FW: LRPC Update February 2009
Rhonda Woo
LRPC Update February 2008
The following is a brief update regarding recent enrollment activities in OUSD.
Application Information for Kindergarten – The District office tells us that there were 62 applications for Hillcrest Kindergarten listing addresses in the attendance area for entry in Fall 2009. Of those, 25 are siblings of current Hillcrest students. The District is currently indicating that it intends to admit 40 total kindergarteners in light of the large class sizes above them, which will require structuring combination and oversized classes to accommodate the students. The District office has indicated that it intends to generate automatically a waitlist for Hillcrest kindergarten slots so that families can make decisions regarding other schooling options they might be considering. To maintain one’s position on that waitlist, however, parents will need to visit the District student assignment office downtown by the date indicated in the letter you will receive from the District. Failure to do so will forfeit the spot on the waitlist. Please note that last year, students were admitted off the waitlist up to the beginning of school. A little over 20% of the current kindergarten class is comprised of students who were not admitted during the initial lottery.
OUSD intends to mail letters with school assignments on February 26, 2009, so that they will be received on February 27 or 28, 2009.
In addition, we understand from OUSD staff that Chabot is fully subscribed with students in its attendance area and siblings of current students, so the most likely redirection location will be Kaiser Elementary, which is also close and does not require getting on the freeway. Note that Chabot may still be an option for redirected students if neighborhood Chabot families do not confirm their enrollment at Chabot by the May deadline. Chabot has historically had families that were admitted but opted for other schools for their children, so it is possible that space will open up at that school. Families in this situation would need to communicate with the District office to determine if space will be available and to let OUSD know that they would be interested in being considered for a spot at Chabot if one opens up. We also understand from staff that Thornhill had about 90 applications for their 60 spots and Montclair had 80 applications for 80 spots. Peralta is reportedly not overenrolled this year.
Please be aware that the number of overall applicants for any given school cited above may fluctuate by 1 to 2 students as addresses are verified, people experience family changes (e.g., a move), and the applications are double checked by the staff at the District offices. Note that the District has been and continues to verify addresses for applicants that list a neighborhood address but that address falsification has not been found to be an issue for Hillcrest in the past and is not expected to be an issue this year either.
Feasibility of Building Expansion – The LRPC Subcommittee exploring the possibility of expanding at Hillcrest met with OUSD facilities staff twice since the December 17, 2008 board meeting at which the board directed staff to explore the feasibility of expanding at Montclair and at Hillcrest. The Hillcrest discussion was a feasibility analysis while the board seemed more convinced that moving forward at Montclair would make sense given the land available for expansion there.
At the most recent meeting, it was determined that the space with the most potential for adding capacity would be the nature area and/or the area where the 1st grade portable and kindergarten classroom/play yard and garden are located. The question currently posed is how much additional capacity could be created by such a project and whether the community (including the neighbors that would be impacted by traffic, etc., would support the project). The LRPC is planning to have meetings in late February to discuss the potential for this with caucuses. If there is support within the caucuses, it may make sense to determine whether we could get support from the neighboring community, as both of these are essential to any plan to proceed.
In the meantime, the facilities staff made it clear that adding capacity through portables is really not workable currently because the only space is on the playground. That area is already out of compliance with Department of Education density requirements. Even if one portable could be squeezed in, it would not increase the capacity of the site to take more kindergarteners, which would be the ultimate goal of any expansion.
Participation in Other District Activities – One part of the board action on December 17th was a recommendation to make Claremont Middle School a “school of choice.” Recognizing that this school has been in program improvement status going on 5 years and that it is the only middle school serving the lower Rockridge and Temescal areas, the district wants to put resources into Claremont in order to improve its performance. The hope is that more families will choose Claremont over private or charter school options that are available. To that end, the district is holding a series of meetings to discuss ways to make Claremont a school of choice. The first meeting was held on January 29th and was attended by some LRPC members. The meetings are addressing the following topics:
- What do families want to see when choosing a high quality Middle School? (i.e., API scores? Extracurricular activities, good staff, clean facility, etc.)
- What are things that are working well at Claremont? (i.e., the multi-media program, the music program, great teachers, good parent participation, academic excellence, etc.)
- For families that live within Claremont’s enrollment boundary, but chose not to enroll at Claremont, why don’t they?
- What are some of the improvements that can be made to make it an excellent academic school (i.e., improve the facility, clear academic goals, etc.)?
Here are the dates:
- Date: Thursday, January 29, 2009
- Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009
- Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009
- Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. for all meetings
- Location: Claremont Middle School, 5750 College Avenue for all meetings
All of you are encouraged to participate in these meetings.
Making Your Voice Heard on the State Budget – You are probably aware that the state government has several proposals on the budget to cut education dramatically, including eliminating the class size reduction program. It is important for public school parents to make their voices heard on these issues but it is also hard to know how to do that.
We know that devastating State Budget cuts to education and children's services threaten our children’s futures. However, our legislators claim that they are not hearing concerns from their constituents about the budget. How can you voice your concerns?
1) Be that voice for children and education that they need to hear. Take a minute today and sign the Peralta District PTA Online Petition against State Budget cuts to education by clicking on the link below:
www.peraltadistrictpta.org/petitions.php
It takes only 30 seconds to electronically sign the petition.
2) Send this email to others in your community - PTA leaders, educators, business leaders, neighbors and friends in Alameda County - who share your worries about the future prosperity of our State. Encourage them to sign the petition today as concerned citizens and voters in Alameda County.
The signed petitions will be sent to the Governor and to your Alameda County legislators so that they can hear your voice loud and clear.
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Wendy Chow
All,
As the date for receiving letters regarding Hillcrest admission approaches (the general understanding is that the letters will be sent out on Wed/Thurs of this week so that people will receive them by the weekend), I just wanted to clarify a couple of points regarding the process.
The LRPC update clearly states that for Hillcrest the district will automatically generate a waitlist. This means that parents will not have to go down to the district office to get their spot in line because it will be done by a random process. The letter you receive on the 27th or 28th should say (1) your child's school assignment and (2) if that assignment is not Hillcrest, what number you are on the waitlist. It will also tell you that if you want to hold your spot on the waitlist, you need to go down to the district office to confirm and appeal your assignment. Going down there won't change your order on the list but it will retain your spot on the list. It is expected that the district will include a date by which you have to go down there to confirm you want to stay on the waitlist. After that, they'll move people up. Finally, it is important to know that among those that are waitlisted, some would have opted for private school anyway so that may well shorten the waitlist immediately. For example, last year only 14 of the 22 families redirected even filed an appeal. Of those, 10 ended up at Hillcrest so the odds may not be as bad as they seem.
Also, to clarify one piece of Rhonda's email regarding what happened last year, people were admitted off the waitlist starting in May and continuing through the first day of school. There is a May deadline that is in the letter you will receive for people to register their kindergartener. Anyone who does not meet that deadline, is dropped and replaced with someone from the waitlist. After that, some people still have changed circumstances up until the first day of school so that means that even after May, someone could be admitted off the waitlist. That's what happened last year. People who registered by the May deadline changed their mind or had changed circumstances over the summer.
I hope that clarifies some of the questions raised recently about the waitlist process and the “uncertainty” as people solidify their plans.
Wendy
Rhonda Woo
From: hillcres...@googlegroups.com [mailto:hillcres...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Wendy Chow
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:34 PM
To: hillcres...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: LRPC Update February 2009