ACROSS THE BOARD

Recommendations during Committee meetings go to the full Board for consideration, with final action taken during future Regular or Special meetings.

This issue of Across the Board provides an overview of the special Business Services Committee meeting on Monday, November 6.

Meeting memos, presentations and other documents in BoardDocs

-

Background

District 303 has been engaged with the Board, staff and community for the past several months on plans to implement new attendance boundaries for the 2024-2025 school year. Boundary scenarios are being developed by demographer RSP & Associates and will be unveiled at community meetings on November 28 and 29. As part of this process, RSP has sought clarity from the Board and Administration as to whether the current elementary grade level configurations (K-2 and 3-5) at Davis and Richmond should continue or if both schools should return to two K-5 schools.

Meetings with Davis and Richmond staff and families were conducted in August and September to share information about the history of the partnership, considerations being made, and to receive feedback (view engagement timeline). A summary of those meetings was shared in the September Across the Board newsletter.

Discussion

Administration developed an objective criteria to help determine what option would best address the elementary overcrowding and meet the needs of our students. The identified criteria are:

• Support 5,000 students across all elementary buildings
• District Programs (Access, Dual Language, Rise, Strive) have at least one collaborative teaching partner
• Addresses overcrowding and balances enrollment across buildings

Scenarios Presented by Administration

A total of eight scenarios were presented to the Board. The scenarios that met the above criteria were filtered through secondary criteria, which were then used to help identify scenarios that most aligned with the District's Strategic Plan. Of the scenarios, Administration identified three viable options for discussion, five non-viable options, and rank-ordered from most to least viable.

• 1 | Scenario A: Maintain current grade level configuration with dual language placement.
• 2 | Scenario B: Transition to all K-5 buildings with Dual Language housed at Richmond with the use of 6 mobile classrooms and a plan to build a 6-classroom addition at Richmond to make it a 27-classroom school.
• 3 | Scenario C: Transition to all K-5 buildings with Dual Language housed at Davis with the use of mobiles.

Scenarios Considered by the Board

Board members focused primarily on three scenarios. They are, in the order addressed:

Scenario F (Modified Scenario Richmond/Anderson): All K-5 Elementary Schools, Dual Language in one section across two schools

• Rationale for potential support, expressed by at least one Board member:
• Eliminates need for mobiles
• Equitable learning spaces
• Addresses overcrowding
• Administration Recommendation: This scenario is not viable as it does not ensure that educators in our Dual Language program would have a collaborative partner, ultimately isolating teachers and leading to a negative impact on student learning.

Scenario B: All K-5: Richmond with Dual Language Program, 6-Classroom Mobiles are used

• Rationale for potential support, expressed by at least one Board member:
• Equitable learning spaces
• Programs have at least one collaborative partner
• Addresses overcrowding
• Administration Recommendation: This scenario meets the required standards and has only a limited impact on student safety and future flexibility should enrollment increase or the mobiles become unusable. However, this scenario has significant costs associated with it, but it provides long-term benefits as Richmond will be a 27 classroom school.

Scenario A: Maintain current grade level configuration with dual language placement

• Rationale for potential support, expressed by at least one Board member:

• Equitable learning spaces
• Programs have at least one collaborative partner
• Addresses overcrowding
• Administration Recommendation: This is a viable option as it meets the required criteria and also ensures that the district and schools are organized to support high levels of student learning and can engage in continuous improvement.

Recommendation: District Administration sought consensus from the Board as to which of its scenarios to bring before the full Board for action on November 13. The Board has requested that options A, B and F be brought back for discussion before taking final action on a single scenario on November 13.

The next regular Business Services meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 27 at 5:00 PM.