School board member resigning

[abcs]

there is no doubt both OE students and resident students got the shaft.

after the flood, several questions come to mind:

the flood could have just as easily come during the school term. i understand the school building itself wasnt damaged, but would they have still held classes? if not, what was the plan for those students?

it sounds as if there are some houses that are not able to be salvaged. is this true?

if homes are to be demolished, where will those people move? to another area in north cedar, or out of the north cedar area altogether?

if that is the case, do any of those families have students at north cedar school?

the whole plan of the school board was not thought out and continues to blow up in their faces. this idea of trying to artificially prop up an area that has declining enrollment is not the answer.

with the deadline for submitting applications for the school board election looming, it seems the only long term solution is to change the school board.

we can continue to point fingers on this message board as to who is the most hurt by the school board's decision, or we can work to change the real problem...this school board.

[guest5]

So now you are saying that the school board should have predicted this flood and factored that into the decision. We all know they are god.

[cf supporter]

Another option is to send your child/children to the school they've been reassigned to attend.

I agree with guest 5. We could put out lots of what ifs...concerning flooding, and others. I agree that growth is happening south...but what if the tornado would have wiped out all of those homes? The school board made what they believed to be the best decision they could at this time. I for one support them.

[abcs]

i asked some questions and got no answers just sarcastic responses. if you want sarcasism so be it.

since this is the first time EVER that north cedar has had any flooding i can see why the school board was totally unaware that something like this could happen.

the comparison of where a tornado may strike as opposed to where flooding may occur is just not even worth responding to.

since neither one of you couldnt of wouldnt answer any of my questions your only tactic was to attack and ridicule my post.

the questions still stand.....

[linnea]

So, the school board re-assigned approximately 3% of the resident elementary students, and half of the 6% or so OE elementary kids. And that means they're doing a bad job and need to be voted out? Give me a break. It's their job to determine the school boundaries and change them if necessary.

Yes, going to your re-assigned school is an option. And for OE kids, going to your home-town school is also an option.

I hope some of the families who are re-assigned to North Cedar will give it a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised. Education is not just about the building. The size of the classes and the dedication of the staff make a big difference too. Yes, North Cedar's test scores may be lower, on average, than other Cedar Falls schools. But they're still higher than the state average, last time I checked, and the state average is higher than the national average. Your child isn't suddenly going to get dumber because of changing schools. He/she might even get more of a chance to stand out from the pack.

abcs, no one knows yet about the impact of the flooding and how many people will end up leaving the neighborhood. I'm afraid that in the long run, it may make it hard to justify having a neighborhood school in North Cedar. But for now, the building exists, and using it to alleviate crowding at other schools makes good sense. The current numbers don't support a new school at this time, and with what's happening in the economy right now, who knows whether the growth in southern and western CF will continue?

[linnea]

abcs, to answer your questions further: this was a record flood, by about 5 feet, and there are a lot of aspects of it that hadn't been specifically planned for. To suggest that the school board should have planned for it is absurd.

If it had happened during the school year, I imagine school would have been cancelled just like it is during blizzards. UNI classes and various summer programs of the CF schools were cancelled during the flood.

[Guest5]

OK abcs, you want answers, here they are. Question 1: To absurd to answer, the school board probably would have made the kids sink or swim. Question 2: Go out to North Cedar and VOLUNTEER to help with the clean up and see for yourself, hell yes houses are going to be demolished. You have no clue what kind of devastation this flood caused do you. Question 3: While you are volunteering to help clean up, just ask the people you are helping what the future holds in store for them. Question 4: Go door to door and while VOLUNTEERING ask them if they have kids going to the elementary. Any other questions. You really need to take a drive north of the river.

[LKN]

The school board has done a horrible job of doing what is best for the children of Cedar Falls. The job of the school board is to guide the school system in a logical direction, there is no logic in allowing any OE students to remain at a particular school while "local" children are forced to relocate to an antiquated building.

Now the local families who have been forcibly removed from the schools they attended last year (to go to a building with consistently lower test scores) have no option of open enrolling out of the district to another public school system. Sure, they have the option of sending their children to a private school, but given the current economic situation - how financially functional is that? With the best interests of the children in mind, these families have no option but to relocate.

The school board decision of last year did a tremendous disservice to the children and families of Cedar Falls. Giving Cedar Falls families that were effected no reasonable alternatives is exponentially worse!

[guest77]

So if you send your child to North Cedar he or she will become stupid?? If you answer this question yes, then you are stupid, if you answer this question no, then send your child to North Cedar.

[linnea]

LKN, do you have a child who's been re-assigned?

What you're saying is that it's okay for some Cedar Falls residents to go to North Cedar School, but that it's not good enough for kids who currently go to Lincoln or Hansen. And that it's better to relocate to another town, and uproot a child from everything familiar - home, neighborhood, activities - than to send that child to an "inferior" school.

Wow. Such values.

