SBAC Meeting update from Feb 27th Meeting

An email from Board member: 

"I am sorry to say that I just received word that the SBAC is staying with their original school boundary proposal. We were told that they talked through all of the ideas brought forward by your community but that they felt like these would only be temporary solutions. I'll talk with you more in depth about this later."

Alvin ISD projected enrollment with the current proposal

Why should the other Shadow Creek Neighborhoods that are "safe" care about what the rezoning at Mary Marek Elementary?

1) Your neighborhood may be next!

The current cause of overcrowding at Marek Elementary looks to be due to the new apartments added on Business Center Drive.  There have been virtually zero new Single Family homes built in the current zone since 2010.  Compare this with 2 new apartments and one underway with 1,000+ units added.  To solve this problem the SBAC/Alvin ISD proposes to move 5 neighborhoods (Morningside, Reflection Pointe, Heron Bay, Gables, and Half Moon Terrace) to other schools.  This reduces the number of SF neighborhoods in Marek from 20 down to 15 (a 25% reduction).

What happens when another apartment complex is added?  Alvin ISD officials have admitted there are 2 additional sites where more apartments could be and most likely be added.  Look out Osprey Pointe, Mallard Landing, and The Island neighborhoods, you will probably be the next to go!

2) The number of apartment students will only increase.

Obviously, a student is the same whether he/she comes from an apartment or a single family home.  However, parent involvement can be different.  I assume the bulk of volunteers and active parents come from the Single Family ranks versus the apartments.  Based on data from Alvin ISD, we are being told that 207 students currently come from the apartments at Marek.  Based on the attached slide from the Alvin ISD presentation, the current enrollment at Marek is 931 students.  Therefore apartment students represent 22% of the current enrollment.  The projected enrollment in 2014, with the current proposal, at Marek shrinks to 748.  Assuming the number of apartment students stay the same, they will now represent 28% of the students at Marek.  This percentage will only increase as the new apartment at the corner of Discovery Bay and Business Center Drive completes construction and the two recently built apartments (Retreat and Discovery) start to reach stabilization.  Plus when the 2 remaining sites begin construction (you know they will!), the percentage will have to increase dramatically.  Lastly, it has been shown that SF parents will begin to send their kids to alternative schooling (i.e. private) once they see that their public school's performance starts to degrade.  This effect will only accelerate the percentage.

We need to spread the apartments fairly and equally to all elementary schools in the Shadow Creek area.  Why does Marek have 6 apartments and over 2,000 units?  Compare this with Wilder, York, and Duke/15 elementary schools with one apartment each with 300-400 units.  That represents a 6x higher concentration at Marek than the other schools.  Or Marek has 2x the total number of apartments and units than the other three elementary schools COMBINED!

We need fairness and balance in each school's boundary!!!

Feb 20th Board Meeting Updates and Remarks from Nicole Tonini

All,

As per my last email, I wanted to give updates on the SBAC as I get them.  This past Thursday evening, Pat Miller, Alvin ISD Chief Operations Officer, updated the Board of Trustees regarding the School Boundary Advisory Committee at the conclusion of the Budget Workshop.  The intention of the meeting (as I understood it) was to provide the Trustees an update, especially seeing how the original timeline was to present their proposal in March.  The committee had reconvened on Thursday, February 13^th.   Following are points of the presentation, and questions that were asked by Trustees.  Due to the format of the workshop, no questions were permitted from the audience. (Jenny Lin and David Hu were at this meeting also, so please let me know if you caught anything that I may have missed in my note taking.)

Presentation notes:

·         There are roughly 4410 homes within the AISD portion of Shadow Creek Ranch.  There are 800 homes within Southern Trails.  The sign-in sheets at the public forum on 10 February accounted for 180 families represented. 

o   NOTE: Based on unofficial numbers I have seen, there are approximately 1,800 homes with students in Shadow Creek and Southern Trails.  A 10% turn-out is equivalent to the turn-out of a major local election.  This was not discussed in the meeting.

·         The SBAC met to discuss the concerns and questions that were presented to the District at the Public Forum on 10 February 2014, as well as those they had received through telephone and electronic correspondence.  A summary of their findings has been posted on the website.

·         Another SBAC meeting is scheduled for 27 February.

·         A second Public Forum will take place, the date is TBD.

