overcrowding issue
Wendy Chow
All,
Below is an email conversation with one of the members of the group that we thought might be useful to share with everyone…..
Best,
Wendy
********************************************************************************
From:
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008
2:44 PM
To: Wendy Chow;
lawrence...@ca.com
Cc: rho...@berryandberry.com
Subject: RE: Pre-K forum on
http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks
Wendy,
Thank you for the explanation. It's exactly as I thought.
I feel it's extremely important that this be shared with the rest of the google
group.
Clearly some people are not understanding it. The way in which
you spell it out can make a rational
person see that getting rid of a wonderful middle school will not allow more
children
into kindergarten classes OR solve the enrollment problem.
As I read the comments, I'm hearing people think that we need to get rid
of the MS in order
to make more room for all the pre-K children when that's not the case.
There are some
very angry MS parents that think that the MS has to go away because space must
made for all the pre-K people.
OR am I missing
ANOTHER angle in WHY we need to get rid of the MS?????
I thank you all for your responses and helping me understand all of the
dimensions of the situation.
I also thank you for your dedicated work in trying to resolve this very
difficult situation.
Subject: RE: Pre-K forum on http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:12:37 -0800
From: Wendy...@hpmg.com
To: Lawrence...@ca.com; dol...@hotmail.com
CC: rho...@berryandberry.com
With respect to how much space closing the middle school will free up, we can look at the District’s own numbers in the slides they have proposed. The table in Scenario C shows how many kids will progress to each class without the middle school. You can see that even without the middle school, they only allow 50 kids per kindergarten class (as compared to the 42 that were let in last year). The issue is that the middle school only uses 2 full classrooms right now. There is a third room that is used as a science lab, which wouldn’t be big enough to be used to house a full class and that I don’t believe meets the requirements of a “classroom”. Given that you have 6 grades (K-5), the only thing eliminating the middle school does is allow 2 rooms that could be used for split classes. Obviously, you couldn’t add, say, 20 more kindergarten students each year because as those students matriculate, you’d have to add new classrooms for each grade they progress to, eventually leading to a need for 6 new classrooms. There is not physical capacity for 6 new rooms. Therefore, you can only add as many new kindergarteners that you could manage to put in a split class each year to fill the extra 2 rooms. That means your kids would likely be in some kind of split class for most of his/her time at the school.
Wendy
From: Busansky,
Lawrence S [mailto:Lawrence...@ca.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008
10:44 AM
To:
Cc: rho...@berryandberry.com;
Wendy Chow
Subject: RE: Pre-K forum on
http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks
I do recall a comment on the chat board, that this is how it’s done in London, if that’s what you’re referring to. I don’t believe distance from the schools has been the defining factor in figuring attendance at Hillcrest, as that would imply that the boundary line is a circle or pretty close to it. I don’t know that rules that govern boundary lines, but ranking eligibility purely by distance to the school is certainly a way of thinking about the problem, to me a very rational and reasonable one – I just don’t know enough about the alternate ways to do this and the arguments for or against.
I also don’t understand why some people claim that eliminating the 6-8 at Hillcrest won’t free up space for K-5’s. Whether it’s a good or bad idea, I don’t see why it wouldn’t create space for more K-5’s. For me the issue is whether it makes sense to change a model that works very very well for Hillcrest, in a district where models that work are in scarce supply. I’m inclined to take an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ view of this question, which is a broadly ‘strategic’ view. I don’t know enough about the details of class sizes, how they would be affected, how they could be configured to add K-5 classes and increase the number of Kindergarten kids who could be accepted each year, etc. to strongly advocate on tactical grounds…
Rhonda, Wendy – any thoughts to add?
Lawrence
From:
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008
10:31 AM
To: Busansky, Lawrence S
Cc: rho...@berryandberry.com;
wendy...@hpmg.com
Subject: RE: Pre-K forum on
http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks
Dear Lawrence, Rhonda and
Wendy,
I am curious to know if the distance a house is from the school has ever
been a defining factor in
figuring out attendance at Hillcrest? One parent brought this up in their
commentary on the
message board but I have never seen it addressed since or
ever. (Josh Hannah).
Since everyone else has put forth their opinions based mainly own their own motivations,
I feel it's appropriate for me to ask this since we live just ONE block from
the school.
