Board Agenda - December 11, 2007

2. Skaggs/Mathews

Presenter: Doug Otto

Purpose: A - Request decision - closure required

Time: 10 minutes

Description:

Administration recommends a change in the attendance zone for Skaggs Elementary to provide enrollment relief. That change would move the area of the Skaggs' zone 103 to Mathews Elementary School for the 2008-09 school year. This same area was originally part of the Mathews attendance zone.

Skaggs has a current enrollment of 721 students while Mathews has a current enrollment of 538 students. The zone being considered contains 157 elementary students. With the change in boundaries, in the 2008-09 school-year, projections show that Skaggs would have 574 students and Mathews would have 678 students. Mathews has been renovated and enlarged in order to accommodate additional students.

Per the minutes of the November 2004, Plano ISD Board of Trustees meeting, it was noted that relief of overcrowding at Skaggs Elementary was needed. It was further discussed that overcrowding at Skaggs could be alleviated following the completion of renovation at Mathews Elementary. Mathews Elementary renovations, due for completion in December 2007, will accommodate more students, which will allow for the removal of portable buildings and relieve overcrowding at Skaggs.

In December, 2004, the Board of Trustees approved transferring students from Skaggs Elementary to Haun Elementary in order to provide relief for Skaggs. The zone in question had originally been in the Haun zone and was moved to Skaggs at the same time that zone 103 from Mathews Elementary School was also zoned to Skaggs. The December, 2004, decision was effective with the 2005-06 school year. The decision also allowed current Skaggs 4th graders from that area the option to remain at Skaggs for 5th grade (with no transportation). In addition, the decision required current Skaggs 5th graders from the affected area to attend Robinson Middle School. However, students who were in the 6th and 7th grades from the affected area were allowed to complete their middle school years at Rice (no transportation provided), or they could attend Robinson Middle School.

The Board received input on the Skaggs to Mathews recommendation when it was placed on the November, 2007 agenda. Speakers voiced their opposition to the recommendation to move zone 103 back to Mathews. The input also included suggestions that if the Board were to pass the recommendation, then it was requested that parents have more flexibility in the transition, especially at the middle school level. The November, 2007, recommendation, if passed, could result in approximately 10 families having students at both Schimelpfenig and Rice Middle Schools at the same time.

As a result of the input received from parents at the November, 2007, board meeting, and in an attempt to maintain consistency with the 2004 decision to send Skaggs students back to Haun Elementary, the recommendation affecting zone 103 has been revised. The Board has made many boundary decisions affecting thousands of students over the past many years. Whenever possible, the Board tried to give parents flexibility during the transition. In all cases, however, the Board has been consistent with one issue: No transportation has been allowed for students who exercised an option to stay at their current school rather than attend a newly assigned campus.

Recommendation:

Approve change in attendance zone by moving zone 103 back to Mathews Elementary School. These students would be eligible for transportation to Mathews Elementary. Current fourth grade students at Skaggs Elementary in zone 103 may choose to remain at Skaggs for their fifth grade year. No transportation will be provided to Skaggs for students who choose to remain at Skaggs for the fifth grade year. These students would also have the option to attend Rice Middle School or Schimelpfenig Middle School. Transportation will not be provided to Rice, and transportation to Schimelpfenig will be provided via the district's transportation guidelines.

Current Skaggs fifth graders in zone 103 will have the option of attending Schimelpfenig Middle School or Rice Middle School. Students currently in sixth and seventh grade in zone 103 may complete their middle school years at Rice Middle School or attend Schimelpfenig Middle School. Transportation will only be provided to those Schimelpfenig students who qualify via the district's transportation guidelines

Business Impact:

Summary:

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