·         The amount of growth in the district is beyond the control of Alvin ISD.  AISD has no say or influence on the number of people/families that move into the area, nor do they have any influence on the types of homes (single family, multi family, town homes, etc…) that are built within the boundaries of the school district.  There charge is only to offer the best education available to every child that resides in the school district.

·         Southern Trails – Knowing that a school would be built on CR 59, (as well as a High School on Kirby), the developer has had plans to build a thru street that would allow access from the back of Southern Trails out onto CR 59.  Now that the school nearing completion, the developer, realizing a school nearby will drive home sales, has submitted requests for permits to the City of Pearland to build the road.  The building of the road lies solely in the hands of the builder.  Alvin ISD had in the past requested that the road be built prior to the school opening, but no progress had been made by the developer until now.  

o   Bussing – until the road out of the back of Southern Trails is completed (projected December 2014), bussing will be available because the route for walking students would be deemed a hazard, and the distance between Duke Elementary and Southern Trails entrance will be greater than 2 miles before the road leading to CR 59 is open.

o   At the time that York Elementary was built, Southern Trails was not moved to that school, which would have logically been their assigned school.  The reasoning behind keeping ST at Wilder was that they were told that another school would be built within a few years.  The District told ST that they did not want to move the ST students twice in a short period of time.  (The difficulty is that this information is forgotten or lost as people move in and out of an area.) 

·         Natural boundaries used by the school district do not include City boundaries.  Alvin ISD encompasses and serves the students and families of 8 different cities.

Questions posed by Trustees:

·         N Tonini:  Are there any other known apartment complexes planned to be open in or near Shadow Creek Ranch?

Answer:  There are plans for 3-4 more complexes in SCR.  4 in the Wilder zone and 2 on Business Center Drive. 

·         N Tonini: What is our bus policy and how does it influence boundaries?

Answer:  Bus transportation is offered when students are 2 miles or more from their school or if the route is deemed a hazard.  Bus service is not offered for a distance less than 2 miles.

·         S Stringer:  When will the next Public Forum be? 

Answer:  There will be a second forum; however, a date for that meeting has not been set. 

·         N Tonini:  What will be the objective of the next public meeting be?  Feedback, confirmation, or simply informational?

Answer: The public forum will be to inform the public of the progress of the SBAC as well as to receive feedback from the citizens.

·         C Harris:  There has been concerns regarding the communication surrounding this process, have we learned anything that will change our communications going forward and in the process in the future?

Answer:  There is a need for more front end information in this process and the committee and District Leadership will adjust accordingly.

At this point, because of the length of the meeting, we were told that if we had any other questions, the staff would be available at another time.  The meeting was then adjourned at about 10:15 pm.

I have since sent an email to Mr. Miller and Mr. Combs stating my strong request that there be a more equitable distribution for the apartments in Shadow Creek Ranch between the four West-end elementary schools, as well as continued effort to address the concerns and requests from residents of Southern Trails. 

Furthermore, prior to the Thursday meeting, the District has updated the website (http://www.alvinisd.net/Page/15353) with frequently asked quested.  If you have not already, please visit the link above to access them.  

Thank you,

Nicole

ntonini@alvinisd.net

Tentative Dates: Public Forum 2

The SBAC Committee met on February 13th.  During the meeting the committee reviewed feedback that had been received during the Public Forum on Boundary Changes.  The Committee spent most of the evening discussing the community concerns.  Templeton Demographics’ enrollment projection numbers for “planning areas” (clusters of homes and residences from a bounded area) were shared with the Committee.

An additional 4th meeting of the SBAC was scheduled for February 27th, intended to complete the discussion, conclusions, and Board recommendation.
Timeline for moving forward:

• February 20 – Board Workshop
• February 27 (Tentative Date): Additional SBAC Meeting @ Rodeo Palms JH
• Tentative for week of March 31st - SBAC:  Public Forum  (the date will be set by SBAC at their Feb 27th meeting)
• April 8 - Board Meeting:  Final SBAC recommendations will be provided to the Board of Trustees

Updates to Board of Trustee by SBAC Chair Pat Miller during Budgetary Workshop of Feb 20, 2014

Around 9 pm, Pat Miller took up the presentation to update the Board on the status of SBAC. HereI summarize what he had to share:

