Dear Families,
You are invited to a Student Assignment Plan (SAP) Open House where district staff will be available to answer questions about updates to the 2018-2019 SAP including Special Education, school choice and Advanced Learning opportunities in high schools.
Also at the meetings, families can review the recommended high school boundary maps and provide feedback. New high school boundaries will be implemented in 2019-2020 to accommodate the opening of Lincoln High School in Northwest Seattle and an addition at Ingraham High School. The top three boundary scenarios are posted to the High School Boundary Task Force Recommendations page for community review.
During the week of Oct. 30, all families will be invited to participate in a survey and provide formal feedback on the three recommended boundaryscenarios.
REGIONAL OPEN HOUSE MEETINGS:
These informal meetings will follow an open house style, so families may arrive as their schedule allows. Translation services will be available at each meeting.
For additional background information and a decision timeline, please see the High School Boundaries page. Please note that the boundaryscenarios presented are not finalized and some details are subject to change as we integrate feedback from families, students and staff. Staff will present a final recommended High School Boundary map to the Operations Committee on Dec. 7. We anticipate the School Board will take action on new High School Boundaries at the Jan. 17, 2018, Board Meeting.
- Questions about boundaries may be sent to growthboundaries@
seattleschools.org - Questions about the Student Assignment Plan (SAP) may be sent to enrollmentplanning@
seattleschools.org - Questions about Advanced Learning may be sent to advlearn@seattleschools.org
- Questions about engagement may be sent to communityengagement@
seattleschools.org
4 comments:
The community engagement meetings about the Student Assignment Plan start on Oct. 23 and end on Nov. 9. According to the District website, the proposed changes to the SAP will be introduced on Nov. 1. So are the "community engagement" meetings designed to gather input before recommending changes or to gather feedback after recommending changes? Based on the dates, it seems like neither.
Frustrated
The Draft Student Assignment Plan for 2018-19 has just been published on the School District website, where you can read it either on its own or in a redlined version showing changes from the current plan. https://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/Enrollment%20Planning/Student%20Assignment%20Plan/SAP%20revisions%202018-19/STUDENT_ASSIGNMENT_TRANSITION_PLAN_2018-19_Operations_ada.pdf
This proposed 2018-19 SAP is NOT consistent with the High School Boundaries Task Force's proposed maps Hv2, E, and F, which must therefore be recommended for the 2019-20 school year when Lincoln reopens as a high school. For HCC students, the Draft 2018-19 SAP which is now being proposed to the School Board KEEPS the existing Garfield pathway and Ingraham IBX option pathway for another year, so the current HCC cohort pathways will not be eliminated for the coming academic year. However, the Draft 2018-19 SAP gives no indication as to what will happen for the 2019-20 school year when Lincoln High School will reopen.
Among some changes in the Draft 2018-19 SAP, any HCC student who chooses to return to their neighborhood attendance school must do so during open enrollment before May 31, 2018, otherwise they will be space available.
Below are the extracts from the seventeen-page Draft SAP for 2018-19 that refer to HCC students.
From Section II, Standard Assignments, pages 5-6:
Middle School Students
"Highly Capable Cohort (HCC): Students enrolled as HCC receive an initial assignment to their HCC pathway middle school based on where they live. If they apply for their attendance area middle school during Open Enrollment through May 31, they will be assigned to that school (unless they apply for and are assigned to a higher ranked choice).
Students eligible, but not enrolled as HCC, are not automatically assigned to their HCC pathway school; they must apply during the on-time Open Enrollment period through May 31. If they apply for HCC during the on-time Open Enrollment period through May 31, they will be assigned to their HCC pathway school. HCC applications received after the on-time Open Enrollment period are subject to physical space availability. Assignment to the non-pathway school depends on physical space available; tiebreakers apply during on-time Open Enrollment.
If a student becomes HC-eligible after May 31 Open Enrollment and applies for HCC, they will be assigned to their HCC pathway school. Assignment to the non-pathway school may be requested through May 31 and depends on physical space available."
