Redistricting Feedback

The SES balance in this plan is disturbing. To have the lowest F/R lunch population at 15.6% and the highest at 45.8%. Research has

been done to show that tipping the F/R lunch numbers above 40% in a school can have negative impacts on students and teachers. This scenario puts 2 of our schools above that mark. Also, why cut out just the Downtown Parkville Area from Graden?

All of the proposed scenarios increase socioeconomic disparity

If you compare participation in the free/reduced lunch program in the elementary schools, in the current scenario it ranges from 17.6%-37.8% In Elementary Scenario A1 the range is 15.6%45.8%, for ES A2 it is 15.3%-40.4%, for ES A3 it is 16.3%-38.3% and for ES A4 it is 16%-44.7%. In every situation, the school with the lowest rate had its rate become even lower (essentially the most affluent school becoming richer). If we allow disparity between schools to increase it can snowball; affluent families start moving away from schools with higher rates of poverty and towards the affluent districts, concentrating wealth and resources and reducing diversity. Jenn Anthony made a very helpful table a few days ago (see her comment below) where it is easy to compare this information

A1 works best of the choices. Not pleased with any of the scenarios for the elementary schools. Looks forced. Please rethink demographics.

Scenario A1 is the ONLY scenario that I strongly oppose. Chinn is the closest school to our home (we're in the NW 64 Terr Cul-de-Sac).

Please consider dropping this option. Many Riverside residents not in favor.

Not a good scenario for Riverside

Distance not meeting board criteria

Sunpointe Village (I29 & 56th St) appears close to Line Creek on a map but we are separated by a forest and Line Creek Trail. There is not a back way out of our neighborhood so we will have to get on the highway and drive through riverside to get to Line Creek. Driving distance we are closer to Southeast, Hopewell, English Landing, and even Chinn.

A2 scenario slightly better balanced SES at elementary than A1, more balanced numbers at middle school & keeps Montebella and SE at Walden

This is the BEST option for Riverside

All A plans negatively impact our neighborhood

B Plans work best for the west side of the district and is our preference. Could also consider small tweaks to best overall plan to improve. (By the numbers this would be B1). All A scenarios completely disrupt lives 10 kids families and have a fractional percentage effect on the big picture numbers. Please consider any B options or make minor tweaks to make more sense to A plans,for example in the Green Acres and Forest Lake subdivisions. Area just north of 76th street and just east of I-435 on the far middle, west of the district. Large land mass area, not densely populated, primarily older empty nest families. No sense to make changes where benefit doesn't outweigh cost. We would like to leave this small amount of kids in their existing schools!

Blair Heights should go to Graden

No scenario leaves Blair Heights at hawthorn, which we understand, it's not the closest and is very crowded. Many scenarios would move this small neighborhood of less than 25 kids to PP. We were Graden 7 years ago, currently HW and now PP?? Where is the stability for a family who hasn't moved in 15 years? This again places us with a very very small number of kids they will know in MS and HS worsening with the closing of the 6th grade center. If you are going to move us to PP is there anyway to put us at Plaza and Park Hill;. There is literally probably 10 kids my kiddos will know when they go to MS. MS is a really rough transition to no almost no one. It's not fair to be the new kid when you've not moved. Please please give this some thought. Please please give this some thought. Honestly we are talking 15 ish kids.. a couple per grade. We aren't talking large numbers, Is there anyway to make this better for these kids who continue to be punted from school to school??

Avoid Creating Schools with F/R Population Higher than 40%

Full disclosure: I am very relieved that my neighborhood gets to stay at our current elementary school and middle school under all four scenarios. It is very important to me to, as much as possible, avoid splitting neighborhoods or making families drive by the closest school to attend one farther away. Avoiding these helps preserve a sense of community and accommodates walkers and bike riders. And if it were my neighborhood being split or having to drive to a school 20 minutes away instead of five minutes away, my comment would have a different focus. Looking at the socio-economic balance, though, I think B1 is the best of the four scenarios for the district as a whole because it has the best numbers for the socio-economic balance. Any scenario that results in a school with a F/R student population of 40% or higher should not be considered. Under our current elementary boundaries, there is no school with greater than 40% F/R student population. Chinn and Line Creek have the highest F/R numbers at 37.8 % and 37.7%, respectively. It is hard to understand why the district would choose any scenario with F/R numbers that are HIGHER than the current highest number. Scenarios A1 and B2 each have two schools with greater than 40% F/R student population. The current F/R population numbers by elementary school (based on the most recent demographic report posted on district’s website) are (1) Union Chapel 17.6%, (2) Hawthorn 21.4%, (3) Graden 24.1%, (4) Southeast 29.1%, (5) English Landing 30.3%, (6)Tiffany Ridge 30.7%, (7) Renner 32.7%, (8) Prairie Point 33.8%, (9) Line Creek 37.7% and (10) Chinn 37.8% Under our current boundaries, the spread between the highest and lowest F/R population is 20.2. Scenario B1 is closest to this number. A1 has a spread of 30.2, A2 has a spread of 25.1, and B2 has a spread of 28.7.