1. That the SBAC is still working on recommendation, and no recommendation in regard to rezoning has been finalized yet. Once finalized, as promised, there would be a public forum, after which it will be brought to the Trustees for final voting. The voting will happen in April, 2014. Here is the timeline: 

   SBAC update to the Board at the Budget Workshop – Feb 20 (Alvin)

·         Additional Citizens committee to be held Feb 27 (tentative)

·         An additional open forum has been requested by various Trustees (date TBD)

·         Present proposal to Board at the April Board meeting (tentative)

2. The first Public Hearing of Feb 10, was attended by about 180 parents, with over 90% attendees from Shadow Creek Ranch. According to Pat Miller, this represents a very small number of parents attending the public forum from a community which has about 4,400 single homes. 

Please note following number of students from the affected sub-divisions from SCR that attends Marek: 

Gables- 50
Heron Bay- 27
Reflection Point- 48
Morningside- 31

Total: 156 kids

I live in Morningside, and I have 2 kids going to Marek. If my calculation is correct, a 180 parents for 156 affected kids from this rezoning is a pretty impressive number. 

3. During the update, Daniel McComb, Director of Communication, mentioned that Alvin ISD does not make the flyers. These are printed on behalf of Alvin ISD by various not-for-profit organizations within the community. Because of lack of control of Alvin ISD on these organizations, the parents received black and white, and not a color, flyer, about 10 days before the first public forum. 

My questions: 
Couldn't Alvin ISD requested these flyers to be sent out way in advance, say before the formation of SBAC ? 

What about email communication from the School ? from the Avlin ISD? or at Alvin ISD website ( and even on the Facebook site)?  

Mr. McComb has promised the Board that communication concern is being addressed by constantly updating the website: http://www.alvinisd.net/zoning

3. Here is the main slide that Mr. Miller spent most of his time. He had no new information to add on to. The main message was that the SCR has witnessed unprecedented growth. That many multi-family houses (Apartments) have been built around Marek. There are two land sites of another elementary and a junior high within SCR. 

Here is the current numbers of students attending from Apartments and the single family homes: 

SCR subdivisions:

Gables- 50
Heron Bay- 27
Reflection Point- 48
Morningside- 31

Apartments- Alexan-24
Villas- 96 and 42
Retreat and Discovery Bay- 43 total

School Capacity

Marek: 872   Current 931

Wilder: 908    Current 893

My questions: 

1. If we move on with proposed recommendation, all 4 subdivision would be assigned to Wilder, which will add about 150 kids to Wilder from Marek. The new number would be (without considering new enrollments/ graduations)

Marek = 781

Wilder= 1043

The projected 2014-15 with rezoning ( http://www.alvinisd.net/zoning) would be: 

Marek: 748

Wilder = 751

Surely, I would like to see how the 2014-15 numbers are being projected. 

2. The total number of student enrollment and graduation of Multi-family (apartments) vs single home at Marek since 2004. The capacity problem at Marek is because of the 4 new apartment complexes built around Marek. While apartment complex pay property tax, the taxes paid per family of single homes is much higher ( at least 1: 3) than the apartment complexes. The 4 apartment complexes zoned to Marek has 2000 apartment units. Total Single family homes in SCR is around 4, 400. In new future a  new apartment complex construction near Sam's club will begin soon. This would be again zoned to Marek. 

The map below shows the total number of units in these apartment complexes and number of students from these complexes attending Marek. Only one apartment complex is zoned to Wilder, while all 4 are zoned to Marek.

By moving 150 kids (considered to be overcrowding population of Marek) to Wilder (that is 15 students short of operating at its max capacity) is not going to be a long run solution ( and is not a good short run solution either). 

Miller also remarked "any proposed rezoning is not going to keep every parents happy". 

(True. When Ms. Hawk had to select representatives for SBAC, she chose parents from Single Family Home. The first public forum did not have a single member residing in the Apartment complexes. Those who have invested the most time and money are the one who  would be the most angry and that is what happening)

As the density of students from the apartment going to Marek will increase (existing and future complexes), the rezoning of Marek will continue. This will eventually shrink the number of students from the single home of SCR attending to Marek. This will lead to rezoning of further subdivisions of SCR from Marek to Wilder.

