Superintendent Ardella Dailey proposed creating a task force that will address Alameda Unified School District’s equity and capacity issues on Sept. 25.
The group, to be named the Pathway to Excellence & Equity Task Force, will develop recommendations on how to deal with the district’s enrollment imbalance in schools and how close the achievement gap between student groups. The task force will also study how the district can
“We have to come forward looking at our enrollments, our data, collect quiet a bit of information,” Dailey said.
Enrollment in the district declined in the past 10 years. According to a demographic study released this year, enrollments in the district declined by 889 students between 1999 and 2006. The board has responded to the decline by merging schools.
But this year, there was an increase at the Kindergarten level and about 59 more students enrolled than last year. This year, the school board must again look at its facilities and how much capacity each school has especially at the elementary schools.
Similar to other districts around the country, Alameda Unified is also dealing with a persisting achievement gap with African American, Latino, English learners and special education students performing at a lower level than whites and Asian students.
Other members of the school board, though, raised concerns about the task force.
Mike McMahon, one school board member, said supporting a task force is extremely labor intensive. He also stressed the importance of dealing with the facility and boundary issues in a timely manner because some options might require a vote from Alameda citizens by 2008.
“When we’re talking about issues relating to facilities, boundaries, and the rest, as well as making sure we create a long-term plan to deal with that, I really believe we need to have a recommendation ready so that by January we do make a firm decision as to where we need to go,” McMahon said.
Earlier this year, parents stood in a line for hours to sign their children up at Edison Elementary School. The district eventually had to add an extra class. Proposals to address the issue have included changing school attendance boundaries or getting rid of the current first-come, first-serve registration policy, provoking an outcry among parents.
Some foresee even greater problems in the future relating to facilities and capacity as enrollments in the kindergarten level increase. But Dailey said the task force would hopefully be able to help address these issues through more community input.
“It’s about how to work together to make good decisions and not rush it … long term solutions and not just quick fixes,” Dailey said.
Trish Spencer, president of the Alameda Parent Teacher Association Council, said her group is in favor of any process that would allow for more parent and community input.
“It will be interesting to see how the process actually unfolds, who is selected to be on the Task Force, if the meetings are public, if the District posts responses to community questions online,” Spencer said. “We’ll have a better idea as time passes if the process is working.”
Filed under: Education