(We have 2 pre-K children)
If the boundary is going to change why not have the distance of the house to
the school
also be a factor? Wouldn't that go hand and hand?
Also, I'm terrible confused on another point. It seems
a majority of people want to get rid of the middle school at
Hillcrest in order to have more space for the kindergarten classes.
However, is it factual that this
would allow more space? I'm confused about why they saying to get rid of
it when it's been
said it wouldn't allow for more space for the kindergarten classes.
Thank you in advance for your response.
Subject: Pre-K forum on http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:58:54 -0400
From: Lawrence...@ca.com
To: kathy_...@sbcglobal.net; isbe...@yahoo.com; k.colt...@gmail.com;
jha...@gmail.com; gw...@hansonbridgett.com; anna...@sbcglobal.net; thef...@gmail.com;
kelly...@gmail.com; ambros...@hotmail.com; b...@aol.com;
den...@yonger.net; mea...@sbcglobal.net; phili...@aol.com;
amber....@sbcglobal.net; kpbi...@gmail.com; mustan...@hotmail.com;
wendy...@hpmg.com; Andrew...@am.jll.com; lec...@msn.com;
dhue...@comcast.net; jessi...@aol.com; suzie_...@yahoo.com;
gra...@hotmail.com; wklr...@comcast.net; dras...@sportseconomics.com;
sjs...@pacbell.net; tina...@gmail.com; joanne....@gmail.com;
obb...@sbcglobal.net; assa...@cs.com; sass...@alzus.jnj.com;
lawrence...@ca.com; kim....@comcast.net; efru...@sbcglobal.net;
cmzwe...@yahoo.com; mac...@gsb.uchicago.edu; direct...@mac.com;
esi...@gmail.com; lisa_p...@yahoo.com; wrc...@comcast.net; luc...@gmail.com;
daphne.w...@gmail.com; jco...@aol.com; colin_m...@YAHOO.COM;
jenny....@gmail.com; lmour...@comcast.net; rpf...@gmail.com;
rem...@yahoo.com; gra...@gmail.com; e...@sassyass.net;
kristinam...@hotmail.com; wwagn...@yahoo.com; stepha...@gmail.com;
katri...@comcast.net; andya...@comcast.net; dol...@hotmail.com;
malia...@avenuea-razorfish.com; ASFri...@gmail.com; jca...@gmail.com;
barton...@yahoo.com; hrasc...@yahoo.com; lho...@earthlink.net;
jkwag...@sbcglobal.net; nfie...@Mail.com
CC: rho...@berryandberry.com; Wendy...@hpmg.com
Pre-K group members –
This is a quick note to urge you all to provide us your thoughts re: options to alleviate overcrowding at Hillcrest
· We’ve posted a lot of information in the last week but have not seen any discussion – we need your input
· I am wondering if many of you have not seen these communications due to spam blockers or other email filters…
· This email is being sent from a different email account in the hopes that if that’s the case, you’ll get this one….
If you did not receive any emails from the google group over the last week, please respond to this email (please use reply, not reply all) and provide me an alternate email address I can add you under, or set your spam filters to accept email from the group. Also go to http://groups.google.com/group/hillcrest-pre-ks, read the latest strings, and give us your thoughts.
If you did receive emails from the google group, please do respond.
The Pre-K reps to the LRPC (and the hosts of this site) can certainly act on our own behalf, based on what we personally think about this situation. But to adequately represent the pre-K community to the LRPC we need to know what you think and have the opportunity for discussion. We will certainly be more able to push for the policies we want with force of numbers than individually.
Best,
Lawrence Busansky
Daniel Lecocq
Subject: overcrowding issue
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:59:05 -0800
From: Wendy...@hpmg.com
To: hillcres...@googlegroups.com
Daniel Lecocq
Never mind...I'm reading more clearly what you wrote below.
Subject: overcrowding issue
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:59:05 -0800
From: Wendy...@hpmg.com
To: hillcres...@googlegroups.com
stephinately
Hillcrest applicants. I mean why are we being given only specific
schools we can put on our list of choices. In the rest of Oakland
aren't parent just allowed to list any six OUSD elementary schools
they want? Am I confused?
