Re-zoning?

Just received letter stating my child will be attending Clinton, we are zoned for Tuscan but opted in to Seth Boyden.. Anyone else get a letter notifying them of the change? Unacceptable, not sure what's going on with the schools but Clinton is NOT going to happen

I am zoned for South Mountain. It was full, so my child was assigned to Seth Boyden. I got an email a few weeks ago asking me if I wanted to switch to Clinton, since it's closer to me. If you opted into Seth Boyden, it's strange that they would switch you. 

Tall_Mocha said:
Just received letter stating my child will be attending Clinton, we are zoned for Tuscan but opted in to Seth Boyden.. Anyone else get a letter notifying them of the change? Unacceptable, not sure what's going on with the schools but Clinton is NOT going to happen

Get in touch with Kalisha Morgan (I believe she does the Seth Boyden approvals).

Having experience at both SB and Clinton, I don't think you can go wrong with either. But if your preference is SB, I would pursue that.

FWIW, at one of the public sessions regarding the development plan and re-districting proposals, Dr. Ficarra said that currently 28% of the elementary school students are attending schools outside of their "zoned" areas because of crowding.  So a lot of people are in your boat.  That said, I don't know how this affects the SB opt-in process....

(also, as an aside, I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Clinton in the last 5-10 years....)

Tall_Mocha said:
Just received letter stating my child will be attending Clinton, we are zoned for Tuscan but opted in to Seth Boyden.. Anyone else get a letter notifying them of the change? Unacceptable, not sure what's going on with the schools but Clinton is NOT going to happen

 What grade is your child in? I was told that Clinton Kindergarten was closed, but there was still space at Seth Boyden and Tuscan, and very few spots left in Marshall. If you get forced into Clinton you would be screwed if you need aftercare. 

weirdbeard said:
FWIW, at one of the public sessions regarding the development plan and re-districting proposals, Dr. Ficarra said that currently 28% of the elementary school students are attending schools outside of their "zoned" areas because of crowding.  So a lot of people are in your boat.  That said, I don't know how this affects the SB opt-in process....
(also, as an aside, I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Clinton in the last 5-10 years....)

ravenmad007 said:

Tall_Mocha said:
Just received letter stating my child will be attending Clinton, we are zoned for Tuscan but opted in to Seth Boyden.. Anyone else get a letter notifying them of the change? Unacceptable, not sure what's going on with the schools but Clinton is NOT going to happen

 What grade is your child in? I was told that Clinton Kindergarten was closed, but there was still space at Seth Boyden and Tuscan, and very few spots left in Marshall. If you get forced into Clinton you would be screwed if you need aftercare. 

 She's going to the 4th grade. Seeing as how we are zoned for Tuscan and chose SB you'd think if there were crowding issues then they would just send her back to where we're zoned. 

My 2nd child is graduating from Clinton tomorrow.  Fantastic experience.  I consider you lucky

No matter how wonderful Clinton is, an unrequested school change going into fourth grade seems very disruptive to the child, and I would want answers.

susan1014 said:
No matter how wonderful Clinton is, an unrequested school change going into fourth grade seems very disruptive to the child, and I would want answers.

 I agree. I mean ultimately I'm sure it would be fine but I don't understand how a child already enrolled in a particular school just gets moved. I'd definitely ask why and if your child is happy at SB definitely request to stay there. 

To clarify: your child has been an opt-in student at SB for previous year(s) -- and this wasn't a first year opt-in request?

To clarify, does Clinton not have aftercare (and the other schools do?)

Clinton aftercare always fills up first.

weirdbeard said:
FWIW, at one of the public sessions regarding the development plan and re-districting proposals, Dr. Ficarra said that currently 28% of the elementary school students are attending schools outside of their "zoned" areas because of crowding.  So a lot of people are in your boat.  That said, I don't know how this affects the SB opt-in process....
(also, as an aside, I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Clinton in the last 5-10 years....)

 It's amazing that the district still allows exceptions requested by parents for students to attend schools they are not zoned to attend. (This does not include those that opt into SB)

yahooyahoo said:
 It's amazing that the district still allows exceptions for students to attend schools they are not zoned to attend. (This does not include those that opt into SB)

I don't think it's "exceptions" as much as "enrollment is closed, so your child will need to attend another school that still has openings in that grade".

Last year the district website listed the grades that were full at each elementary school. I'm not seeing that posted yet this year.

sprout said:

yahooyahoo said:
 It's amazing that the district still allows exceptions for students to attend schools they are not zoned to attend. (This does not include those that opt into SB)

I don't think it's "exceptions" as much as "enrollment is closed, so your child will need to attend another school that still has openings in that grade".
Last year the district website listed the grades that were full at each elementary school. I'm not seeing that posted yet this year.

