As you may have read in Chalkbeat, the DPS board is considering a policy proposal that would require the district to revisit school boundaries. This is something we at PHNEE have been promoting for a long, long time. And we are not alone.  The new La Raza report asks for a look at boundaries and West High School students recently asked the board to adjust its boundary in order to help grow the school. This is a great example of the board being responsive to community input and we commend them for that.

Because boundaries have not changed meaningfully since 1996, except to accommodate new schools and to implement enrollment zones, many school boundaries do not correlate with school capacity, are highly segregative, and contribute to gentrification of historic neighborhoods. It is past time for the district to address boundaries, and this proposal (EL19) is a very good start. There are also details that we believe should be modified to make it even stronger.

ACTION: Call or email your district Board representative and the at large members, to thank them for putting this item on their agenda and also to consider the following adjustments to the policy. (You can pick and choose a couple of these to focus on in your email/call.)

• EL19 asks for boundary revisions at least every 10 years following the Census. We believe that this is too long a time horizon to address the reality of our changing city.  
  • Enrollment and population shifts happen far too quickly to wait a decade. We suggest that part of the Strategic Regional Analysis that the district performs every year should include a look at boundaries with recommendations for changes as needed. The benefit of this approach is three-fold: 
    • It allows for boundary changes at the pace of change of neighborhoods, recognizing that in many places this might be infrequent. 
    • It removes the process of determining boundary changes from the Board to the staff, reducing the impact of politics on the process.
    • It communicates to the public that boundaries are not immutable. 
  • This is not unheard of. In fact, this approach is used by the Wake County, NC school district. Wake County may redraw any boundary in any given year, based on district criteria for capacity, demographic changes, equity, etc. In practice, the district only ever redraws boundaries for a few schools in any given year. 
• We believe this proposal should be connected to Director Quattlebaum’s current request to pause school closures. 
  • A rational approach to school closure should consider school boundaries as a first step. For example, in the Park Hill neighborhood, Park Hill Elementary has a boundary that exceeds its building capacity by at least 200 students. Hallett Academy (less than 2 miles away) has no boundary at all. Right-sizing these boundaries as a first step could make a healthy enrollment for all 4 elementary schools in the neighborhood more likely.
  • A criteria for an effective and efficient school boundary should be that it strives to provide appropriate enrollment for that school.
• EL 19 lays out several criteria for the superintendent to use when determining how boundaries should be redrawn.  
  • These criteria are:
    • Avoid boundaries that further socioeconomic segregation
    • Create boundaries that provide safe access to schools
    • Minimize travel distances and the need for district provided transportation
  • These are reasonable criteria, but we believe they need to be prioritized, as they will often be in conflict. A goal of decreasing segregation should be the primary driver of boundary revisions. This is in keeping with the board’s March 2017 Resolution for Strengthening Neighborhoods.
  • An additional criteria to strive to avoid under or over enrollment would be a welcome addition. 

Of course, boundaries don’t determine where everyone goes to school, and this change alone will not cure either our small school or our segregated school problems. However, while 42% of students choice out of their home school, the schools that are the largest drivers of segregation tend to be the schools with the highest percentage of students who live in boundary. This is certainly the case in Park Hill, where PHE has nearly 90% boundary students, while Smith has under 70%.  People who are paying more for their houses to live in a certain boundary are far less likely to choice out of that school. So, while changing the boundaries won’t solve all of our problems, it has the potential to create real change, and it is an important statement of values for the district to make.  

Click here to find the email/phone information for your Board member. Remember, you should contact your regional representative as well as the two at-large members: 

Scott Esserman and John Youngquist.