On Nov 6, 5:27 pm, Daniel Lecocq <lec...@msn.com> wrote:
> Never mind...I'm reading more clearly what you wrote below.C.Subject: overcrowding issueDate: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:59:05 -0800From: Wendy.C...@hpmg.comTo: hillcres...@googlegroups.com
> To: Lawrence.Busan...@ca.com; doll...@hotmail.com
> CC: rhon...@berryandberry.com
> With respect to how much space closing the
> middle school will free up, we can look at the District’s own numbers in
> the slides they have proposed. The table in Scenario C shows how many
> kids will progress to each class without the middle school. You can see
> that even without the middle school, they only allow 50 kids per kindergarten
> class (as compared to the 42 that were let in last year). The issue is
> that the middle school only uses 2 full classrooms right now. There is a
> third room that is used as a science lab, which wouldn’t be big enough to
> be used to house a full class and that I don’t believe meets the
> requirements of a “classroom”. Given that you have 6 grades
> (K-5), the only thing eliminating the middle school does is allow 2 rooms that
> could be used for split classes. Obviously, you couldn’t add, say,
> 20 more kindergarten students each year because as those students matriculate,
> you’d have to add new classrooms for each grade they progress to,
> eventually leading to a need for 6 new classrooms. There is not physical
> capacity for 6 new rooms. Therefore, you can only add as many new
> kindergarteners that you could manage to put in a split class each year to fill
> the extra 2 rooms. That means your kids would likely be in some kind of
> split class for most of his/her time at the school.
>
> Wendy
>
> To: kathy_burr...@sbcglobal.net; isbel...@yahoo.com; k.coltonr...@gmail.com;
> jhan...@gmail.com; gw...@hansonbridgett.com; annam...@sbcglobal.net; thefou...@gmail.com;
> kellydbl...@gmail.com; ambrose_m...@hotmail.com; b...@aol.com;
> den...@yonger.net; mea5...@sbcglobal.net; philipp...@aol.com;
> amber.her...@sbcglobal.net; kpbin...@gmail.com; mustangsa...@hotmail.com;
> wendy.c...@hpmg.com; Andrew.Her...@am.jll.com; lec...@msn.com;
> dhuet...@comcast.net; jessies...@aol.com; suzie_inad...@yahoo.com;
> gran...@hotmail.com; wklrog...@comcast.net; drasc...@sportseconomics.com;
> sjse...@pacbell.net; tina2...@gmail.com; joanne.karch...@gmail.com;
> obbs...@sbcglobal.net; assadi...@cs.com; sassa...@alzus.jnj.com;
> lawrence.busan...@ca.com; kim.c...@comcast.net; efrum...@sbcglobal.net;
> cmzwerl...@yahoo.com; mach...@gsb.uchicago.edu; directtoma...@mac.com;
> esi...@gmail.com; lisa_pixie...@yahoo.com; wrc...@comcast.net; luc...@gmail.com;
> daphne.wilker...@gmail.com; jcol...@aol.com; colin_marci...@YAHOO.COM;
> jenny.s.he...@gmail.com; lmourat...@comcast.net; rpf...@gmail.com;
> rem...@yahoo.com; grad...@gmail.com; e...@sassyass.net;
> kristinamclaugh...@hotmail.com; wwagner...@yahoo.com; stephanie...@gmail.com;
> katrinas...@comcast.net; andyand...@comcast.net; doll...@hotmail.com;
> malia.s...@avenuea-razorfish.com; ASFrisc...@gmail.com; jcan...@gmail.com;
> barton_car...@yahoo.com; hrasche...@yahoo.com; lho...@earthlink.net;
> jkwagne...@sbcglobal.net; nfiedo...@Mail.com
> CC: rhon...@berryandberry.com; Wendy.C...@hpmg.com
> Pre-K group members –
>
> This is a quick note to urge you all to provide us your
> thoughts re: options to alleviate overcrowding at Hillcrest
>
> ·
> We’ve posted a lot of information in the last week but have not
> seen any discussion – we need your input
>
> ·
> I am wondering if many of you have not seen these communications due to
> spam blockers or other email filters…
>
> ·
> This email is being sent from a different email account in the hopes
> that if that’s the case, you’ll get this one….
>
> If you did not receive any emails from the google group over
> the last week, please respond to this email (please use reply, not reply
> all) and provide me an alternate email address I can add you under, or set your
