And then there were five (at least)

Going into last night's Orange County Board of Education meeting, there was only one plan officially under consideration for the destruction of two of Orange County's elementary schools - Dennis Whitling's disastrous "Big Plan."

Now that the Board has met, there are at least five plans on the table for Board consideration. And, as if they were ordering from a Chinese restaurant menu, Board members encouraged each other to pick and choose elements from each plan to form something entirely unique to them. Presumably, the combinations could be infinite.

To open last night's discussion, the Board was again formally presented with the opinions/recommendations of the Board-appointed CES/HES Merger Task Force. The Board then promptly ignored the Task Force's suggestions.

The Task Force's only unanimous recommendation was for the Board to scrap Dennis Whitling's "Big Plan" for merging CES and HES, but the Board did no such thing.

Even though most members of the Board acknowledged that Whitling's plan had no "buy-in" from the community, it failed to remove the plan from consideration. In fact, a significant amount of time was spent in a defense of the plan by its sponsor - ex-Chair Dennis Whitling - during which he laid blame for its failure on the inability of less "idealistic" parents "to look beyond their narrow interests."

Then, current Chair, Ted Triebel took his turn at recommending a "Big Plan" of his own to address the issue - or, make that THREE plans.

I. Blue Plan

1. HES K-5, Year-round calendar
• All current HES students would have to apply to return with a cap of 20% accepted from each of the six elementary zones. Application would include an optional question about FRL status.
• "Controlled choice" would be a quota system imposed by the District on who could be admitted to HES. This means that if you do not fit the SES or demographic groups the Board designates, you will have no choice. It sure sounds more like "control" than "choice."
  
• If HES enrollment does not reach 350 students, then the cap will be lifted, but the District will still restrict who is allowed to attend based on their SES or demographic quotas.
• Students living within a 1 mile radius of HES will be assigned to the school, but with an option to opt-out to another school.
• Transportation provided for all.
• Free intersession programs for all FRL students.
• Free summer camps for all FRL students.
2. CES K-5, Traditional Calendar
• "Mini-redistrict" for SES composition.
• Limit opt-out option to two schools.
• Guarantee lower student/teacher ratios compared to other schools
• Appropriately staff CES based on proven experience and performance
• Offer "extended year" option with enrichment. Basically, starting the year two weeks earlier and ending two later as an option for families.
• Improve building aesthetics
• Provide child care and transportation to parents who want to participate in PTA activities.

II. Gold Plan

1. "Reconstitute" CES as a "theme" school after closing the school for a full year of preparation. In essence, this is the creation of a magnet school but only after shutting the school down for a year.
• Current CES students would be "distributed" to other elementary schools for a single year with priority given to FRL students who want to attend HES. So, if your child attends CES but is not on FRL, you will have to go where the Board sends you for a year
  
• FRL students would be provided the same incentives as in the Blue Plan.
2. Reopen CES as a "new" school with "controlled choice" and a "mini-redistrict."
3. CES teachers, TAs and classified staff would have guaranteed job security during the year the school is closed.

III. Green Plan

1. Maintain school structuring as is, but increase focus, programs and resources meant to ensure continued improvement of SES balance between CES and HES.
• The Superintendent would be expected to provide initiatives to the Board that would move the SES numbers in both the short and long term.
• Year one SES change goal would be at least 5% decrease at CES and 5% increase at HES.

Added to Ted Triebel's "Rainbow Plan," was yet another attempt by Dennis Whitling to destroy both CES and HES, while also taking a huge chunk of money away from Efland-Cheeks as well - a trifecta of sorts.

In his new vision, Whitling suggested that the Board take $300,000 in federal Title 1 money away from CES and Efland-Cheeks, and use those funds to pay for a Pre-K program at CES. According to Whitling, those funds are currently "wasted" by paying two teachers at each school, funding additional programs for at-risk children, and providing options to parents seeking the best educational opportunity for their children.

By not "wasting" federal money to help the struggling children at the District's lowest performing schools, the District could remove itself from accountability to the federal No Child Left Behind law. Without that accountability, parents at those schools (and most likely New Hope next year) would not have the choice to opt-out of their "failing schools." Of course, that doesn't mean that the students at those schools would be performing any better than in previous years, only that the District wouldn't have any accountability for helping them improve.

I can't help but use a healthcare analogy here. Dennis' new idea is akin to seeing a precancerous lesion on your face that, if treated properly, can be cured, but if ignored will only get progressively worse. Rather than seek that curative treatment, Dennis would have you remove the mirrors from your house so you simply can't see the problem any more.

Without the inconvenience of parental choice in response to Board actions, Dennis' new plan would force families into specific schools based on a pre-set quota system. New students could only attend HES if children of a similar SES or demographic profile also choose to attend CES.

This entire process reminds me of a joke. Question: What is a flamingo?

Answer: A duck created by committee. The situation would be funny if it wasn't so embarrassing.