Public wary of school plan

East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Bernard Taylor’s idea of dividing 36 public schools in Baton Rouge into four attendance regions where students could choose any school in their region got a chilly reception Wednesday night from many of the more than 300 people at Woodlawn High School.

“It’s so vague,” said Julie Edmonson, who has two children in the parish school system. “They haven’t given us a lot of info. So the red flags are going up.”

Woodlawn High is the proposed main school for a proposed nine-school independent school district that some residents in southeast Baton Rouge pushed unsuccessfully for in the Legislature last spring and plan to push for again in 2013.

Many supporters of the Local Schools for Local Children effort were present at Woodlawn High on Wednesday night, including Norman Browning, the president of the breakaway school district group, and state Sen. Mack “Bodi” White, R-Central, who authored the legislation.

Browning said Wednesday night was the first time he had heard details about Taylor’s proposals and he welcomes further discussion with the superintendent.

Taylor presided over similar community meetings at Capitol Elementary on Monday and Scotlandville High on Tuesday, and the fourth one this week is planned for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Glen Oaks High.

On Wednesday, Taylor proposed little change to 10 schools in what he’s calling the Woodlawn “family of schools,” except to turn Mayfair Middle, which is not usually considered part of southeast Baton Rouge, into a magnet school.

Taylor asked the audience for ideas of what the district could offer in those 11 schools to make them more attractive.

“Let me emphasize that no decision has been made about any of this,” Taylor said. “This is a framework for discussion. All we are doing now is soliciting feedback.”

Taylor, however, plans to turn this regional concept into a plan soon. He has said he hopes to have a formal plan ready for the School Board to vote on by the end of this month, and then would send that plan on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE, in December.

Some elements of the plan would involve using schools currently run by the state’s Recovery School District, or RSD. Taylor has been in so far fruitless negotiations with RSD over how to fix low-performing schools in north Baton Rouge. RSD is trying to create an “Achievement Zone,” a mostly charter school network that it wants East Baton Rouge Parish schools to participate in.

RSD Superintendent Patrick Dobard issued a statement Wednesday on the idea that Taylor first announced a week ago.

“We support the direction that Superintendent Taylor has chosen, but what really matters most is quality of education, more than programs and enrollment,” Dobard said. “EBR still has 19 “F” schools and we want to work together to turn them around quickly.”

Problems in the schools RSD runs, as well as discontent with north Baton Rouge schools that the East Baton Rouge Parish school system operates, have led many families to opt for schools elsewhere, including several in southeast Baton Rouge.

Taylor has said that he hopes that by giving families more and better choices in the Capitol, Scotlandville and Glen Oaks regions, more students will stay in those parts of town and ease overcrowding in southeast Baton Rouge schools in the Woodlawn region.

Taylor had those in the audience break into smaller groups to offer ideas for programs for those schools, writing them down on big white sheets of paper.

Some people did, but several groups just listed concerns and questions. One white sheet just read, “Uncertainty, Transportation Nightmare, Not Enough info.”

Andrea Parsons, a school nurse, a parent of schoolchildren in the system and a resident of southeast Baton Rouge, cornered Taylor at one point. She wanted to know if a student could choose any school — an elementary student would have six elementary schools to choose from — and whether it would prevent her from sending her child to the school closest to her home.

Parsons came away with more concerns than she had before the meeting.

“He couldn’t guarantee that my child would go to a neighborhood school,” she said. “And that bothers me a lot.”

Comments

1) Comment by nimby? - 16/11/2012

if this is an attempt to appease those in SE Baton Rouge wanting a separate district free from the EBRSS it's a joke . a new name , new coat of paint isn't the answer . identify the problems , deal with them . or get out of the way of those parents truly wanting an education for their children . ask any teacher , more time, resources are wasted on the few not wanting an education than those deserving . if the child doesn't want to go to school and the parent agrees , no problem . cut their services , give'em a broom or shovel .

2) Comment by yardeggs - 15/11/2012

I attended the elementary school portion of the breakout session, and the moderator was VERY specific. Children who currently attend a school get preference, but as spots open they will be filled by a lottery system. Each year, progressively, parents will apply for a spot at their school of choice. So my children at Woodlawn Elementary are safe, but we would have to apply to middle school. Either Southeast or Woodlawn. There is no guarantee they would go to Woodlawn Middle, even though it's our 'district' school. If 1500 children apply to go to Woodlawn Elementary, they choose the first 1000, and the rest get their second or third choice. And this is not "the first of many meetings". Taylor wants the School Board to vote on this month, and for BESE to vote in December. He specifically stated that he wants to implement this plan August 2013.

3) Comment by ovation - 15/11/2012

@whocares:I don't see why you have to write your last two sentences. Maybe her kids are and maybe they aren't, but with oppotunity to restructure these schools there can be more award winning magnet programs closer to neighborhoods and more oppotunities for ALL those who qualify to get into rather than a select few chosen by a lottery.

4) Comment by tradewinns - 15/11/2012

and how is this going to improve education? the real problem in failing schools is the parents lack of parental guidance.

5) Comment by WhoCares - 15/11/2012

This plan all hinges on them being able to reclaim schools in NBR from RSD and preventing the "Achievement Zone". That has a snow ball's chance in hell of happening. This is all smoke and mirrors. Veritas while I believe you are genuine in your approach to this you have to remember you're dealing with the sith. I'm also confident your child is in an award winning magnet program. Our new superintendent is pretty sassy.

