1Campus1Calendar

Forcing a MYR conversion on LRMS in the name of "Peer Continuity" does not mean that children will actually "be in school" with their friends

  • Growth is flat in the Leesville attendance area.  There is not a "growth crisis", so the latest reassignment draft proposal “creates” the necessity for additional capacity by moving additional students into LRMS.

  • In middle school, homework and projects take a lot of time during the week.  Children must be more focused on academics and extracurricular activities than they were in elementary school.  Time with friends occurs during breaks when they are not busy with school work. (Summer vacation or track-outs).

  • Unless you guarantee that children will be assigned to the same track as their good friends or "peers", they will NEVER be able to spend time together during school breaks.  Attending the same school as your peers becomes irrelevant if you do not share the same breaks.

 

Think about it…

Is it really worth disrupting the families of 1281 students and the lives of 124 staff members at LRMS to force a MYR conversion that is not even needed to handle projected growth in the area?

The reassignment draft only adds 31 students to the Leesville Road Middle School membership over the next 3 years, but creates major community disruption and negatively affects hundreds of families in the process

  • Currently, LRMS’ base population is 1457 Students.  However, only 1281 students actually attend LRMS.
  • According to the reassignment draft, 2008-09 enrollment is 1281, and the 2011-12 projected enrollment WITHOUT CHANGES is 1295---LRMS is only projected to gain 14 students in 3 years WITHOUT CHANGES.   This fact alone shows that THERE IS NOT A GROWTH CRISIS IN THE LEESVILLE ATTENDANCE AREA.
  • According to the reassignment draft, the 2011-12 projected membership WITH CHANGES is only 1488.  That equates to a net gain of only 31 students during the next 3 years.  (2011/12 membership of 1488 – 2008/09 membership of 1457)
  • The reassignment draft calls for moving 9 nodes OUT OF LRMS and moving 101 nodes INTO LRMS.

 

Think about it…

Does it really make sense to move 9 nodes out of LRMS, move 101 nodes into LRMS, force an undesirable calendar conversion on the families of 1281 students and 124 staff members when LRMS only needs to accommodate 14 new students over the next 3 years?

Participation in Sports, Band, Orchestra, Choir and extracurricular activities is greatly diminished when a school operates on a Year Round calendar

  • Practices and competitions still occur, whether you are tracked-out or not.
  • If a parent can provide transportation to school during track-out times, their child does not miss out.
  • Many students rely on WCPSS transportation to get to/from school.  These students will not be able to participate in practices or competitions during their track-out times if they do not have a ride to school.

Converting Leesville Middle School to a Year Round calendar will create un-healthy middle schools

  • Based on experience with the 22 MYR conversions, many of the F&R students chose to opt-out and attend a traditional calendar school.
  • The traditional opt-outs for LRMS are Carroll Middle and West Millbrook Middle.
  • West Millbrook's F&R is already high at 46%, and Carroll's F&R is already high at 48%.  LRMS' F&R will decrease from it's current 28%, while West Millbrook and Carroll's F&R will INCREASE to be even more "un-healthy" than they are today.

    • Growth in the Leesville area is FLAT

    • From 2007/08 to 2008/09, Leesville Road High School's enrollment only increased by 5 students.
    • The current 8th grade class at Leesville Road Middle School is 441 students.  The current 6th grade class at Leesville Road Middle School is only 391 students.
    • From 2007/08 to 2008/09, Leesville Road Middle School's enrollment DECREASED by 46 students.

    Leesville Middle School is NOT listed as one of the more crowded schools

    FYI - The Leesville schools are in District 7
     
    According to WCPSS's 2007-08 data the following elementary schools are the most crowded (now that does not mean that their classrooms are necessarily crowded):
    1. Hunter 129.9% overcrowding District 4
    2. Bugg 129.4 % overcrowding District 4
    3. Underwood 128.9% overcrowding District 5
    4. Kingwood 120.8% District 9
    5. Cary Elementary 120.6% District 9
    6. Lincoln Heights 119.7% District 2
    7. Durant Road 118.5% District 3 YR
    8. North Ridge 117.1% District 3
    9. Olds 116.4% District 5
    10. Forest Pines 116.1% District 3 YR

    The top three are ITB magnet schools. 40% of the schools are magnets.

    None are schools forced to become Mandatory Year Round Schools.

    All but 2 (80%) of the schools are located in the city areas of Raleigh or Cary.

    Now for the Middle Schools:

    East Garner 124.1%
    Dillard Dr. 121.1%
    West Cary 113.5%
    Davis Dr. 111.6%
    Heritage 111.3%
    (LRMS is not on this list)

    Criteria For Conversion Of Elementary Schools From A Traditional Calendar To The 45/15 Multi-Track Calendar

    From: WCPSS Growth and Planning Department
    Approved By: The Board of Education On July 18, 2006

    Note: this criteria was NOT followed when Leesville Elementary was converted.
     