4. Pat Miller pointed out the concerns raised during the Public Forum, and the SBAC response. The detail on this is posted at : http://www.alvinisd.net/zoning

I am listing copying below the important ones that matter to us - 

1. Alvin ISD has expressed that they strive to use “natural boundaries” when creating school attendance boundaries.  What is a “natural boundary”?

Answer: The District strives to utilize existing objects, naturally occurring or man-made, which create separation between immediate sections of a neighborhood.  As an example, large roadways or thoroughfares, such as FM518 and McHard Road, create an ideal boundary, as do waterways and detention.  Utility easements or green spaces serve as good natural boundaries because they create distance between sections of homes.  Other items such as parks or non-residential properties create an opportunity to draw attendance boundaries that do not separate families living in close proximity to one another. 

My response: 

The usage of "natural boundary" to rezone 4 subdivisions to Wilder is nonsensical and irrelevant. SCR can be zoned hundred different ways, without any one challenging the definition of "natural boundary".  

2. What is the purpose of having parent representatives on the School Boundary Advisory Committee if they do not meet individually with impacted neighborhoods? 

Answer: Alvin ISD has utilized the process of having parents on the SBAC.  These committee members are charged with looking out for the best interests of the entire district.  The individual representatives are not asked to represent individual streets, sections or neighborhoods.  The SBAC Public Forum is held to allow people in impacted areas to express their personal concerns or the concerns of their neighbors.  Committee members are asked to provide feedback, ideas and additional considerations for the purpose of ensuring final recommendations that best serve all  families in Alvin ISD

My response: 

Please note how they have phrased the question. We are educated enough to know that it is not possible for 3 reps to meet us "individually" (and  to be honest, why not? After all each of us pay our dues to the local and state economy. Don't we?) The strongest opposition regarding the SBAC recommendation is from the parents of Marek from the 4 sub-divisions. 

The 3-4 options rezoning options provided by the demographers (and Alvin ISD officials) to SBAC did not affect the 3 reps and their children going to Marek.  In order to form a committee, the purpose of the committee had to be communicated well in advance to all the parents. Even if the affected parents are not in the Marek representing committee, there should have been communication by the PTO, Principal, and Alvin ISD before, and during the committee formation. 

3. Does the cost associated with transportation drive the decision to leave apartments in current attendance zone boundaries? 

Answer: Not at all. As the SBAC discussed feedback provided during the public forum, it became apparent that the zoning of apartment complexes resulted in a considerable number of questions.   The District must be good stewards of every tax dollar and identify the cost implications of future decisions.  The apartments currently zoned to Marek Elementary are within 2 miles of the campus.  Zoning them to a different campus would place them outside of the 2-mile radius thus requiring bus transportation, which results in an annual district expenditure exceeding $200,000.  Transportation costs are not an SBAC guiding principal; however, it does warrant discussion. 

My Response: 

From yesterday's budgetary  presentation, Alvin ISD is projected to have a surplus of $ 6 million ( and it remains positive surplus for next 3 years or so). Bus transportation receives State level Funding. Alvin ISD receives local, state, and federal funding. I am sure if the need be, it can be worked upon. 

5. Does the current SBAC recommendation increase elementary travel distances for the families in Reflection Pointe, Morningside, Heron Bay and The Gables?  

Answer: By in large, Reflection Pointe, Morningside, and Heron Bay experience the same trip distances to Wilder Elementary as they currently travel to Marek Elementary.  The distance from the front gate of The Gables to Wilder is slightly increased over the current distance to Marek; however, both distances are well below the District’s 2-mile threshold for providing transportation.

No Response

Web links on Alvin ISD, and Schools

Alvin ISD Zoning : http://www.alvinisd.net/zoning


2013 Demographic Study of Alvin ISD :
http://www.alvinisd.net/cms/lib03/TX01001897/Centricity/Domain/3306/Alvin%20ISD%20Forecast%20Fall%202013.pdf

Wilder :
 http://www.greatschools.org/texas/pearland/11951-Laura-Ingalls-Wilder/

Marek:
http://www.greatschools.org/texas/pearland/10082-Mary-Burks-Marek-Elementary-School/

Morningside Proposal on Rezoning Submitted to SBAC for Feb 13 meeting

Date: February 13, 2014

Alvin ISD-SBAC Committee Members of Mary Marek Elementary School

This letter is submitted to you on behalf of families of Morning Side Sub-division from which currently 24 students are attending Mary Marek.