6) Comment by DMJ - 15/11/2012

This program sounds interesting. I like many of its stated goals and am curious to see how this plays out.

7) Comment by crabby - 15/11/2012

"students could choose any school in their region" There's no way it would work like that -- how would they keep enrollments balanced, what if everyone picks the same school?

8) Comment by VeritasWatch - 15/11/2012

Buses are already transporting children to all of these schools, including the existing magnets. Is busing provided for all of the voucher schools? One suggestion to save money on transportation would be to end the subsidization of the private schools transportation. If a school wants to be private, then let it stand on its own.

9) Comment by phil - 15/11/2012

unity- your comment sounds correct on the surface but I think when you divide an area up like EBR Parish into 4 districts you still have 4 fairly large areas to bus children to within each district. Possibly they might need to add school names and home address in large letters on very young children's clothes so they can figure out which school the child belongs to if the child gets lost in the transportation mess that will be created. I think it will already be a mess with the voucher system.

10) Comment by phil - 15/11/2012

yardeggs made a good comment - with all of these types of schools and zones etc and vouchers and charter schools and magnet schools etc taxpayers will apparently have to figure out how to get all of those children to all of those schools. This is getting ridiculous in my opinion, and the devil is in the details. All I can add is - Watch your wallets, taxpayers (and follow the money)..

11) Comment by Being_Stupid - 15/11/2012

We already have a plan for school choice, the plan is called SCHOOL VOUCHERS. It gives parent's real school choice and holds school administrations, teachers, parents, and students accountable for performance. Those who do not perform will go out of business, be fired, or be expelled.

12) Comment by unity - 15/11/2012

@ tball- This plan would actually stop a lot of the busing. The students in this attendance region would stay in this attendance region. No students residing outside of this family of schools would be bussed into this family of schools. The only students who would be bussed out of this attendance region are the ones who choose to attend the parish-wide magnets. The same rules would apply to the Glen Oaks, Scotlandville, and Capitol regions. Everyone would be attending schools in their immediate region and NOT crossing across town. I believe the intention of the plan is to make sure that ALL areas of town include top quality choices within their family of schools.

13) Comment by VeritasWatch - 15/11/2012

@tball - you do realize that there is no forced busing in EBR, right? @WhoCares - I would be very surprised if it happened that quickly, despite what has been proposed - I'm not in favor of rushing it through either, but rather working together as a community to create a system that works for ALL of the children - that should be the goal and focus for everyone involved.

14) Comment by WhoCares - 15/11/2012

@ovation @ veritas the vote is at the end of the month.

15) Comment by tball - 15/11/2012

EBR school system has been a cluster since integration! Kids spending hours on the bus, going from one end of BR to the other. Ridiculous!!

16) Comment by VeritasWatch - 15/11/2012

@ovation - Great info, and I agree (I was also there). The Advocate seems to be more interested in stoking and magnifying the differences between the EBRPSS and LSLC rather than what the actual purpose of the meeting was, and the overall feedback that was given. The fact that they didn't even cover the Scotlandville meeting held on Tuesday is quite telling as well.

17) Comment by ovation - 15/11/2012

I attended the meeting and didn't hear anything said about a lottery for schools. Also, many in attendence were looking for a final product, or plan already fleshed out. That was not what this meeting was about. It was the first in many meetings not only with parents but with business leaders, church groups, and elected officials to begin to see what the community would like in their schools. There were many great ideas shared (which the advocate failed to mention) of how those in attendence would like to see in their elementary, middle and high schools. It was well noted during all of the discussions as well as in the large group meeting afterwards where the concerns of neighborhood schools was first and foremost. What I wanted to hear was when parents get their neighborhood schools, what programs would they want in their schools. I heard talk of media/technology magnets, a school for the 6th graders and one for 9th graders going through the transition into new school environments, engineering magnets, medical magnets, gifted and talented programs, and much more. Too bad the Advocate chose only to print one side.

18) Comment by VeritasWatch - 15/11/2012

@yardeggs - Please point to anything that proves your assertion that registration will be via lottery. Also, is it your belief that we have enough gifted and talented and magnet programs already?

19) Comment by yardeggs - 15/11/2012

This plan is for the entire parish, so everyone should care. Your tax dollars are going to be blown on this regardless of where you live. They want to make registration at EVERY school (except Magnet, which is its own lotter) a lottery. So just because you may have purchased a house within Woodlawn or Shenandoah, or any other subdivision, your child doesn't necessarily get into those schools. They effectively destroyed any progress made in keeping people from leaving this parish to educate their children. They also have all these pie-in-the-sky ideas about having twice as many gifted and magnet self-contained programs, and expanding special needs services and early testing and intervention, except HOW ARE THEY GOING TO PAY FOR IT?!? They can't afford or staff self-contained gifted now! Grrrrrr. If every school is a lottery, the ten children on my road could potentially go to 7 different elementary schools. How do they think they're going to get them there? Grow wings? I just don't understand. And at the end of the meeting, someone did ask about transportation. Instead of answering her question, Mr. Taylor said, and I quote, "You need to get in your transportation and go home." Seriously!!! I am one unhappy Momma.

20) Comment by Terd Handler - 15/11/2012

Does anybody care about this except the few who own property near there. Why don't you try reporting some real news for a change.