    Staff will consider all of the criteria shown below when developing recommendations for conversion of schools from traditional calendars to multi-track calendars, but will be guided by the relative importance of the groupings as listed.
     

    Staff will consider all the criteria shown below when developing recommendations for conversion of schools from traditional calendars to multi-track calendars, but will be guided by the relative importance of the groupings as listed.
    The most important criteria will be capacity.
    • How much capacity (space for new students) will be gained through conversion of a school? Can the capacity gain be optimized through adjustment of mobile/modular classrooms, and does the capacity gain provide space for special needs students as well as general enrollment growth?
    • Is the student population growing in the base area of the school? Will the capacity gained through conversion be utilized without reassignment or movement of mobile classrooms?

    • The second most important group of criteria involve the size of the school, the impact of conversion on healthy school demographics, and the impact of conversion on the instructional program of the school.
    • Does the school have sufficient projected membership to organize at least one class at each grade level on each track?
    • Will conversion of a school, and any necessary associated student reassignment, have a negative impact on the district’s efforts to maintain a healthy demographic mix at all schools and on all tracks?
    • Will conversion of a school have a negative impact on the instructional program of the school or the instructional services provided to the population served by that school?

    The third most important group of criteria includes the history of interest in year-round education shown by the community and the potential for enrollment growth in the areas assigned to the school.
    • How many students residing in the base area of the school currently attend year-round schools through the application process and how many students from the base area applied to year-round but were not selected?
    • Is the staff of the school interested in converting to the 45/15 calendar for instructional reasons?

    The fourth group of criteria includes consideration of availability of alternatives for families and teachers, availability of middle school matching calendars, the impact of conversion on student assignment, and the ability of the school facility to support year-round multi-track utilization.
    • Is there a traditional calendar school that could be made available to parents and teachers who can’t make the year-round calendar work for their family?
    • Does a school have a year-round middle school feeder option or can such an option be created? (at the time LES did not!)
     
    How much reassignment would be associated with creation of a middle school feeder option?
    • Will conversion to a year-round calendar require reassignment of some of a school’s base area because of the large number of students that might return from existing year-round schools? If so,how much reassignment is required?
    • Will conversion of a school enable the Board of Education to remove a cap on enrollment or return spot nodes to the base assignment area of the school?
    • How will conversion of a school impact the needs of transfer students at that school?Does the school facility have obstacles that would inhibit or restrict effective multi-track programming? For example, are there physical obstacles to the movement of materials on carts between classrooms?  (LRMS, two story)......If so, can those obstacles be addressed through minor facilities modifications such as construction or reconfiguration of ramps or sidewalks? Will renovation plans create poor learning conditions? Will poor air-conditioning create poor learning conditions?

     

    Some information on states that have tried YR and failed

    Note: This was presented to the BoE BEFORE Leesville Elementary was converted to a mandatory year round calendar. 
     
    JEFFERSON COUNTY - Schools in Jefferson County, Colorado abandoned the year-round calendar in 1989 after 13 years of year-round operation in approximately 50 district schools. Despite community protests, half of the district's schools went year-round beginning in 1974 to relieve overcrowding. The district reports no educational improvement or increased test scores. In fact, the decline in test scores in one high school led to decision to return to the traditional calendar. The community passed a $93 million school construction bond six years ago to get rid of year-round school. When the year-round issue threatened again in 1992, the community soundly defeated it, based on past experience. (Jefferson County School District information, 1991)
     
    PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY - After operating year-round schools for nine years, Prince William County, Virginia returned to a traditional calendar, basing their decision on little academic improvement, few cost benefits and parent reaction. According to Dr. Mary Weybright, supervisor of programs and planning, "There were not enough advantages to outweigh the disadvantages. "
     
    HOUSTON - Houston abandoned its first experiment with year-round schools after eight years, concluding the program was extremely expensive, it failed to relieve overcrowding and student achievement did not increase. School officials planned to save $6.9 million by eliminating funding necessary for the program.
     
    ROMEOVILLE - In 1972, Romeoville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, implemented a multi-track program in 16 schools to relieve overcrowding. According to John Lukancic, assistant superintendent of Valley View schools, they abandoned the schedule after eight years because of high operational costs of air conditioning and maintenance (high A/C Chicago?  what must it be in NC?), difficulty in filling year-round administrative positions, and scheduling problems at the high school level.
     
