What Do People Think?

Last Week's BOE meeting had an excellent turn out of community members. Several people spoke about their concerns and offered the occasional suggestion. Some of the comments:
*Areas 5-8 knew they would be bussed. Areas 1-4 currently walked and would need to be bussed to Merrill. [Of course the numbers no longer make sense as 1-8 became 1-3 sometime between the retreat and BOE meeting.]
*Roosevelt option is a band aid on a larger problem. This plan is dividing the community.
*Lakeside option disrupts family participation and increases risks to bused children the longer they are on a bus. Busing to fill quotas is wrong. The current split configuration of Green Meadow and Lakeside is already disruptive.
*Real Estate values will be negatively impacted. Distance of bus ride from Lakeside makes no sense.
*Anti-Merrill and North buttons were against the busing option and NOT against the schools.
*Base decisions on long-term plan. K-3, 4-8 will not get referendum passed.
*BOE poor stewards of district revenue. Public Relations is expensive and poorly done. No concrete plan for building maintenance. Ask the community if they want these changes (IE boundaries, K-3). Reduced three teaching positions by combining Lakeside and Green Meadow and the children lost more than the district saved in lost instructional time and transportation issues. Heilmann is weak. BOE not a team working for our district. Roosevelt has one of the lowest SES. Those families will not be able to participate in school activities. What will happen if a child misses the bus?
*District is lacking in communication. Have a referendum to expand crowded schools not build on to undercrowded schools.
*Roosevelt option makes no sense. Moving hand fulls of children. Not opposed to Merrill or North (in Town of Algoma). Move entire peer groups. What is the grandfathering policy on new boundary plan? What is the timeline? What will be impact of west side growth?
*Many families at Roosevelt have no vehicles. If kids miss the bus in the morning, they will either have to walk or miss school. If they miss in the afternoon, they will have to walk home through dangerous intersections. EAA charter at Oakwood makes sense to move to North as a whole. Move East High into North High [No, I did not speak. This was someone else.]

On a side note regarding the EAA charter. Why not expand the EAA charter in grades 4-8 in Merrill. The continuity would lead a direct path to North for kids interested in Aeronautics. This is not a career track at the 3/4 grade level. The charter is meant to provide a way to learn all curriculum with a basis in aeronautics. My understanding is that there is a waiting list to get into this charter at Oakwood and there is a demand at the middle level with students and parents for continuity into the academy at North. This would be another type of incentive that costs nothing but encourages attendance at North.

Regarding the idea to move East into North, I have had the opportunity to talk to a few students from each high school. Of course the number of students questioned is not statistically significant, but neither is Ruby Payne. North students expressed a welcoming attitude toward East students. Several stated that they are proud of the diversity at North and would welcome more. Some East students expressed a desire to be able to take electives "like other high schools students get." They also expressed a desire to keep their school as it is though not necessarily where it is. They do not want to give up their school. The building was irrelevant thought there was some opinion expressed about being separate from "the system." I'm not sure if that was good, bad, or both.

So, what do you think?