Following the Public Forum of Monday, February 10, the parents representing Morning Side Sub-division of Shadow Creek Ranch attended the Alvin ISD Board of Trustee Meetings on Tuesday, February 11 where our lead petitioner was provided 5 minutes to share our concern with the Board members (http://www.alvinisd.net/Page/11416 at 1:00:55).

As the opportunity to meet and discuss with the Parents of students who would be affected by the current proposed rezoning was denied, a meeting of the residents of Morning Side Sub-division was held at the Conference Room of Home Depot, Pearland at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

Collectively, we would like to express the following concerns in regard to the SBAC work:

1.       Lack of communication by the committee to the  key stakeholders, i.e. Parents and Students

2.       Lack of detail demographic data, decision criteria, and constraints, provided to the public

3.       Incorrect procedure used by the committee to choose from the  rezoning alternatives when the members should have collectively formulated the various alternatives and then make the selection

From our meeting of Wednesday, we would like to propose the following recommendations for your kind consideration and analysis.

Problems/ Challenges:

1.       Over-crowding at Marek and other elementary schools located in the Shadow Creek area

2.       Student enrollments at newly being constructed elementary school

Situational Analysis:

Mary Marek and Wilder Elementary were brought into operation to primarily serve the Shadow Creek Ranch residents that has a total houses of 599 (http://www.pearlandinfo.com/pearlandsubdivisionprofile.aspx?subdivisionid=35 ).

Over the past 3 to 4 years, several builders have constructed apartment complexes closer to these two schools that had been awarded as “Exemplary” and “Recognized” campuses. As the number of population/demographics has changed and increased because of these new constructions, the schools in the area are currently operating over its capacity.  As such providing a quality curriculum, richer educational learning experience for the young students, and a stronger parent-teacher engagement have become challenging for the school administrators.

Among all the elementary schools in Shadow Creek, the highest number of apartment units zoned is to Mary Marek.

	Apartment Complex			Telephone		Number of Units
Apartments Zoned to Mary Marek
1	The Villas at Business Center Drive			713 434 2400		560 (after acquiring neighboring
						Waterford Place)
2	The Retreat at Business Center Drive			713 436 2800		370
3	The Discovery at Business Center Drive			713 340 3100		374
4	The Alexan at Shadow Creek Pwy			713 340 2300		392
					Total	1696	(Approx.)
Apartments Zoned to  Laura Wilder
1	The Carroll			713 340 2010		400
Apartments Zoned to York
1	The Avenue			713 340 2700		350

In comparison to the single home owner families, it is safe to argue that apartment residents are:

1.       Transient in nature

2.       Per apartment unit property tax is less than the single home in Pearland area

Our Proposal:

Members of family contacted the demographers and ISD officials of Houston ISD (HISD's demographer 713-556-6734) and Fort Bend ISD to understand possible alternatives the ISD had taken in order to:

1.       Address the growing demand on local school’s (examplaries and recognized) existing capacity

2.       Alternate to providing equal access to quality education offered by ISD to the residents of single house families as well as the new, transient apartment unit families. 

3.       To protect and enhance the educational quality of existing exemplary and recognized school

We are attaching the proposal of Fort Bend ISD –Draft proposal for your reference where options include to rezone the apartment complexes to new facilities (for example, Page 3 Options 1, 2, and 3).

We believe the community (students, parents, families, and neighbors) coherence can be maintained by our proposed following options in addressing the Problems/ Challenges faced by Mary Marek.

Option 1:

Rezone all the apartment complexes built in past 4 years to the newly being constructed school (Elem # 15).

Option 2:

Evenly rezone the apartment complexes among the 4 elementary schools in the Shadow Creek Ranch area, thus reducing the capacity pressure at Mary Marek. An example to his is what Pearland ISD has done to save their exemplary schools by zoning the apartments to a farther schools. Here is an example:  

St. Andrew's Apartments on 10000 Broadway St. (518), Pearland TX 

  

St. Andrew's Apartments (http://www.apartments.com/Texas/Pearland/St-Andrews/865240) zoned to (Pearland ISD School Zone "TransFinder" websitehttp://www.pearlandisd.org/information.cfm?subpage=3601 ):

1) Massey Ranch Elementary (3900 Manvel Road, 77584): 5.0 miles/10 min. drive 

2) Sam Jamison Middle School (2506 Woody Road, Pearland 77581): 4.9 mi/ 10 min.

