Please take note of Ed Cave's statements:
On page 1 of Ed Cave's letter he states,
"All Batavia schools use the same methods of instruction...
There is no difference in the variety of instructional methods, curriculum or
assessments in any of our schools."
And on page 2 of his letter he contradicts himself by stating,
"Those attending the westside school will have teachers who deliberately
organize instruction using the elements of Howard Gardner's theory
of knowing, understanding and learning."
Can you say cogitive dissonance! Why were there 2 separate surveys sent out to residents if everything is the same????? If everything is the same why is the west side school going to be an open enrollment school????
1) McWayne is referred to as a choice school. What is your definition of "choice school"?
1. McWayne is a choice school because it has no assigned attendance boundary. Enrollments are comprised of students whose parents send them to this school.
Comment: Then by Ed Cave's definition of "choice school" the new
West side school will not be a "choice school" because it
does have an assigned attendance boundary.
2) How did the criteria stated by the parents at the boundary forums (listed on January 18, 2000 Board minutes) "maintain parent choice about schools", get changed on later Board meeting minutes (February 29, 2000) to read "maintain choice for McWayne"? Are you or are you not going to follow the original criteria?
2. The various quotes you selected cannot be attributed to one person.
In fact, the criteria transcribed from the meetings is an interpretation
of what the speaker said and is not a literal quote. As best as we can
reconstruct from the notes, all of the quotes in your letter refer to
McWayne parents requesting to keep their community together in one building.
Comment: The fact remains the board meeting minutes as transcribed
for the official record contain these statements regardless
of who they are attributed to. The original criteria from
the fall 1999 boundary meetings contained the bullet list
item, "maintain parent choice about schools" and was the
compiled result of parents requests (listed on January
18, 2000 Board minutes). On Feb. 22 & 29, 2000 Ed Cave
asked the board to use criteria in discussing boundaries
where, "maintain choice for McWayne" was now the bulleted
item. Check out the Board meeting minutes PDF documents
at the www.batavia.k12.il.us/BoE/board.htm website.
3) What exactly are the choices all current & future West side residents have regarding conventional instruction for their children? Where will those children attend school to receive this instruction?
3. I cannot agree with your definition of conventional instruction because
every school in the district uses the same instructional practices,
curriculum and state standards. No choice or change of schools is
necessary for a child to receive conventional instruction. Those
attending the westside school will have teachers who deliberately
organize instruction using the elements of Howard Gardner's theory
of knowing, understanding and learning.
Comment: Can anyone else see the contradiction here?
4) Requiring West side parents to apply to opt out of the MI program with adequate reasons being given (this is what we've been told we will have to do) is a procedure which discriminates against families in a particular geographic location. No One else in the district is required to do this. Is this still the plan the West side residents will be expected to follow?
4. The Board believes parents who want to request a boundary variance must
communicate their preferences to school officials in a manner that
facilitates planning. Board members have suggested a process for
requesting a boundary variance that would not be any different for
any parent in the community.
Comment: Parents in the 5 boundaries outside of the West side
boundary will not need a variance to attend the West side
school MI program. The question was about opting out of
the MI program - not changing boundaries.