 No, I'm talking about students being allowed to stay in a school at the parent's request when they are zoned for another school.  For example, family moves from school A zone to school B zone but student and siblings are allowed to stay in school A, rather than attend school B.

yahooyahoo said:

sprout said:

yahooyahoo said:
 It's amazing that the district still allows exceptions for students to attend schools they are not zoned to attend. (This does not include those that opt into SB)

I don't think it's "exceptions" as much as "enrollment is closed, so your child will need to attend another school that still has openings in that grade".
Last year the district website listed the grades that were full at each elementary school. I'm not seeing that posted yet this year.

 No, I'm talking about students being allowed to stay in a school at the parent's request when they are zoned for another school.  For example, family moves from school A zone to school B zone but student and siblings are allowed to stay in school A, rather than attend school B.

 Is this really so widespread as to cause a real issue?  I'm personally aware of only a small handful of intra-district moves, and in those cases the kids switched schools.  I think the bulk of the 28% are due to the condition that spout described.

I'm not saying it's a big number, I just think it's surprising that the district still allows it to happen when they are turning kids away from the schools that are in their zone.  Even if it's just a few kids, those are spots that are taken away from kids that live in the zone.

Are they in the grades for which kids are being sent to different schools?

Steve said:
Are they in the grades for which kids are being sent to different schools?

 I don't know if kids have been turned away for grades where other kids have been given exceptions.  I do know for a fact that exceptions have been given to kids in a very crowded grade in a crowded school.

IMHO, the district should have a firm policy in place rather than treating everything on a case by case basis.  You move, so do your kids' schools.

I'm guessing that you've never moved within the school district after your kid has been in an elementary school for four years.

Steve said:
I'm guessing that you've never moved within the school district after your kid has been in an elementary school for four years.

 Maybe not, but my kids have been in a school that was way beyond capacity while kids from outside of our zone were enrolled there.

A few problems with that:

Some of our elementary schools have served as headquarters for special education (Tuscan when my son was there in the 1980s) and ESOL (Clinton more recently) for example.  These schools take children from throughout the district who meet the requirements for entering the specialized program.  

What happens to children who are enrolled in a school other than the one they are districted for because their districted school was filled to capacity at the time they enrolled?  Do they continue in that school or do they transfer to their in-district school as soon as an opening occurs?

If more in-district students for Boyden register there, what happens to opt in students when the school is at capacity in one or more grades?  Are the opt in students then sent to whatever school has space - could be what happened to OP - or are the in-district students sent to another school that has space? .

What happens if a child enrolled in their in-district school is having problems in that school and would benefit from being transferred elsewhere?  Should the child be forced to remain in their in-district school or should a mechanism exist for transferring the student to another school within the South Orange Maplewood School district.

Untangling the current problem may not be that easy if continue to have a neighborhood school policy.

In the past, opt-in students at SB (as well as their siblings as I recall) were guaranteed to stay at SB.  Has that policy changed?  

Unlike preference transfers, we did not have to re-apply each year.  So the OP puzzles me.

sac said:
In the past, opt-in students at SB (as well as their siblings as I recall) were guaranteed to stay at SB.  Has that policy changed?  
Unlike preference transfers, we did not have to re-apply each year.  So the OP puzzles me.

I think the only thing you are guaranteed is a spot in the district. Maybe that was the policy when SB had excess capacity, but I think all bets are off once a class/school reaches capacity.

sprout said:
To clarify: your child has been an opt-in student at SB for previous year(s) -- and this wasn't a first year opt-in request?

 No, she would be starting her 3rd year at Seth Boyden

Does anyone else know of such school notices going out this early? I only have info about a special summer program at Clinton for those going into 2nd grade.

Tall_Mocha said:

sprout said:
To clarify: your child has been an opt-in student at SB for previous year(s) -- and this wasn't a first year opt-in request?

 No, she would be starting her 3rd year at Seth Boyden

 Did you reach out to Dr. Morgan?  It seems like the school change might be an administrative error.

One person I know switched their child's school partway through the year.  This child in question was coming home in tears every day, but wasn't able to verbalize what the issue was as they were a younger student.  The BOE resisted, but finally relented.  The child in question was much happier after the switch.

Allowances also need to be made when a placement causes a hardship.  A friend had children in two different elementary schools, not by choice.  The issue was that both schools start at the same exact time, AND they were not eligible for busing for either school.  With traffic in town as it is, it was impossible for both children to be dropped off on time, one would be late.  The family in question was not in the financial position to afford a nanny or other hired help as suggested by the BOE to get the children to school, it was up to the parent to do it on their own.  The school principal eventually threatened that if their child was continually dropped off late they would be referred to CPS.  They had to get the BOE to intervene, but still got flack from the principal.  It got to the point where the BOE couldn't get the principal to back off and finally acknowledged that not every SOMa parent can afford hired help, so they approved a transfer so that both children would be in the same school.

Sounds crowded. What’s the average elementary class size to teacher ratio? 23:1?

my child’s class at South Mountain had 25:1.