3) Pearland Junior High South (4719 Bailey Road, Pearland 77584): 7.1 mi/ 14 min.

4) Dawson High (2050 Cullen Blvd, Pearland)

Please note below the travel distance from the St. Andrew’s Apartment Complex to the school it is zoned to:

1) Silverlake Elementary (2550 County 90, Pearland 77584): 1.3 mi/ 5 min drive from St. Andrew's Apts

2) Silvercrest Elementary (3003 Southwyck Parkway, Pearland 77584): 1.3 mi/ 4 min.

3) Rogers Middle School (3121 Manvel Road, 77584): 3.3 mi/ 7 min.

4) Berry Miller Junior High (3301 Manvel Road, 77584): 3.9 mi/ 8 min.

The attached proposal of Fort Bend ISD has similar proposal for zoning the apartments.

Option 3:

Add new capacity (permanent or portable units) at Marek

Conclusion:

We are a community that deeply cares and love Mary Marek. Our children attend Mary Marek because we, the parents, made a conscious choice to invest in the expensive community that is zoned to Mary Marek. Besides financial investment and high annual property tax that we homeowner pay, many of our parents are involved in Mary Marek’s activities. We are hopeful our representatives will give a fair review of our proposals and would be provided with an opportunity during the SBAC meeting to the rest of the committee members. Our signed petition was submitted to Alvin ISD officials on Monday, February 10, 2014 during the Public Forum.

Any feedback and communication on the finalized proposal of rezoning to us would be highly appreciated.

Thanking your for your service and time on this important issue of ours,

Students, Parents, and Families of Morning Side Sub-division

Shadow Creek Ranch

shadowcreekranchparents@yahoo.com

Message from Nicole Tonini, Board Member- Alvin ISD

On Wednesday, February 19, 2014 12:29 AM, Nicole Tonini <ntonini@alvinisd.net> wrote:

Good Evening,

I would like to thank every one of you who have been so actively engaged in this school boundary discussion.  I want to let you know that I have been listening to you.  I have been reading all of your emails, petition comments, and Facebook discussions.  I appreciated your comments at the open Forum and Board meeting as well as the candid discussions that took place afterwards.  Finally, as you all know, I am a mom with kids in these same schools.  As a result, through my regular waiting in pick-up lines, volunteering at Marek and Nolan Ryan JH or attending Maverick Baseball games, or simply visiting with my various SCR/west side neighbors and friends, I have had the opportunity to have multiple one-on-one discussions about this critical issue.

With that background, what I would like to do in this email is to clarify some common misconceptions that I have heard and read, and explain the next steps I am planning on taking between now and when the final decision is made.   I am sorry that this is a generic email going to several concerned citizens, but this appears to be the best way to communicate these various points in a single concise manner.

For your information, there is a Board Workshop this Thursday at the District office in Alvin, where the Board will receive an update regarding the School Boundary Advisory Committee (SBAC).   The Board Workshop is open to the public.  The main focus of this Workshop is to discuss the District Budget; however, a portion of the meeting has been designated to present the Board with an update on the SBAC.  I do not believe this will be a time for comment or questions from the audience, but it provides the public the opportunity to hear the update and information first hand, as well as hear any discussion and questions from the Board of Trustees.   To my knowledge, this meeting will not be broadcast on the internet.

Common Misconceptions:

·         Any boundary/zone changes proposed by Alvin ISD are for schools (and residents) within Alvin ISD only.   No family currently zoned to Alvin ISD will be re-zoned to Pearland ISD, Fort Bend ISD or Houston ISD.  We live in a somewhat unique area wherein the school district encompasses parts or all of several cities – Pearland (West of Hwy 288), Alvin, Manvel, Rosharon, Iowa Colony, Amsterdam and Liverpool.  This is all Alvin Independent School District.

