Many parents of Morgan Hill School District elementary students
are breathing a sign of relief after School Board trustees decided
Tuesday night, during a continuation of Monday
’s regular meeting, to make no changes to elementary school
boundaries for the 2004-2005 school year.
Many parents of Morgan Hill School District elementary students are breathing a sign of relief after School Board trustees decided Tuesday night, during a continuation of Monday’s regular meeting, to make no changes to elementary school boundaries for the 2004-2005 school year.
The district boundary committee, which was convened January 2003 to prepare recommendations for high school boundaries, was also instructed to look at the elementary boundaries.
The kindergarten though sixth grade boundaries were last changed in 2000, creating a “mini-Barrett” on the Paradise Valley Elementary campus for the 2000-2001 school year, in preparation for the opening of Barrett in August 2001.
“We are in the midst of the choice placement process,” Superintendent Carolyn McKennan told trustees. “That would make it difficult, if not impossible, for us to change the boundaries for next year.”
However, the choice placement process, which gives district students the opportunity, if space is available, to transfer to a school other than their home school, was not the only reason for the decision. The transfer period ends Jan. 31.
Approximately 15 people camped out at the District Office the night before transfers applications for throughout the district could be accepted, and at least 100 more parents joined them in the early hours of Jan. 8. Most of the parents were there to transfer students from Sobrato High to Live Oak high, or vice versa.
The high school boundaries were re-drawn after months of work by the boundary committee and debate by trustees after three public forums attended by frustrated parents. The middle school boundaries were not changed.
“We have too much on our plates right now to do this,” Board President George Panos said, referring to revising the elementary boundaries. “When we do look at it again, we need to have the data up front, we need to have the data before we get into a meeting.”
Since the boundary committee was convened, board meetings with boundary discussion on the agenda have been crowded with concerned parents.
Parents who attended Monday’s meeting, from 7 p.m. until the motion to continue to Tuesday was made at 10:30 p.m., waiting to hear discussion on the elementary boundaries were disappointed when trustees did not reach that point in the agenda.
Trustee Tom Kinoshita said Tuesday that the main purpose of convening the boundary committee was to prepare for the opening of Sobrato High.
“Our first duty was to create secondary boundaries,” he said. “We knew from the beginning that this would be a very difficult process. We need to give ourselves another year to plan, with all the data in front of us.”
Parent Tracey Ciccone, who is a member of the boundary committee, told board members they need to ask themselves some questions before addressing boundary changes again.
“Do we really know why you are making this change,” she said.
Trustee Shellé Thomas agreed that the board needs to have a clear direction.
“I would reiterate what Tracey said – Why?” she said. “We need to do what we think is best for all students … I am more than happy to postpone this decision.”
School District officials had previously told trustees that some schools were out of balance, in terms of ethnicity and socio-economic status, and overcrowded, particularly Nordstrom.
