Parents press FUSD for boundary exemptions

Jun 22, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun

Hillary Davis

Jun. 16, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Former students of Sinagua High, Flagstaff Middle, South Beaver and Christensen schools aren't the only ones who are waiting to know where they'll go to school in the fall.

Closing and then consolidating schools isn't a straightforward process, as the "boundary exemption" discussion showed at a forum Monday to discuss possible boundary changes in the recently streamlined FUSD.

Flagstaff Unified School District officials are still studying how to accommodate students who want to attend schools out of their established attendance areas and hope to have a process for boundary exemptions and related "grandfathering" ironed out when voting today on new school attendance areas.

Last year, there were more than 2,500 students granted boundary exemptions, or nearly a quarter of all FUSD students.

Assistant Superintendent Bob Kuhn said there will be some constraints on boundary exemptions to maintain student and teacher balance, but that the school board would continue to take feedback.

Karin Eberhard said the Flagstaff High School speech and debate team is what keeps her daughter going to school. Speech and debate is only offered at FHS.

"I know you're working hard, but if you could look at maybe some of the differences in the schools there may be some very, very valid reasons for staying at the school (where) you're boundary-exempt," she told officials.

State "open enrollment" law requires school districts to allow students to enroll in non-neighborhood schools after all interested children within a school's attendance borders are given a seat. It's a popular option in FUSD -- close to one in four students is not at his or her home school for any number of reasons, such as participation in a unique program, being closer to a parent's workplace, or simply personal preference.

But as student bodies from the four closed schools fold into neighboring campuses, that leaves less room for boundary exemptions -- and anxiety for some people who want them, especially students who want to be grandfathered in.

Kuhn said key open enrollment concerns have come from students who would have entered their senior year at Sinagua this fall -- proposed new boundaries put most of the displaced Sinagua students at Coconino, but they want to know if they can choose Flagstaff High instead -- and, if grandfathering is allowed for previously boundary-exempted students, for which students and to what grade levels would it apply.

There were no ready answers to those questions as of Tuesday.

Boundary-exempted students -- which includes students coming in for the art and science magnet at Marshall Elementary -- take leftover seats after the neighborhood students have been accommodated. But there could be slimmer margins now.

For example, Coconino High School can hold 1,750 students. Projected enrollment for next year, based on population within Coconino's proposed boundaries, is 1,725. That means the school would only have "wriggle room" for 25 students, assuming projected enrollment pans out and those students stay loyal to Coconino.

Kuhn briefly explained the elementary, middle and high school proposals. The board has only shared one plan each for elementary and high schools, but offered two plans for middle school: a north-south plan using Interstate 40, Route 66 and Highway 89 as the dividing line between Mount Elden (north) and Sinagua (south); and an east-west plan, which follows the high school plan exactly and puts students west of Fourth Street/Sunnyside at MEMS (and Flagstaff High), and east to SMS (and Coconino High). Officials pointed out that on the plus side, the east-west plan maintains clean feeder patterns from kindergarten through 12th grade, while the north-south plan does not.

Kuhn said most of the parent concerns being reported to his office come from elementary school families living in the Boulder Pointe, Bellemont, Cherry Hill and Railroad Springs. (Students in the first two would attend DeMiguel, the second two would attend Marshall.) Other parental/neighborhood concerns noted Monday came from Shadow Mountain (only blocks from CHS but now in proposed FHS territory) and the Greenlaw areas, immediately east of Fourth Street (blocks from MEMS but tentatively assigned to SMS.) Kuhn did have some answers on hand, though: If students are grandfathered into their out-of-boundary schools, the district would not provide busing.

"We'd have so many routes we couldn't do that," he said.

And perhaps more pleasantly, the would-have-been Sinagua Class of 2011 will be able to wear blue caps and gowns at the Flagstaff or Coconino graduation next spring.

Officials say these closure and configuration decisions are for the long-term -- at least for the current board anyway, keeping in mind that two seats are open for election this fall.

Boundary exemptions, sports, student council, after-school care and more capture the attention of families' individual needs. Board president Deborah Harris asked families for patience as the board tries to be quick and fair in its decisions.

"I know that people are impatient and they want answers right now, and I'm sorry that we can't give you all the answers that you want right this minute," she said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0065-46293149