·         Based on state provided performance reports that the Board received last week (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/src/2013/campus.srch.html), the three existing elementary schools in the Shadow Creek area have scored within 2-3% points of each other in the aggregate “All Subjects”, and all three have been rated Met Accountability for the 2013 Accountability Rating Standard. 

o   All subjects for the STAAR met or exceeded Level 2: Wilder 87% - York 88% - Mark 90%.   Each school had their significant strengths: York – Science, Marek – Math / Writing, and Wilder – Writing. 

o   York was the only school to receive Distinction Designations. 

o   Wilder has the most Exceeded progress for the STAAR in Reading. 

o   Marek had the least number of students needing Accelerated Instruction.

·         The reason why an elementary School was not built in the Southern Trails subdivision was due to developer conflicts, not Alvin ISD.

·         As currently proposed, Elementary School 15 (Duke Elementary) will likely have only primary three neighborhoods attending it (Southgate, Southfork and Southern Trails) and one apartment complex (Cobblestone).  James “Red” Duke Elementary is located on CR-59/Southfork Drive – which is the next exit after FM 518 off of Highway 288.

·         For procedural reasons, the Board has had minimal to no direct influence on the boundary process to date.  The proposal was generated by the Citizens committee (SBAC).  What was presented at the forum was the result of that committee’s analysis, and presented by the District Superintendent, and employees of Alvin ISD involved in the boundary process, not the Board (School Board), however, there were several Board members at the meeting.   I received the proposal the same time you all did – via the website.

·         The open forum that occurred on February 10th is part of the normal data gathering process.  We as a Board will have a chance to review the final proposal in April (assuming everything stays on this track) and the Board will be able to make our observations/comments at that time.  We will either vote on it when presented, or we may send the proposal back requesting more information.

·         According to my research at Brazoria County Tax Appraisal and conversations with City Council members, people who live in apartments do pay taxes, albeit indirectly.  The complex owners are charged School District taxes as are homeowners.   Based on data provided by the Appraisal District, the Apartments currently zoned to the three elementary schools in question paid approximately $1.9M in School District Taxes last year.  These taxes are then included into the monthly rental rate.  One important difference though, is that we as homeowners are able to claim our local taxes as a tax deduction while renters are able to claim the indirect taxes.

·         Often people state that they do not know anyone at the new school. All zone/boundary changes will include entire subdivisions to a new school, not single families or certain streets in neighborhoods only.   As a result, there will be students and parents in your neighborhood that you know today, who will be at your new schools.

·         At the current time, it is physically impossible to have every community drive north to their schools.   

·         850+ students will be going to a new school next year in order to provide relief to the current schools.  As a result, some communities will need to experience change. 

Next Steps

·         SBAC update to the Board at the Budget Workshop – Feb 20 (Alvin)

·         Additional Citizens committee to be held Feb 27 (tentative)

·         An additional open forum has been requested by various Trustees (date TBD)

·         Present proposal to Board at the April Board meeting (tentative)

What Am I doing about this?

·         I am happy to, and will continue to serve as a liaison between our community and the District.  Please continue to communicate with me your concerns and alternate proposals.  While I cannot promise that the District will implement every idea presented, I will make sure that your ideas and opinions are heard and accounted for.

·         Continue to work with the District to improve visibility of the process.  I was pleased to see the note from Mrs. Lovette (NRJH) yesterday as well as a similar update made to the district website.    http://www.alvinisd.net/Page/15353

·         Continue to work with the District to make sure there is a second Public Forum held.

·         Continue to review current proposals that I have received to determine if there is a better solution, and pass each on to the district.

·         Solicit feedback from the community on how this process could be better.  We will need to have these discussions as new schools are built and as our communities on the west side continue to grow.

Again, the purpose of this email was to clarify some misperceptions that have been reported.  I am not trying to sway anyone’s opinion.  I hope that by having a more complete set of data, we can continue to have productive discussions and come to an optimal solution.

As I have mentioned to many of you, this type of growth will result in growing pains and it is impossible to make these types of changes without impacting families and students.  As we know with life in general, there is unfortunately no way to make this magnitude of a change and still keep everyone happy.  That being said, I am very hopeful that we and the district can work to find an optimal solution to take care of this growth, while having minimal negative impacts on the students. 

Thank you again and thank you for your keen interest in our most important asset – our children

       Finally, please let me know if you would like to be removed from this distribution list.

Thank you,

Nicole

ntonini@alvinisd.net