Suzanne Kelly, executive director for public affairs for the Minneapolis Public Schools, speedily responded to my question about possible school reassignments. With her permission, I am forwarding her email to the list. I want to emphasize that for the sake of speed and getting some info out, Suzanne's report is not set in stone and could change. But it's the best available information. There's some stuff about my personal situation that I left in for completeness and perhaps as an illustration.
On a side note, I want to apologize the list for an errant post that was really a mis-addressed email...my third of yesterday and with no signature (proof positive it was a mistake!). So this will be my only post today. Anyway here's Suzanne's response. Hi David: I going to take a crack at answering the message you posted about school reassignments on the Mpls. Issues List. My only caveat is, given the district's ongoing need to contain transportation costs, I can't guarantee that what I'm writing you today will never change. But . . . based on your posting, it looks like you are in Open Area 38. One of your attendance area schools is Burroughs so your placement will stand and your son will be provided transportation. Most of the people who just received placements should have been assigned only to a school in their attendance area. The exception would be those parents who up front signed a waver saying they would provide their own transportation. The reassignment really affects students who - for a variety of reasons over the years - have ended up attending school outside their attendance. Those students will be reassigned to a school in their attendance area. If the parents are not comfortable with the new school assignment, they can either A.) opt to stay in the current school and agree to provide their own transportation or B.) Contact one of our welcome centers and see which other schools would be available to them in their area. The idea that we are limiting choice or changing our choice policy isn't exactly accurate. Our policy is that parents can choose from a list of school options assigned to their address and that we will provide them with transportation to one of those schools. What's changing is that we are reining in transportation practices that have been inconsistent with that policy. If you live in Open Area 38 for instance, you still have the same seven community school and seven magnet school choices. If, however, you opt to go to a school that is listed for Attendance Area 9 in Northeast Minneapolis, you will have to provide your own transportation. In addition, let's say you want to attend a performing arts magnet and you live in the Cityview attendance area. If you opt to attend the Performing Arts Magnet at Kenwood, you would need to provide your own transportation. Finally (sorry - I know this is rambling), if your student is in a citywide magnet program they are excluded from the current reassignment process and are able to stay put with their current mode of transportation. We'll be sending letters and a Q&A to families in about a week. I hope this info is useful. -- forwarded by David Brauer, King Field - Ward 10 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
