|
Post by CFmom on Mar 17, 2008 9:49:42 GMT -5
I live in CF and my kids are not affected. I've tried to read up and educate myself on this, and it just seems that the school board could have avoided all of this a long time ago by rerouting open enrolled kids to schools that had more space.
Now you have resident people upset, open enrollees feeling like the spotlight is on them, and North Cedar people defensive of their neighborhood. I think this all could have been avoided. Hell of a mess they created.
P. S. I just read the March 10 notes and it says that while they are moving kids out of Lincoln to North Cedar, they are moving open enrolled kids into Lincoln at that very meeting. Did anyone go to this meeting and can verify this? Makes no sense to me at all.
Hugs to all that are hurt by this.
|
|
|
Post by FYI on Mar 17, 2008 11:27:15 GMT -5
Okay, once again let me clear up a few things. Some people on this board are absolutely determined to ignore what has been said all along, it is not about N. Cedar, but it is about a school board that refuses to admit that it has been shirking it's responsibility to the community by not managing open enrollment correctly. As for open enrollment children coming and going more frequently than resident students, there is no data to support this. It may be your perception, but it is not true, per Dr. Stoakes' own data presented to the board. The Meadows, Greenhill Village, and El Dorado neighborhoods all attend Southdale and all are heavily populated with white collar Deere employees. The majority of these employees transfer to new towns every 2-3 years. Why does this not create and unsatisfactory amount of instability and OE children do? No one can say how long anyone will be in a school, it should not be a consideration. Again, other districts in IA place all open enrollment in one school, and it is apparantly stable.
As for moving children to private school right away, I can think of several reasons to do so, the first being that they do not want their child to have to worry about it all summer. If you are being forced to change schools they may feel it is better to get it over with. No one thought they had a guarantee that their house would always be in their current attendance boundary. The question still remains, why do open enrolled children get that guarantee?
Beyond open enrollment, there is the fact that the stated goal of the boundary changes was to alleve overcrowding at Southdale. I believe after the changes are implemented, a neighborhood moved out, another moved in, and a limited number of open enrollment students moved (if they are over the cap) there is a net loss of something like 10 students at Southdale. Really? Is this a solution to the overcrowding? Did it relieve the scheduling pressure with the lunchroom and gym? It did not reduce Southdale by even one section. So, what is the real reason for making the changes? Because at this point it looks to me like it has been and almost comical exercise in futility. What a tragedy that children had to be impacted because of it.
|
|
|
Post by CFSchools on Mar 17, 2008 11:41:09 GMT -5
i would like to comment on why some people may choose to move their children immediately, even though it is nobody's business. i know some families who, when researching their options in anticipation of the decision, found St. Pat's, for example, to be a better fit for their family than even their current school. ironically, for some, this may be a blessing in disguise.
|
|
|
Post by lifer on Mar 17, 2008 15:29:47 GMT -5
So that being said that this is a better decision for some...are you saying that when they first enrolled thier kids in CF schools and bought their home based on a certain school district that they did not make the best decision for their kids. I would certainly think that they have done that research prior to enrolling their kids in the cf school district. I certainly cant believe that a decision that affects their childrens future would have been made in haste....or just happen to coincide with a vote that did not go their way. Keep in mind that at the private school you will not have near the access to help in reading, math, and guidance that is offered you now, but you will be able to replace those subjects with religion and class time spent in church and prayer service. God bless you in your decision....
|
|
|
Post by cf parent on Mar 17, 2008 22:22:46 GMT -5
go easy on the parents who have to decide what to do regarding the recent boundaries changes. For some, St Patrick's may be closer geographically, or may be a preferred choice.
They may want to introduce their kids to new classmates for next year and /or secure a spot in the school and classroom.
It is unfair to assume that because some may elect private school that they have some predisposition regarding North Cedar. These parents did not attend a boundary committee meeting wearing matching t-shirts.
Many comments have been made, some below the belt. But, some of those comments have come from all, including some committee members who publicly stated they had an agenda and referred to some neighborhoods as "those people".
Even one committee member, Hansen principal, stated that (at that time Boever Hills was option to go to North Cedar) upon further review, this could be a tough political sale!. Ouch
So, in the end, lots of opinions and comments get made, some stronger that others. Let's quit picking on the parents that are making a personal issue to do what is in their families best interest. The school board decision facilitated this situation, right or wrong.
|
|
|
Post by sdaletoorchard on Mar 18, 2008 8:29:33 GMT -5
As a parent of students who are being moved from Southdale to Orchard, I just wanted to assure all of you that we are just as unhappy with the move as the rest of you. Our children can currently walk out our door and walk two blocks on sidewalks to a controlled crosswalk to get to the front door of Southdale. Now they need to walk .8 miles through neighborhoods with few sidewalks across Orchard drive at a busy time of day. I am sure our school board members will be lobbying the city council to get sidewalks installed for the safety of all our kids. I sure hope that the number of kids in Married student housing is stagnant also, as it sure would appear stupid to move these kids and then have too many kids come from there. Fact of the matter is our school board chose cash over our kids
|
|
guest
New Member
Posts: 1
|
Post by guest on Mar 18, 2008 8:44:26 GMT -5
I would have liked to think it wasn't about North Cedar, but I sat at a public Cedar Falls Kids First meeting and witnessed this group bash the administration, teachers, and STUDENTS of North Cedar. I was blown away at the things said and no one stopped it. All I saw was a bunch of people in agreeance. The main quote that sticks in my mind is the teachers at North Cedar have to "dumb it down", and "lets boycott the tour", the very tour that the group set up. Another quote, " I can't wait to see Jen Hartman's face when the bus doors open on the first day of school and no one gets off".
