Rockford District 205

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Rockford District 205 Elementary Zone
Committee Recommendations to the Rockford Board
of Education Education Committee On Student
Assignment for Elementary Schools September 18,
2007 Submitted by Pamela Laughlin Susan
Haney-Bauer
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A sincere thank you to

• Dianne Larson, Teacher
• Pam Maher, Parent
• Jude Makulec, Parent
• Linda Oshita, District 205
• Britta Peterson, Teacher
• Monica Primm, Parent
• Debbie Reppen-Lucas, Parent
• Pam Ruenger, Teacher
• Diane Stout, Community Member
• Matt Vosberg, Parent
• Jay Ware, Parent
• Cannie Ware, Parent
• Alex Woods, Community Member

• Jennifer Alcantar, Parent
• Brandy Alexander, Parent
• Barbara Burgoyne, Teacher
• Susan Drennen, Community Member
• Dyanna Chandler, Community Member
• Jane Erickson, Community Member
• Einar Forsman, Community Member
• Karen Harger, Teacher
• Robin Henning, Community Member
• Ben Holmstrom, Community Member
• Amber Jarrett, Parent
• Chad Larson, Parent

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A sincere thank you to the following for their
knowledge, support and technical
information Marcia Blascoe, Director of Early
Childhood Education Colleen Cyrus, Executive
Director of Special Education Dr. Patrick Hardy,
Principal Sue Kanthak, Social Work Homeless
Program Ed Portillo, Director of Bilingual Luz
Ramirez, Director of Family Resource
Center Jeannette Ramos, Student Data Assignment
Specialist Ivelisse Rosas, Principal Todd
Schmidt, Director of Facilities Gregg Wilson ,
Director of Transportation We would also like to
express our appreciation to the following
businesses for their very generous meal
donation Sams Ristorante Cliff
Breakers Arnoldos Pizzeria Panera Bread Ben
Holmstrom who provided dinner buffet at
Giovannis Loglis Beef-a-Roo Thanks to Mark
Bonne and Jane Erickson for coordinating the
meals effort.
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• The charge of the Elementary Zone Committee was
  to address the following issues
• Following the already approved commitment to a
  zone student assignment structure, we were to
  develop options for Board consideration that
  provides parents with long term predictability as
  to where their child will attend school at each
  tier level (elementary, middle and high school).
• The Student Assignment Policy should be easy to
  understand for all community residents.
• Seek considerations that are best for students
  and more cost effective to implement and manage
  than the current system.
• The Elementary Student Assignment Plan should
  consider socioeconomic levels in the assignment
  process.
• The Student Assignment Policy must consider
  bilingual, special education and NCLB
  requirements.
• Capitalize on the strength of the Early Childhood
  program to ensure the best academic outcomes for
  students at risk and develop options for
  kindergarten students in each zone to eliminate
  the need for incubation kindergartens
• The elementary zone structure must include
  specialty program options with clearly
  established criteria for entrance . The
  directive of the superintendent was to explore
  the viability of the following Haskell Year
  Round Academy, Barbour Two Way Language
  Immersion, Ellis Arts Academy, Page Park School
  and Sky View. Programs that were not to be
  included for discussion for this committee were
  Gifted and Montessori
• Develop a plan for elementary student assignment
  which embraces the established secondary school
  zones with the goal of utilizing existing building

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• Specialized Programs Sub-Committee
• The task of this sub-committee was to
• Evaluate the purpose, needs and criteria for the
  following programs
• Two Way Language Immersion Program The District
  has made a commitment to the Two Way Immersion
  Academy. Where should the program should be
  located in order to maximize the goals of the
  program?
• CAPA Should the Arts Academy begin at K or 1st
  grade? What would the entrance criteria be? How
  many students could be accommodated K-8? Where
  would the neighborhood students attend?
• Haskell Year Round Academy Can the year round
  calendar be supported as a zone school? As a
  magnet school?
• Page Park Currently houses 38 students in a 450
  capacity building. What are the potential uses of
  this space?
• Make recommendations that include most effective
  use of buildings while supporting the
  goals/purpose of the programs
• Explore the financial impact of the
  recommendations formulated by this sub-committee.
  

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After careful consideration and review of data,
the Specialized Programs sub-committee made the
following recommendations

• Haskell
• Become a cluster school within the zone following
  the traditional school calendar

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• Page Park
• Close as a special education center and become a
  K-5 school within Elementary Cluster III

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• Sky View
• Locate Fresh Start and Sky View programs in a
  shared facility leaving Sky View empty for other
  usage. The intent would not be to mix the
  populations of these programs but to share
  resources. Location for both programs will have
  to be determined as space at the secondary level
  is evaluated. Sky View is a one strand school,
  isolated and geographically located in a cluster
  where seats are not needed.

