Superintendent Tony Tata Presents Student Assignment Proposals
May 23, 2011 - WCPSS Superintendent Tony Tata today presented two draft student assignment proposals following more than two months of research and analysis by a task force of administrators he created in March. Superintendent Tata talked with reporters about the work of the student assignment task force. |
 Superintendent Tata demonstrated the website created to seek community input on student assignment proposals. |
Listen to Superintendent Tata 25.5 minute mp3 file |
"We're ready to present our work to our community," Tata said. "We believe these two proposals for student assignment can be the foundation of a long-range strategy. These are not finished products by any means, but they are concrete enough that we can bring them to our parents and citizens and ask for their feedback."
The Student Assignment Task Force identified nine possible courses of action, which were then narrowed down to two proposals. Superintendent Tata indicated that these proposals should now be opened to public comment so they can be further refined and improved.
"These two courses of action offer different approaches to raising student achievement, while providing stability and accommodating growth,” Tata said."In developing these proposals, we looked to Board Policy 6200, which governs student assignment, to drive our process coupled with feedback I received during my listening tour. We also held to our school system's mission: to significantly increase achievement for all students by providing them a world-class education."
Blue Plan
The Blue Plan is a community-based choice model with access to a full set of magnet schools. It redefines "base schools" from just a year-round and a traditional option to a broader list of four to six schools. It guarantees an "achievement choice" school for all students, while providing more elasticity to accommodate continuing enrollment growth.
Green Plan
The Green Plan seeks to build on current parent satisfaction by making improvements in several identified problem areas: more calendar consistency, streamlined and more consistent policies and practices, and balanced student achievement. The plan would revise criteria and policy regarding reassignment, transfers and grandfathering to provide a more stable learning environment.
Addressing Priorities
"We believe these two proposals address many important factors facing our county: community-based schools, choice, diversity, efficient use of resources, stability, and achievement," Tata said.
“No plan can satisfy 100 percent of the need, but we hope these two plans will be the starting point for greater stability and choice -- a family-friendly approach to student assignment that maximizes every student's academic potential,” Tata said.
Public Review and Comment
A website -- http://assignment.wcpss.net/ -- is available for citizens and parents to review all nine proposals that were considered. Each proposal is outlined with supporting research and advantages and disadvantages.
The public can submit their addresses and see how school choice and feeder patterns may look under the two leading draft proposals. Public comment and feedback is crucial to a new assignment plan. Citizens can share their comments as well as attach supporting documents. Public comment will be taken until midnight June 12. All submissions become public records.
For those citizens who do not have Internet access, they can call the school system’s customer service center at 850-1600 during regular business hours, and a representative will assist them in obtaining information about the proposals for their family and take their comments. Information will also be available at their schools, and the task force is scheduling a series of public briefings next week. A separate press release will announce the times and locations.
Student Assignment Task Force
On March 8, a team of Central Services administrators was taken off their regular assignments to spearhead the plan development. The Student Assignment Task Force (SATF) is a cross-functional team that drew from their experiences in academic leadership, data evaluation, magnet programming, growth management, and staff development.
The team used a research-based and data-driven methodology that allowed them to develop and evaluate possible courses of action against 18 criteria. The criteria are derivatives of Board Policy 6200.
They researched 22 other school systems in the development of the nine courses of action.
“We did not set out to create nine options. I asked the team to ‘cast the net’ and see what our options might be without constraint,” Tata said.
The results were nine ideas that the team charted as courses of action. The team then studied facts, made assumptions, applied constraints and factored in local context, all of which made some plans infeasible or not acceptable. “Feasibility speaks to the affordability of the plan within fiscal and logistical limitations. An acceptable plan meant that it complied with Policy 6200 and the needs of the community,” Tata said.
Next Steps
"Suggestions on improvement will be reviewed, adjustments will be made as necessary, and then we'll take our final recommendation to the Board of Education in mid-June," Tata said. "This is the beginning of the next phase of the process."