The meetings were open to anyone and everyone and these things were being said. I wonder what else is said in smaller groups?
This might not be the opinion of everyone, but, the members/leaders of this group shared their opinions openly at one of the meetings I attended.
|
|
|
Post by CFParent on Mar 18, 2008 9:31:04 GMT -5
There guest goes again.
Stirring the pot.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that you work at North Cedar. I am also going guess that you don't live in North Cedar, nor do you send your children there. Your neighborhood probably isn't even affected by the recent boundary changes. Yet you feel the need to judge those that are.
Am I close?
Until you have been faced with having to explain to your young children, you can't truly begin to understand.
|
|
|
Post by cfschool on Mar 18, 2008 9:46:56 GMT -5
Guest, It unfortunate if what you say is true. But I would venture to guess that if people were saying those things, it was probably said out of frustration and misdirected anger. We could all benifit as a community if we banded together to stop the school board from making these types of decisions. This is a dangerous decision that isn't in the best intrest of any of the children in this district, not the children who attend hansen, lincoln, southdale, orchard hill, cedar heights or even N Cedar. I really would like an answer to this question: For those of you who don't seem to understand our frustration, how would you feel if your child was being removed from their neighborhood school so children from Waterloo or Hudson or Janesville were being welcomed to take your childs seat? Seriously, how would you feel???
|
|
|
Post by life long resident on Mar 18, 2008 10:28:02 GMT -5
I agree with the above post. Misdirected anger from a very frustrated group of people only trying to do what is best for the whole community. Back to the heart of the issue: Cedar Falls resident students should have priority over open enrolled students on what school they attend. Moving students out of a crowded school only to place open enrolled students in makes no sense. It creates hostility between neighborhoods and schools. It creates that misdirected anger.
|
|
|
Post by Guest on Mar 18, 2008 13:37:10 GMT -5
I am proud of our schools and am happy that other people would want to send their kids to our schools. There's so much "us and them" underlying the arguments I've heard. We've lived here for over 10 years. The city has changed a lot in that time. It makes sense that the school boundaries would need to change as well.
We literally have people moving out of our neighborhood, enrolling their students in private schools, and threatening lawsuits against I'm not sure who (school system, city, school board?) over changing schools. The Cedar Falls Kids First group has raised some good points. Unfortunately, the appearance is that these legitimate questions are being asked only because they don't want THEIR kids going to THAT school.
I have 2 children in the Cedar Falls school district who have gone to 2 different CF elementary schools. We live in a neighborhood that is affected by the new boundary lines. Both kids are in junior high so our family is not directly affected. I have attended a boundary line meeting. This whole issue seems to have brought out the worst in people, when I hope to see the best.
|
|
|
Post by life long on Mar 18, 2008 13:42:26 GMT -5
Guest apparently is speaking the truth about what they heard. All I see is "misguided anger and frustration". In my experience that is normally code for what we want to say but cant in public. You can cry Open enrollment as much as you want but this is still nothing more than a groupd that is upset with the decision and they are going to "hit them in the pocketbook". Keep in mind I have heard very few negatives about this school board when they were updaiting Hansen, Lincoln, Cedar Heights, and the other improvements, but now that they are not serving this group as they feel needed you want to throw them out. Well I bet you voted for them, so fess up and say you ade the wrong decision.
|
|
|
Post by concerned parent on Mar 18, 2008 14:17:15 GMT -5
I think this discussion has become too emotional for some folks.
Can we all just agree to disagree and move forward with this issue in a positive way?
|
|
|
Post by cf on Mar 18, 2008 15:21:40 GMT -5
I agree that this is an emotional topic, however the school board must explain the actions that were taken. The residents of CF deserve an explanation from the board, they must answer questions from the public and provide reasonable justification for what was done. That is the nature of the position they were elected to fill - accountablility for their actions.
|
|
|
Post by sdaletoorchard on Mar 18, 2008 15:30:33 GMT -5
We all should praise the school board for keeping neighborhoods together,,, of course the ignoramuses ran a boundary line right through the middle of our neighborhood. Right through the middle of houses,,,, Cash over kids and then they want to explain to our children, while they hold them hostage in school why they did it for their own good. Hard lesson for children to learn that money trumps them but they were going to have to learn it sometime. Thanks to the Cf school board for showing our kids that they love the money and not the kids
|
|