[abcs]

i have taken a while to respond to some of posts since i asked, what i thought, were questions worth an answer.

for starters, i realize the level of this flood, being a life long resident of cedar falls. i remember when they raised the height of old 218 and the devastating effect that had on the people on cottage row. i dont need a history lesson.

i still wonder, if only one school was affected by a flood, would they close down the entire shool system? if one school had a fire, would they close all of them? just wondering...

the angry responses from guest5 was very hurtful. i never attacked anyone, just disagreeing with the board's decision. i never attacked any school, just asked some questions about present and future developement and enrollment of north cedar. i never said the students or teachers there were dumb. i never mentioned anything about the condition of the building.

this is still a free country where we are supposed to settle our differences at the voting booth. that is all i was encouraging people to do. stop pointing fingers at each other and address the problem where i feel the problem is.

since i have health issues, i dont get out much. the computer is my lifeline. that is why i was asking the questions i did as i am not able to physically go and find out myself. since i cannot help with my hands, i did help with my heart and my checkbook and sent a check of $1,000 to the local United Way.

ya'll have a nice day. and please stop attacking people who have a difference of opinion.

[linnea]

I for one did try to answer your questions straightforwardly, without sarcasm. You were asking questions that many flood victims are asking themselves, and most don't have any answers yet: do we rebuild? Do we move? Can we find a place in the neighborhood we love?

Last month's flood was not just a North Cedar affair. Did you notice that they evacuated downtown, and closed large segments of highway 218? And used schoolbuses to transport sandbaggers? UNI cancelled classes and closed offices even though they are nowhere near the flood waters.

If the water was high enough to actually get into North Cedar School, it would be over the d**e and into downtown Cedar Falls. It would be an emergency for everyone, and I expect they'd cancel all the schools.

[linnea]

Hmm, apparently this system thinks that the word that starts with d and ends with e and means the same thing as "levee" is a bad word. I didn't mean it that way.

I wonder what we'd have to say if we wanted to mention that town just west of Cedar Falls?

[forthekids]

Let's step way back and look at this from a big picture perspective--a political one. The way I see it (and it just my opinion), the school board is not a friend of North Cedar but that is what they want the NC people to think. The boundary committee recognized that all the kids deserve equal facilities. They spent a lot of time on that subject, but the board has just blown off that recommendation. The board and district have not kept up the North Cedar faciliites, plain and simple, and are making no plans to do that. Why is that? Answer-- declining enrollment and from a taxpayer standpoint unfortunately that makes some sense. However, I would argue they have knowingly done our North Cedar attendance area children a disservice. If you go to the Iowa Dept of Education web site, you will see facts on how even small things in terms of facilities can have a detrimental impact on student achievment.

Furthermore, they set up North Cedar with a plan that they absolutely knew was destined to fail. Why in the world would anyone be excited to uproot their child and move them to a neglected building that is the 3rd closest school and with lower test scores? Sure people could "give it a chance" but if they don't like it then they have to uproot their children a second time and naturally that is not a palatable situation. So what are people doing--moving or sending their kids to St. Pats or the Lab School so they don't have to take a chance on moving them again if they don't like it or if the enrollment figures dictate its closing in the near future. If they can take one of those options, why wouldn't they? They just have their children's best interests at heart--that doesn't make them awful people. The test score issue is really only an issue if your child is gifted, and you fear would not be challenged (and in that case it is a valid concern and did afffect some families I am aware of). The boundary committee worked to give North Cedar a chance. They recommended sending the married student housing kids and they would likely have gone. I would argue the board didn't do that because they secretly didn't want a lot of new students at North Cedar. They picked established neighborhoods that they knew were going to send their kids elsewhere--on purpose--so they could be one step closer to closing the school but they could say they tried so hard. By purposely NOT pursuing the update of the facilities, they guaranteed themselves that the new students would be even less likely to attend. It is so clear.

The flooding has thrown a wrench in their plan. Before that, if few "new" residents had gone, they would have still been able to continue for another year or two with the status quo. Likely that was their plan. They have the one new piece of land, but they are considering two others. Rest assured they are looking ahead. But now that there may not be enough NC residents along with the 2-4 new resident children that are going, they are in a pickle. Thus they have decided to move a bunch of open enrolled students to help keep the school open, so they don't loose NC votes at election time (they've already lost a lot of others and they know that).

It is all about politics.

[cfschools]

forthekids...I agree with most of your post. I don't believe however, that the school board wanted their plan to fail. If they wanted a plan to fail they would have just moved open enrolled kids...OE kids had other choices...they could have easily sent their children to their home district...however, I do think the board intentionally made their decision after the March 1st open enrollment deadline to force resident children to North Cedar...I think that they also never intended to upgrade the facility and that is why they knew they had to remove as many other choices for people as possible.

I think they wanted their plan to succseed at least for the short term, but with no plans to upgrade the facility I think it's obvious that the future of North Cedar elementary school is not good.

To North Cedar Residents: children can be moved at any time. That has been made clear. If you want to see the future of your school secure pressure the board to put money into it, not children. Once money is spent on the school it can't be taken out. I think maybe your anger is misdirected. Instead of being upset at the families that don't want to go to North Cedar, you should be questioning the school board as to why they don't want to put money into that school that is in desprate need of upgrading.