Karen Bowen, the only incumbent member of the board in this year's race, listed several tradeoffs that are contained in “Scenario 7.” She described them in such a way that it would appear that on balance the Scenario 7 plan will be more advantageous. She also suggested that the board should move as quickly as possible to allow the maximum amount of time for people in the community to adjust to the new school structure. Our follow-up question is this:
For Karen Bowen—Did you hear anything at the March 14 workshop that changes your view that the tradeoffs are worth making and that the plan should be implemented soon?
Dan Becker responded to a slightly different question than the one that was posed. We asked what should the community be willing to do, but he replied that he did not know what the community would be willing to do. So we repose the question:
For Dan Becker—Do you believe that some form of restructuring is necessary? Do you know of a way to restructure that does not involve trade-offs? If trade-offs are necessary, what trade-offs would you urge the community to consider and possibly accept?
Michelle Monte made the case the community it willing to make trade-offs if the plan for restructuring is sound. She said that she had heard of several suggestions to Scenario 7. Our question to her is like the one to Ms. Bowen:
For Michelle Monte—Based on what you have heard in the community, and particularly from the March 14 workshop, can you make suggestions—either specific or general—for improving Scenario 7.
Teresa Thiel focused her comments on positive outcomes from the trade-offs, both educational and financial. Our follow-up question to her is this:
For Teresa Thiel—What level of confidence do you have in Scenario 7 that it will achieve its goals in terms of education and money? Do you think it can be improved? If so, how so?
1 comment:
Do you believe that some form of restructuring is necessary? Do you know of a way to restructure that does not involve trade-offs? If trade-offs are necessary, what trade-offs would you urge the community to consider and possibly accept?
I do believe that some form of restructuring is necessary. However, I do not believe that the current plan is the best solution to the problems that the district faces. Solutions do exist that minimize the tradeoffs that would be necessary.
I have given some serious consideration to the idea of "fluid boundaries". This approach would eliminate the necessity to "cherry pick" a particular area, which is what Scenario 7 does. Under such a plan, as I envision it, changes would be made to the boundaries of our easternmost schools in order to achieve optimal capacity. The process would then move westward. Using this approach would allow us to more fully utilize buildings on the East/North side of town. At the same time it would provide for the additional space that is necessary as the community grows to the West. The necessity to close a building may still be deemed necessary, but a minimal of families would be impacted as a result.
As I said, it is not for me to suggest what tradeoffs the community should accept. I will seek out comments and feelings and make my decisions based on community input.
Dan Becker
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