are attending. For example, a third-grader at Pinellas Central Elementary School will be allowed to finish there. But when the time comes to move to middle school, that student will have to make a choice.
Besides those who qualify for extended grandfathering, some students will get preference to attend their top choice school. Those include students who live in the same house and want to attend the same school. A number of seats at each school also will be reserved for neighborhood children.
The district has many questions left to answer about how the new system will work. So, stay tuned for the debate in the coming months. Among the important decisions still to be made: where the district will open family information centers for parents to research their school choices.
For information on the choice plan, visit the district's Web site at www.pinellas.k12.fl.us The roots of this new system are in a 1964 federal lawsuit.
That year, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the school district on behalf of six black parents who said the district was discriminating against their children. The lawsuit led to a 1971 court order that required race ratios in schools.
To maintain those ratios, many African-American children have been forced to ride buses -- some 14 miles from home -- to predominantly white neighborhoods. Also, every two years, the district selects a new group of white students to bus to predominantly black neighborhoods.
This is one of those years. Even though the lawsuit has been settled, the court has required that the School Board pick another batch of white students to attend school in neighborhoods south of Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.
This group of white students will be bused for the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years.
In November, the School Board will hold a workshop about school attendance zones. The pupil assignment department will make a tentative zoning proposal in December, and parents who might be affected will be notified by letter on Jan. 3, 2001.
Public meetings about the zoning changes will be held Jan. 16, 17 and 18. Times and locations have not been set. For information, call the pupil assignment office at 588-6210. The School Board will hold its first public hearing Feb. 13. The board is scheduled to vote Feb. 27.
How does the privilege of grandfathering apply to students who are involved in the two-year rotation when choice starts in 2003? They will have a choice to remain at their "satellite" track or one closer to home.
During the four years of choice, race ratios still will be maintained in schools. African-American student enrollment will be capped at 42 percent in each school. Because of that, some students will still be bused.
Ratios will disappear in 2007. The goal during that four-year period is to encourage parents to thoroughly research schools outside their neighborhoods to find the best match for their children.
Parents' choices will no longer be limited to their zoned schools, magnets and fundamentals. They will be able to choose from numerous options in their attendance area. Between now and 2003, schools are being encouraged to develop attractor programs -- like magnets, but only for students in that attendance area.
Campbell Park Elementary School in St. Petersburg, for example, is contemplating a marine science program in partnership with the University of South Florida. Some schools will likely maintain a traditional academic focus, marketing themselves for using certain teaching methods or offering special help for struggling students.
No matter what kinds of programs schools dream up, district leaders say the innovation and creativity will entice parents to choose schools outside their neighborhood. In a county where most black and white families live apart, district officials hope that will keep schools voluntarily integrated.