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• Ellis
• Dedicate resources to support a Creative and
  Performing Arts Program beginning at the
  kindergarten level through 8th grade. Protect
  the integrity of the program with administrative
  support dedicated to the program, market the
  program throughout the community and allow a
  minimum of three years to grow and fulfill the
  programs mission and goals.

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• Two Way Language Immersion Program
• Continue to support this program as an option for
  students at the elementary level and move to a
  new location in order to eliminate and separate
  influence of neighborhood population. If the
  selected location can not house the K-8 program,
  a middle school should be selected to house the
  6-8 program with staff and resources dedicated to
  implementing the Two Way Language Immersion
  Program.

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• Washington
• It was not the charge of this committee to
  discuss Washington However, it was explained by
  the co-chairs that the Districts mission was to
  use this facility for a population other than
  elementary. The full committee was in agreement
  that this building could be better utilized for
  an older population.
• The committee supported the Districts belief
  that Washington should not be used for an
  Elementary School for the following reasons
• The building was designed for secondary students
  and not appropriate structurally for elementary
  students
• There are adequate seats available in the cluster
  without Washington as an elementary school

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Grade Configuration Committee

• The task of this sub-committee was to
• Make recommendations for the most effective use
  of space in each elementary school
• Explore grade configurations that are
  programmatically sound for children, provide
  predictability for parents and cost effective for
  the District while utilize existing space such
  as
• Pre-k/k centers
• 1-5 grades in all buildings
• Split schools
• Cluster schools
• Explore feeder patterns to all elementary schools
  and the fiscal impact of transportation
• Develop a plan that will consider equitable
  services within each middle school zone i.e.
  special education, bi-lingual services, early
  childhood education
• Consider how each plan impacts the socio-economic
  make-up of each school
• Determine the financial impact of the
  recommendations/options made by this sub-committee

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Grade Configuration Sub-Committee Recommendations

• This committee explored five different options
  for configuring grades at the Pre-K and
  elementary level. Discussions and decisions were
  driven by first developing a predictable strand
  configuration in each elementary building based
  upon the size of the building. The options
  considered, included
• Pre-K/K Centers with all kindergarteners placed
  in the centers
• 1st 5th Grade configuration with the un-pairing
  of schools
• Pre-K 5 configuration
• Cluster schools with K-5 configuration
• Cluster schools with one Pre-K/IK Center in each
  zone
• After a review of data related to building space
  and locations, three of the above options were
  eliminated. The following summarizes the
  committees findings.

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Pre-K/K Centers

• With 54 Early Childhood classes housed in the
  District and a need for 85 classrooms for
  kindergarten (not including incubation) there
  would be a need for two Early Childhood/Kindergart
  en sites per zone 12 schools. For this to
  happen and provide zone stability, the following
  would be required 15 kindergarten classes in
  each zone plus 9 Early Childhood classes in each
  zone. This plan would require 12 buildings with
  a capacity of 26 classrooms.
• The committee did not feel that the District had
  the elementary buildings to support this
  recommendation within each zone. The committee
  also felt this model may inhibit continuity in
  the educational delivery.

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Grade 1-5 Configurations

• Given the space restrictions for the Pre-K/K
  Centers, the reality of grade 1-5 configuration
  was a moot point.
• The committee felt this configuration would
• create empty space in buildings
• may have the potential to solve the need to
  un-pair schools, but this option would only be
  viable if each zone could accommodate 2 Pre-K/K
  centers.

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Pre-K 5 Configuration

• The committee reviewed student data including
  projected birth rates, current population in
  Early Childhood programs and projected enrollment
  K-5. In order to accommodate the projected
  numbers and create programmatically sound
  options, there would need to be two early
  childhood classes added to each elementary
  building.
• The committee did not support this option for the
  following reasons
• Not all schools have two extra classrooms to
  accommodate this proposal
• This configuration did not solve any issues
  related to incubation kindergartens
• It potentially had a negative impact on
  un-pairing schools

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Cluster schools with K-5 Configuration

• The intent of clustering schools is to
  stabilize feeder patterns for students within
  each zone, to provide predictable assignable
  capacity for each school, eliminating the need to
  create last minutes classes due to unexpected
  enrollment and to minimize transportation.
• The committee thoroughly explored this option by
  considering the following questions
• How would we determine what schools to cluster
  together?
• What is the distance between elementary schools
  in the middle school zones?
• Would this model potential solve the paired
  school issue?
• Would this solve the incubation kindergarten
  issue?
• Does this plan accommodate population expansion
  using existing structures?
• This configuration is being recommended coupled
  with the creation of Pre-K/IK centers.

