Did you get my note?

Since time has become such a factor in the next round of Board decisions, I sent a message to every email address I could get from last year's Dolphin Directory.

I heard from some people that they received my message, but some others said their email clients screened it out as potential spam. For those of you who didn't receive my note, here is what it said:

Dear Parent,

I apologize for sending this mass email, but I felt recent developments in the proposed merger of Hillsborough and Central elementary schools warranted such a step. Time is of the essence, and this is the fastest way to communicate with such a large community.

My name is Allan Scott, and my son is a second-grader at HES. Those who know me are aware that I have paid very close attention to the Orange County Board of Education’s efforts to merge HES with CES for over 9 months. While I regularly post developments to my weblog (http://SaveHES.blogspot.com), I have not felt the need to email everyone since last spring; that is, until now.

Every parent with a child in Orange County's elementary schools needs to know that the Board of Education is poised to create an entirely new plan for changing CES and HES that will likely impact every elementary school in the district. And this dramatic change will probably happen with virtually no input from those most directly impacted – the parents. If the Board continues in its current direction, there will be no time for research or debate, and almost no opportunity for public comment.

This past Monday, Board members proposed four entirely new proposals for changes to CES and HES. Among these were:

• Requiring every current HES student to “reapply” for admission, with a cap on the number of students from any one school zone and quotas for those allowed to return. According to the plan, this cap could prevent as many as 80 current HES students from returning to the only school many of them have ever known.
• Capping HES enrollment at 330 and redistricting the remaining 100 students to CES. New students would only be allowed to enroll at HES if a similar number chose to attend CES.
• Recinding all transfers not mandated by federal law. This means that parents who applied for, and were granted transfers, for their children to schools outside their zone would be forced to return unless they can prove an "extreme hardship." This represents over 100 children with a sizable number at all six zoned schools. No elementary school would be unaffected.
• Closing CES for an entire year and “distributing” all CES students to other elementary schools, again taking them away from the only school many of them have ever known.
• Eliminating Kindergarten at HES and only allowing children to apply after spending one year at their zoned school.
• Taking $300,000 in federal funding away from reading teachers at CES and Efland-Cheeks Elementary School as a way to disguise the fact that neither school made Adequate Yearly Progress the past two years.

While many ideas have been put forth over the past 9 months, we are now at a point where time has become a critical factor. Recognizing that, Board Chairman Ted Triebel was recently quoted as saying, “We’re in a time crunch here, and I think everybody knows it.”

In response, he scheduled a two-hour special session to discuss proposed changes to CES and HES. That meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 14^th at 8:30 am in the Central Office Boardroom on King Street in Hillsborough.

To make matters worse, the Board decided Monday night to set January 20, 2008 as the deadline to approve final changes to CES and HES before the next school year. Given that they have not yet had any in-depth discussion of any plan other than a CES/HES merger, any new idea would have only six weeks to be discussed, accepted and approved.

As it stands, the Board does not have another regular meeting until January 7^th. – less than two weeks before its self-imposed deadline. That means that any idea to come out of the December 14^th meeting will likely be approved by the Board in January, regardless of how ill-conceived it may be or how negatively it may impact the District's elementary schools.

It is important that parents at both schools take the few remaining opportunities to voice their opinions before it is too late. If you know any CES parents, parents new to HES, or those who have transfered their children to a school outside their zone, feel free to forward this message to them.

I understand that the time and day of week is difficult for many, but I encourage everyone who can, to attend the Board’s special meeting next Friday morning, and let your presence send a message to the Board.

Will you join me there?

If you are unable to attend, please contact your elected Board of Education members to let them know how you feel. You can find email addresses for all members here: http://www.orange.k12.nc.us/board/ocs_board_edu.html .

Sincerely,

Allan Scott

Save the Date!
What: Orange County Board of Education CES/HES Special Meeting
When: Friday, December 14, 2007 @ 8:30 am in the Central Office Boardroom
200 King Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278