"Students eligible, but not enrolled as HCC, are not automatically assigned to their HCC pathway school; they must apply during the on-time Open Enrollment period through May 31. If they apply for HCC during the on-time Open Enrollment period through May 31, they will be assigned to their HCC pathway school. HCC applications received after the on-time Open Enrollment period are subject to physical space availability. Assignment to the non-pathway school depends on physical space available; tiebreakers apply during on-time Open Enrollment.
If a student becomes HC-eligible after May 31 Open Enrollment and applies for HCC, they will be assigned to their HCC pathway school. Assignment to the non-pathway school may be requested through May 31 and depends on physical space available."
[continued in next post . . .]
Draft Student Assignment Plan for 2018-19
From Section II, Standard Assignments, pages 5-6:
High School Students
"HC: Students enrolled in HCC in 8th grade will receive an initial assignment to Garfield. They may also apply for the HCC/IBX program at Ingraham; assignment to Ingraham depends on space available and tiebreakers. If not assigned to HCC/IBX at Ingraham they retain their seat at Garfield (unless they apply for and are assigned to a higher ranked choice). Students eligible, but not enrolled as HCC, may also apply for the HCC/IBX program at Ingraham. Assignment depends on space available; tiebreakers apply during Open Enrollment.
If they apply for their attendance area high school during Open Enrollment through May 31, they will be assigned to their attendance area school (unless they apply for and are assigned to a higher ranked choice)."
From Section III, Access to Programs and Services, page 9:
"Highly Capable Cohort (HCC)
HCC assignment pathways are based on where students live, not where they attend school. (See Appendix A for attendance areas and feeder patterns.) HCC students entering grades 1-8, who apply during on-time Open Enrollment period through May 31, will be assigned consistent with the approved HCC pathways, based on where they live.
Students entering grades 1-8 who become HC-eligible after Open Enrollment will be assigned consistent with the HCC pathways, based on where they live.
Students entering 6th grade will be assigned to a middle school consistent with the approved HCC pathways, based on where they live.
Assignment to the non-pathway school may be requested during Open Enrollment through May 31 and depends on space available.
All 9th graders will be assigned to Garfield and may apply for the HCC/IBX program at Ingraham.
If students enrolled in HCC apply for their attendance area school during the on-time Open Enrollment through May 31, they will be assigned to their attendance area school."
HCC/IBX Program at Ingraham High School
A second advanced learning option for HC-eligible high school students is offered at Ingraham. Highly Capable/IBX students will generally take core classes together and then enroll in International Baccalaureate classes beginning in 10th grade – a year earlier than usual. An accelerated curriculum leads to an early IB diploma, allowing seniors to complete internships, college classes, and further electives."
From Section IV, School Choice, pages 11-12:
"B. Tiebreakers
If more students apply for a school during Open Enrollment than can be assigned based on the staffing capacity of a school, tiebreakers determine assignment and waitlist status."
"HCC Tiebreakers (formerly APP)
Elementary Schools 1. Sibling 2. Lottery
Middle Schools 1. Sibling 2. Feeder School 3. Lottery
High Schools 1. Sibling 2. Lottery"
Parents, don't let the fact that the draft SAP doesn't eliminate pathways for 2018/19 lull you into complacency, as this just means that the BOUNDARIES issue is even more important. None of the favored boundary options include HCC pathways--they all send HC students to neighborhood schools.
The current plan is for the board to approve the SAP and then the boundaries, which sounds good in theory...but when it comes to HCC, since the pathways decision is kicked down the can another year, that means the boundaries decision is coming first. In other words, the enrollment/demography units are determining how best to serve HC high school students. They should not be making academic service delivery decisions, and these decisions should not be by default. If the SAP is only for 2018/19, then the high school boundary maps should ALSO only be for 2018/19. "But we don't need new HS boundary maps for 2018/19--we need them starting with 2019/10!" Correct--then the SAP should cover 2019/20 as well. The SAP and the maps need to align.
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