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Cluster Schools with one Pre-K/IK Center in Each
Zone

• This configuration was explored as a model to
  more effectively deal with incubation
  kindergarten, provide stability for early
  childhood students and minimize transportation
  for students. Under this model,
• A Pre-k/IK Center would be housed in each zone.
• Kindergarten students that could not be
  accommodated in the zone school would be assigned
  to a center within the zone later feeding to a
  school in the cluster.
• A stable attendance pattern would be created
  within a zone for early childhood students and
  overflow of kindergarten students.
• 1st grade class size would be maximized by
  feeding students from IK to 1st grade within the
  zone.
• Building utilization would be optimized and
  transportation time for students would be
  minimized.

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The Grade Configuration Sub-Committee Recommends
the following

• Follow the Middle School Zones boundaries for
  elementary assignment by building a model that
  utilized schools that were physically in the
  boundary of the middle school zone
• Locate a Pre-K/IK Center within each zones
• Cluster elementary schools within zones
• Stabilize special education, bilingual programs
  and EC programs by providing predictable space
  within elementary schools as the plan is
  developed
• Un-pairing all schools with the exception of
  White Swan/ Cherry Valley. The limited capacity
  at Cherry Valley creates the need for the
  continuation of pairing with White Swan in order
  to accommodate more than one strand of students
  per grade level. Cherry Valley is also land
  locked with no possibility of expanding the site
• For the purposes of elementary zoning, move the
  Haskell and Walker seats to the West Middle
  School zone where seats are needed and move
  Kishwaukee to the Lincoln zone where seats are
  needed.

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The following charts and data were used to
develop this committees final recommendations.
This reflects a review of the recommendation
proposed by the Specialized Programs
Sub-Committee. The Grade Configuration
Sub-Committee reviewed building capacity and seat
availability within each zone in developing these
recommendations. In some cases modifications
from the proposed recommendations were necessary
due to available space within each zone.
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Elementary Cluster I (Eisenhower Middle School
Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 1259 Seats 2544
Available 1285 (see below for current number
of seats available) (-159 Carlson for pre-k/IK
1125 seats) (- 477 Bloom for Dual Language
Immersion 649) (- 318 Marsh for 2 strands
Bilingual K-5 331) (- 258 Spring Creek for
1.5 strands Bilingual 73) Seats available
73 What other programs could be housed in this
cluster? 2-way Language Immersion at Bloom K-5
(location for 6-8 needs to be identified) Carlson
2-strand w/6 classrooms for PreK/IK
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Elementary Cluster II (Flinn Middle School Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 2080 Seats 2610
Available 530 (-318 from Rolling Green for
Pre-k/IK Center 212 available) (-159 from Swan
Hillman for Bilingual 53 seats available) What
other programs could be housed in this
cluster? PreK/IK Program (2 Strand 12
classrooms _at_ Rolling Green)
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Elementary Cluster III (Kennedy Middle School
Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 2145 Seats 2067
Available -78 What other programs could be
housed in this cluster? Dennis PreK/IK Center
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Elementary Cluster IV (Lincoln Middle School
Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 2348 Seats 2226
Available -122 ( -258 from Nelson for
Bilingual -380) Based upon the number of TBE
students that live in this zone, the -380 will be
significantly reduced) What other programs could
be housed in this cluster? Fairview PreK/IK Center
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Elementary Cluster V (RESA Middle School Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 2914 Seats 3498
Available 584 (- 636 Riverdahl Pre-k/IK
-52) (-258 Bilingual at Nashold - 310) Based
upon the number of TBE students that live in this
zone, the -310 will be significantly reduced)
What other programs could be housed in this
cluster? Riverdahl PreK/IK Center
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Elementary Cluster VI (West Middle School Zone)
Can this accommodate projected enrollment?
____Yes ____No Students 2186 Seats 2226
Available 40 What other programs could be
housed in this cluster? Pre-k/IK classes at Ellis
(up to 12 classrooms)
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Student Assignment, Demographics and Registration
Sub-committee

• The task of this sub-committee was to determine
• The student assignment infrastructure that would
  support the grade configuration options developed
  by that sub-committee
• The current demographic trends in Rockford that
  need to be considered by the other two
  sub-committees as they develop their plans
• The infrastructure for the registration process
  at the elementary level so that there is
  continued predictability for physical capacity
  within each school (i.e. Not going back to the
  days of adding classes and splitting children
  after the 10th day of enrollment)
• The impact of sibling preference and to develop a
  strategy for phasing in the elementary student
  assignment plan
• How to handle student transfers during the school
  year due to families relocating
• How to handle day care issues across zones
• The financial impact of each decision for the
  District

