Another note from Asst. Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen; this time regarding the two remaining K-3 redistricting maps and the final public hearing next week, prior to the December 14th vote at the next full School Board meeting.

The Board has voted to narrow the map choices from 8 to 2: Maps 4 and 8 remain.

Comments are still being sought regarding those two maps through the same outlet as before: New Link . In response to the community, a decision-making scorecard was used and presented to the Board as well as added to the documents list: New Link . Finally, a FAQ of the four most commonly-asked questions at the informational session on 11.03.10 was added to the documents list.

The second final public hearing on this issue will be next Tuesday, November 16th, starting at 6pm at Westchester.

In case it might be useful, I’ve also pasted images of the two remaining maps after the jump so you can view them side-by-side.

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From Asst. Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen…

On Tuesday, the Board voted to keep the pre-K classes at College Heights for the 2011-2012 school year. This decision was important to make before the K-3 enrollment zones action item that will be at the December 14, 2010 Board meeting.

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen writes in…

In addition to the free/reduced lunch data that has been added this week, a new was added: map 8. all maps are still available at this site: http://fiscalresearch.gsu.edu/decatur/

Upon analysis of the narrative comments offered by community members, Maps 4 and 7 emerged as most appealing. Map 4 offers the best racial and socioeconomic mix, labeled “differential” on the pros/cons list. Map 7 allowed one of the smallest school sites, Clairemont, to remove the learning cottage.

A concern about Map 7 arose regarding the number of Black students that would be attending Oakhurst. The perception may be a reversal of Board policy regarding the integration of students, capped by the removal of the Desegregation Order in 2007.

Map 8 has been created so that the racial and socioeconomic differential of Map 4 is achieved but with no learning cottages needed at any of the sites. In addition, Map 8 divides Decatur Housing Authority into three areas, thus creating more of a consistency between schools. This division of three has historical precedence: during the years of 7 elementary schools, Allen Wilson Terrace was divided north/south. The proposed line would divide that area east/west.

The community can learn more about the process on Wednesday, November 3 at 6 pm, Westchester, and/or talk to the Board of Education at 7 pm.

Decatur’s Assistant Superintendent of Schools Thomas Van Soelen informs us that, as promised, the administration has added free and reduced lunch student breakdowns to all seven of the K-3 redistricting map scenarios.  All the relevant data is now available for your perusal in the far-right columns of the scenarios that you already know and love.

Also for comparison, Thomas sends along the current free and reduced lunch rates across all of CSD’s schools.

• Clairemont                        22.617%
• Glennwood Academy      33.593%
• Oakhurst                            14.558%
• Winnona Park                   19.055%
• Renfroe Middle School   28.377%
• Decatur High School       24.78%

After receiving a very thoughtful note from a resident this morning detailing his trouble with understanding or recreating the CSD/GSU “differential” percentages found in the school system’s list of pros and cons for the 7 redistricting map options, I contacted Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen for clarification.

Mr. Van Soelen explained that the referenced “differential” is “derived from subtracting highest k3 school non-white percentage and subtracting lowest (not considering out of district)”, and that the reason these percentage differences did not match the charts was because GSU updated the data in the maps on Monday and the differentials were never recalculated.

The Assistant Superintendent provided me with a revised version of the pro/con list for the 7 redistricting maps, which now has the differential of white/non-white in map 7 as a CON instead of a PRO.  (NOTE: The “14% differential” in Map 7′s Con column still needs updating, as Mr. Van Soelen confirmed to me that map 7′s differential was now 18% and not 14%.  Additionally, the 11% non-white differential in the Con column for map 5 looks like it should be 23%.  I’ve contacted him about these discrepancies.)

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen alerts us to a new page on the City Schools of Decatur’s website with additional info on the school system’s redistricting options.

In addition to .jpgs of the 7 map options are:

• A list of Pros and Cons of the 7 enrollment zone maps (PDF)
• Detailed written descriptions of the enrollment zones in the 7 maps (PDF)
• A Powerpoint presentation detailing the process of creating the 7 maps, assumptions that were made, answers to various questions (“What about current 2nd graders?, “Why not use free/reduced lunch data?”, etc…).  **Note that page 14 of this presentation also states that Map 4 is a “strong contender”, along with Map 7.**

Also, feel free to use the comments section of post to report on your takeaways and reactions to last night’s redistricting work session.

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen sends along an FAQ regarding a recent CSD’s decision to move three Pre-K classes – two currently at Decatur High and one at Oakhurst – to Clairemont Elementary.

The 1 1/2 page FAQ be read in full at this link (pdf).

The Vice President of Clairemont’s PTA, Beth Hagberg is already calling on residents to join her and “other concerned parents in attending the Tuesday, April 20 SLT meeting at 5:30 pm in the Clairemont auditorium. Please note that the SLT worksession is at 5:30 and the general meeting is at 7:30.”

Like anyone had to ask!

But seriously, here’s the opportunity many have been waiting for with bated breath.  I just received this note from Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen…

The architect for the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue will be available at several locations in the coming days to hear from community members regarding their ideas for the new building. All meetings are open to the public. Time to offer ideas will be created based on the number of speakers that wish to speak. If a community member would rather offer input electronically, the email address fifthavenue@csdecatur.net has been set up for that purpose.

• Jan 19 Glennwood SLT meeting 4 pm
• Jan 19 Clairemont SLT meeting 5:30 pm
• Jan 20 Winnona Park SLT meeting 6 pm
• Jan 20 Decatur High School Performing arts center 7:30 pm, designed for current 4/5 parents
• Jan 25 Oakhurst SLT meeting 4:15 pm
• Jan 25 Oakhurst Neighborhood Association 7 pm

Beach Volleyball Court!  Beach Volleyball Court!  Beach Volleyball Court!

On Monday, the school board updated facility and grounds use fees effective January 1, 2010.

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen points to the last item on the school board’s agenda for an answer to the question, “How much did the Tennesee Volunteers pay the Decatur school system for use of the DHS field?”

An attachment included with the item gives the breakdown of fees to rent DHS stadium…

Field/Stadium Usage Fees

• $200 per hour without scoreboard use
• $250 per hour with scoreboard use Minimum: $200 Maximum: $2,500 per day (12 hours per day) Maximum: $15,000 per week (12 hours per day, seven days)
• $75 per hour for field lights in addition to field use fee
• $225 for each lining of the field in addition to field use fee

Van Soelen states “Tennessee was charged nearly that amount…”

And for those of us with grand plans of renting out the new auditorium for non-school events, check out auditorium rental fees after the jump…

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The CSD Calendar Committee is back with another announcement!

From the Assistant Superintendent…

The CSD District Calendar Committee is exploring the idea of sponsoring an electronic clearinghouse of weeklong enrichment opportunities for students to support the transition to the 2010-2011 academic calendar. If you know of organizations/groups that have produced high-quality, week-long enrichment camps/experiences in the past and might wish to offer a program at a CSD facility during 2010-2011, feel free to provide the contact information to Thomas Van Soelen (tvansoelen@csdecatur.net) at CSD. He will contact them regarding CSD specifics.