Experiences in getting the Equal Choice Issue to be Addressed
Members of our group have been monitoring the school board's actions relative to the West Side School since the referendum was passed. A number of us asked that our issues be addressed during the discussion on the new attendance boundaries. The board's response was that our issues would be discussed after the boundaries were established. (School Board Minutes of Feb. 29, Mar.14, and Mar. 21, 2000) However, the motion to eliminate equal choice was approved by the school board at the same 4/4/00 meeting where the attendance boundaries were approved. There was no public discussion about our issues between these two votes.
On 4/24/00, our group delivered a letter to each board member and a member of our group read the letter at the "Recognition of Visitors" portion of the 4/25/00 school board meeting. This letter asked that we be contacted about being involved in the planning process of opening the West Side School.
After not being contacted about our first letter, a second letter was delivered to each board member on 5/4/00. This letter again asked that we be contacted, and specifically asked to meet with board members about the options of West Side attendance boundary families not wishing to receive the alternate method of instruction. No response to either letter has been received to date.
After not being contacted about the second letter, we personally contacted a school board member in June asking for a meeting to discuss our issue. This school board member accepted the invitation, met with our group on June 15, and exchanged information and ideas about our issue. We anticipated being able to get on the agenda for an upcoming Board Meeting.
A phone call was placed to two more board members. One of them returned the call and agreed to meet with us on July 9. We were told the Board was aware that there was an issue, but they didn't know how big of an issue it was. We were told there were no plans to put Equal Choice on the agenda.
About 35 west side residents attended the July 25 Board Meeting. Several residents shared thoughts and concerns during the "Recognition of Visitors" portion of the meeting. Our five page Equal Choice Information Packet was presented to each of the board members and administration. Included in the packet were some results from a telephone survey that had been conducted of 102 Storm and Gustafson parents. We also gave the board Equal Choice Petitions with almost 300 signatures from all over Batavia. Rosalie Jones said, "We are not ignoring your concerns and they are not going to go unheard." (School Board Minutes of July 25, 2000)
Phone calls were received from another board member on July 30 by two EC members. The call was a verbal confirmation that the west side school would be MI only. They were also told there would be two more public forums to discuss the west side to allow the public to provide any "new" information to the board. (Evidently phone calls, letters, surveys, petitions, and an information packet containing possible solutions isn't enough information for them to rethink their decisions.)
Two more board members met with us on Aug. 14. They said they were aware of our issues and we could discuss them at the upcoming forums. The board members recorded our questions to take with them, but no response has been received by anyone regarding those questions.
Six months have gone by with no answers to our questions. We continue to try to get the board to respond to questions to no avail. While the other 5/6's of the community knows what their choices are for August, 2001, we continue to wait and wonder what choices we will have.
Just a note of interest: We tried to get one of the Batavia schools to use as a meeting place to discuss the west side issues and were denied use by "downtown". We were told we would have to get group insurance to be able to use the school. An area church offered us their facility for a meeting, which was held Aug 29. Questions from that meeting and others will be submitted to the board so they will be prepared to answer them at the September 28 and October 5 westside forums at the Batavia High School from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
A list of questions was submitted to the school board on September 12. The goal was to provide the board with ample time to review and provide answers to those questions at the September 28 West side community forum.
At the September 28 forum the board addressed two questions.
How many new teachers will be hired? 10. Al McCloud told how his child
attended J.B. Nelson school instead of McWayne due to a limited number
of openings and the fact that he would have to explain how she got into
McWayne while many others didn't. The rest of the questions were not addressed.
Donna Todd presented the board with a total of 562 petition signatures asking
that equal choice be restored in this community.
Following the September 28 forum, Rosalie Jones told Donna Todd a meeting
would be arranged where West side residents could ask questions and have
them answered. Rosalie would contact her.
A call was received 1 hour before the October 5th meeting. Rosalie
said she didn't think the West side questions would have an effect on the
transition forums, so wasn't in a hurry to schedule the meeting.
Arrangements have never been made
for this meeting to take place.
At the October 5 forum questions were asked by McWayne parents as well
as Equal Choice regarding EC concerns. No specific answers were received
from the board.
At the October 30 forum, Equal Choice listed specific criteria for children transferring
to the new school - things that would remain similar to their current surroundings.
The results of the teacher survey conducted by Darryl and Donna Hymel
were presented to the Board.
A letter dated November 3, 2000 was sent to Rosalie Jones asking for
a response
to questions that have been outstanding for many months.