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Student Assignment, Demographics and Registration
Sub-Committee Recommendations

• The committee recommends retaining the Family
  Resource Center (FRC) The committee is aware that
  the grant that funds the FRC has ended. It
  believes that the FRC should be included in the
  Rockford School District budget as a system point
  of entry for all families. The committee also
  would recommend increasing the number of FRC
  staff during peak periods utilizing flexible
  positions to work the busy part of the year.
• The committee also proposes that the school
  registration window should be at the end of July
  or early August.
• There needs to be an aggressive communication and
  education plan implemented to explain the system
  of enrollment and registration to the public.
• In the future perhaps phasing in a FRC per zone
  should be considered.

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• The Committee recommends using cluster schools to
  facilitate the use of elementary school zones.
• There should be optimally two clusters in each
  zone. 
• The clusters could be comprised of schools that
  are geographically aligned and organized by
  schools or number of strands that would have
  adequate assignable capacity for students that
  reside within the attendance boundary.

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• The Committee recommends that the majority of
  students that attend an elementary school be
  within a one and a half mile radius of the
  school. However, there will be a few exceptions
  like the geographic considerations (ie. North
  East Zone), special programs, and NCLB.

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• The Committee considered two options for
  implementing the recommendations. The two
  options are
• Phase in plan
• Pros less disruption, more predictability for
  the parent, any grade level could be phased in
• Con 6 years to fully implement, addressing of
  sibling assignment issues
• Con - It is not possible to phase in Dual
  Language Immersion Program and CAPA. The program
  must be moved all at once displacing students in
  an existing building. Where would these children
  go?
• Immediate Transition (complete overhaul of
  assignment)
• Pros Get it done, less transportation, less
  confusing for parents, specialized programs
  implemented immediately, speed of implementation
• Con Disruption of students already embedded
  into a choice school i.e. fourth graders having
  to leave their buildings while being so close to
  completing elementary school
• This Committee is in support of a phase in
  plan however, realistically plan may not be
  possible to implement.

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• The Committee recommends that the District should
  be on a track to eliminate Incubation
  Kindergartens and have K children able to be
  accommodated by their neighborhood zone school
  from the beginning of their education cycle. 
  This requires addressing class size requirements
  and may actually reduce financial impact while
  strengthening the elementary zone concept.

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• The Committee recommends allowing waitlists, but
  only for the cluster school that the student is
  eligible for enrollment.

34

• The committee endorses the sibling policy that
  the District uses in its Middle and High schools.
• The cluster schools attendance zone would begin
  with kindergarten enrollment. Older siblings can
  move to the elementary zone school if seats are
  available or be grandfathered into their choice
  school and continue their education there until
  they matriculate to sixth grade when they would
  go to their zone middle school. (A possible way
  to encourage older siblings to enroll in the zone
  school would be to hold seats open for siblings.)

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• The Committee recommends following the secondary
  school policy accommodating midyear transfers. If
  a child is transferring during the school year
  due to moving into a new home, the child may be
  registered at the new school, or the child may
  stay in the school in the old attendance zone.
  However, the childs parents must transport the
  child if they choose to remain in the old school.

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• The Committee recommends that children may only
  attend daycare within the Middle School Zones
  recognizing there will need to be exceptions due
  to some of the zones being substantially smaller
  than other zones.
• This would be a one year phase in for those
  students who already attend the schools.
• New students will not be afforded the one year
  phase in.

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• The Committee recommends that the District should
  either hire or use the services of a demographer
  on a permanent basis to analyze the various
  population trends in the District including
  growth areas, population shifts, and planned
  development of new residential areas/subdivisions.

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• The Committee recommends that the school district
  consider building schools in population growth
  areas (North East, North West) where there is
  projected growth to support transition from the
  choice to the zoned school plan.

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Where do we go from here?

• The full committee recommends the following
• Review 2007 fall housing data to validate seat
  availability in each zone
• Work with District administration to develop
  cluster schools and boundaries
• As the proposed plans moves forward, complete a
  projected detailed cost analysis of each
  initiative
• Use the 2007 fall housing data to determine
  socio-economic make-up of proposed plans and
  clustered schools
• Evaluate the clustering of schools from various
  perspectives prior to making final decision such
  as
• Socio-economics
• Seat capacity
• Distance from home
• Enlist the services of a demographer to regularly
  analyze growth patterns in the community to
  determine the need for construction