Here's some more data and scenarios for folks to consider. Some of the potential impacts outside of the North are a bit unexpected and if you're near Lincoln there are some wildly different possibilities. I'll add on other sources as I find them and time allows.
Demographic Projections
High School Task Force Scenarios
Inside the notes for the meetings are a large variety of maps. Here are the latest ones. As you can see there are large differences in what might happen.
2 comments:
Particularly in Scenario H, the north part of the city is split with more or less straight lines radiating out from Green Lake. While the Supreme Court has said that we can't use race as a tie-breaker, they have said we can use other things, like socioeconomic status. To me, it seems like by having the Roosevelt and Ballard assignment zones have such large waterfront or water-view areas and then get really skinny as they move inland toward Green Lake, we are maximizing the amount of relatively poorer inland, non-view areas that get assigned to Ingraham and Hale. Wouldn't this cause Ballard and Roosevelt to be whiter and richer than they would be if the zones were sliced differently? Why doesn't the Ballard zone start out skinnier by the Sound and then get wider as you move east toward Green Lake? Like the Ballard zone could be cut on a line that runs along Holman Road but keeps going to the water. Then the areas north of that line would be assigned to Ingraham and the areas south (including Licton Springs, etc.) would be assigned to Ballard. Seems like that would mix the socioeconomic demographics far more fairly. I would imagine it would bring more racial mixing too. Then the same thing on the eastern side. Have Roosevelt include far less of the rich country club crowd along its eastern waterfront and more from it's western zone going north along the more working class I5 corridor. Like maybe instead of the current Hale/Roosevelt border, you draw a line from the point where Northgate Way crosses I5 and then the line runs SE, equidistant between Roosevelt and Nathan Hale, all the way to come out on Lake Washington somewhere down along Windermere Rd?
Why don't any of the maps consider anything like that? Would that not dramatically improve more equitable demographic balance between Ballard and Ingraham and between Hale and Roosevelt?
Neighborhoods are changing at a faster pace than SPS can grasp. Near Roosevelt High School and the light rail station, single family homes are coming down to make way for 4 story, multi-unit complexes designed to serve young urban professionals (small units, no parking), not families with school aged children. And what numbers are being used by SPS? Last year's 9-12 numbers. The boundary redraws don't even seem to be projecting for the cohort who will be in SPS when Lincoln opens.
They should also be prioritizing walkability and public transit options for high school students. They seem so fixated on demographics, that they are ignoring basics like just being able to get to school. Where is the transportation analysis?
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