    ESCAMBIA - A district wide YRS proposal made in April 1999 for 70 schools was shelved a year later because of  high costs incurred at  the 10 YR experimental schools. It cost about $38,000 more per school to operate and the district will save $380,000 a year by switching back to a traditional calendar. School Board Chairman John DeWitt, a strong supporter of  the year-round calendar, conceded the savings was too great to continue on a year-round schedule.
     
    VALLEY VIEW - Began YR in 1970 but all 15 schools dropped it by 1980.This was the first community to try YR district wide. Higher utility costs were among the factors cited. School administrators found no academic advantage to the calendar, said Emmie Dunn, administrative assistant to the superintendent.  "As one of our administrators said when the schedule ended, "After 10 years of year-round school, you're just plain tired,'" Dunn said
     
    AVON - Avon School Board cited the high costs of switching to a multi-track, 12-month school year in rejecting the idea as an answer to overcrowding. Increased costs cited included utilities, equipment repair and replacement, Janitorial care, bus maintenance and transportation. A representative of Indiana State University Services presented figures showing a 33 percent increase in operating expenses, based on data from year-round school districts in Texas and California. He also cited the YRS detriments to families, to education climate and extracurricular activities. The findings were based on two studies, one mandated by the Legislature in July 1995
     
    NYE COUNTY - The Nye County School District voted unanimously to end a three-year year-round calendar experiment  after finding the no academic advantage to the schedule and added costs of $740,000 per year. All the data is in, and it's not educationally beneficial, School Board member Peggy Smith said
     
    ALBUQUERQUE - The number of YR calendar schools   dwindled from 26 to 8 since the school board voted in 1994 to rescind mandated year-round schools. Individual schools can vote  to remain on the YR calendar. Among those that voted to return to a traditional school year was Emerson Elementary, one of the model year-round school  "success" stories featured in a government study, "Prisoners of Time," that served as a catalyst for school calendar experiments. A school board member said YRS "costs us fortunes" to operate and "academically, these schools were stalemating. "
     
    ROWAN-SALISBURY COUNTY - The school board began YR in two school in 1992, eventually dropping it in all schools. It dropped it at the middle school after two years, citing the doubled administrative workload, extra costs in transportation, cafeteria and energy, failure to make a difference in test scores, and  the "us-and-them" morale problems created by offering dual calendars in the middle school
     
    RUTHERFORD COUNTY -  A proposal for district wide year-round school was defeated in March 2001 after loud objections from parents. Dual calendars were approved for just two schools.A middle school in Murfreesboro and an elementary in Smyrna also pulled the plug on its year-round pilot schools in the 2002-03 school year, higher costs and parent opposition cited as the reasons
     
    SALEM-KEIZER - Began YR in 1993, dropped one school, then at the end of the 2000-01 school year dropped YR in four of the remaining seven schools for the new school year and made plans to eliminate YR in the remaining three schools in 2002. No definitive studies were made on the academic impact, though the district's special projects coordinator said the results have been mixed. Among the YRS-related reasons for abandoning the eight-year experiment: day care problems created for parents, attendance declines, scheduling difficulties for in-service training for teachers and learning distractions created by hot weather
     
    FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT  - Tried YR in the 1970s then dropped it. Revived YR in 1992, then dropped 22 schools, including 8 middle schools. By 2000, 11 YR schools remained, then another seven were dropped by the 2001 school year, leaving 4 remaining YR schools. School officials reported no academic gains and declines in attendance at middle schools and high schools on a traditional calendar as a result of older siblings being taken out of school to baby-sit younger siblings during the  year-round calendar frequent breaks

     

    Sports

    If your child participates in a sport the sport does not stop when your track is out. You will have to come to daily practices and games.  No school during the day, but still tied down with practices/games.

    How many students can Leesville Elementary hold?

    Originally opened in 1992 for 650 students, in 95-96 it held 1020 with 11 mobile units.

    2008/09 Day 20 959 with 1067 ASCC and 17 mobile units

    2007/08 Day 20 was 844 with ASCC of 1101 and 15 mobile units

    2006/07 Day 20 902 with ASCC at 986 with 19 mobile units

    2005/06 Day 20 921 with ASCC at 908 with 16 mobile units

    2004/05 Day 20 836 with ASCC at 733 with 7 mobile units

    2003/04 Day 20 770 with ASCC at 732 with 7 mobile unit

    Volunteering at Leesville Elementary dropped over 50% when it was converted to a year round calendar


     

    Year

    # Students on 20th Day

     

    # Volunteer Hours

    # Volunteer Hours/student

     

    Calendar

    2005-06

    921

    7515

    8.16

    Traditional

    2006-07

    902

    6204

    6.88

    Traditional

    2007-08

    844

    3325

    3.94

    Year Round