Montebella to Lakeview

In this scenario my kids would be separated from many of their SE friends and go into Middle School without those friends as their social base. This stage in their life friends and a social support system is important and I strongly prefer that my kids go to Walden which is where most of elementary friends will go. Not to mention it is right next to our neighborhood

Los Ranchos Subdivision

The northeast corner of the Los Ranchos subdivision (east of Hampton and along both sides of Porter Road) is considered by its inhabitants to be part of the same neighborhood as Mesa Village. The current school boundaries of Hawthorn, Lakeview, and Park Hill South reflect this as the students from these houses all attend the same school. Scenario B1 has students from the neighborhood split into three elementary schools. My suggestion to avoid splitting off the small number of kids from the larger neighborhood area of Los Ranchos/Mesa Village is to have the boundary line for Hawthorn run along NW 76th Street and just south of Porter road, similar to what the current boundary line is for Hawthorn. The southern portion of the Lost Ranchos subdivision would attend Union Chapel as they do now with current boundaries. The northern portion of Los Ranchos would remain in Hawthorn. The middle school and high school boundary lines would remain the same.

Both B scenarios do not have the same socioeconomic balance for middle school or elementary. This would not be the route to choose.

Taking the kids out too far. It does not make sense to exclude Hickory Hollow neighborhood! Hickory Hollow should stay in English Landing!

Does not meet redistricting criteria. Hickory Hollow should be included within the EL/Lakeview boundary line because the students live within walking distance of the school.

Increased avg # of students with free/reduced lunch by 8%. I thought criteria was to improve socio-economic balance.

I am opposed to this scenario

Again, this scenario would take our kids out of their neighborhood school. It doesn't make sense to move the kids who live in downtown Parkville (one mile from Graden) all the way to English Landing.

Please consider adjusting the southern boundary of secondary school lines back to 64th Street

The middle/high school line of B1 & B2 scenarios is drawn using a one-way side road that connects to an internal street within Park Hills' drawn lines. Busses would need to drive through streets within Park Hill lines on Bryan, Waukomis, and Green Hills. If the line is kept at 64th Street, it would ensure simple, efficient bus routing systems that wouldn't overlap routes. The maps showing population counts of both current students living in that area, as well as children under the age of 5, report this entire area as not having many children (North-Bryan Rd, East-Waukomis, South-64th Street, West-Green Hills) - less than 77 children. Plaza is a the lowest capacity of middle schools within the district and could take these kids.

B2 -too high SES

This scenario has really high SES numbers at Line Creek and Southeast. And this is a concern that actually will impact the education that these kids receive, more than the logistical concerns of distance. If ensuring that all of the kids in the district receive a quality education and that our most precious resource, our teachers, can do their job adequately, then B2 must be eliminated as an option.

Montebella to Walden!

Please! Really concerns me to send my child to SE, then not be able to continue on to middle school with the social support of their friends. This schools is also right by our neighborhood.

We are still in favor or A1 or A2 scenarios. I hope these are still a consideration.

We need more time to get this right!

This whole decision is being rushed because of next years schedule. I don't think its fair to hold the redistricting decision hostage because of scheduling next year. One problem shouldn't force the other. The district should have allowed more time for this process.

B scenarios all balance high school attendance better by 100 students and move approximately 240 less students at high school level.

Grandfathering High School

I would like to encourage grandfathering of students who are currently attending either high school giving them the option to continue at their current school. Understanding that transportation would be on the student/parents. While this could temporarily increase the anticipated enrollment of either high school under the plan, other opportunities would help ease the pressure including Leads and CAPS. Then within three years, these students are out of the system putting the schools fully into the scenario.

Just another neighborhood perspective...

I fully respect and appreciate the complexity of a project like this where there is little black and white... and a plethora of variables to tend to. This additional plan would send our children to a different MS than all of the previous plans. However, we are absolutely fine with whatever decision is ultimately made. One thing that gives us comfort is that care has been taken to ensure the equity and consistency of the PHSD brand and experience across the entire organization. This is a wise move because it keeps parents like us satisfied regardless of the school our kids ultimately attend. The only thing I would add off note from a neighborhood perspective, is the fact that this particular scenario features a split down the rather artificial Thousand Oaks/Hidden Valley line between two adjoining densely-populated neighborhoods. TO/HV are in many ways one densely-populated "island" neighborhood surrounded by a relative sea of lightly populated Platte County. We have zero preference for a particular MS. I only wonder whether the advantages gained in that split outweigh the disadvantages. Just an additional qualitative data point to consider.......

SES% DOES Matter - Link below to 1 piece in that puzzle....

Below is a very good article on the Shawnee Mission school district and the various amounts of money that PTAs bring in for their schools. The numbers thrown around in this article are jaw dropping..... https://www.kcur.org/post/shawnee-mission-schools-are-case-study-impact-rich-and-poor-ptas?fbclid=IwAR02RWyLeLgWa1VyuomJ7TSLD7ChSP4X6AkfGkC44gdhp7Cb-WaQfR1JNRg#stream/0

B5 is the best option

B5 makes the most sense for balanced SES and travel distance.

Why are the Hampton Woods kids going to PP? Already go to Graden, our house is at least a half mile closer, bus times are longer; senseless

Pinching off the few streets on the other side of 9hwy to move them from GDN to PP when the MS and HS lines are different doesn't make sense

Monticello

I understand that you goal was to balance SE status throughout the district. However, that is the only thing that has been considered with this scenario. It hasn't taken into account the current children in the district, or the travel time on buses that now have to be lengthened to get children to and from school. This is NOT THE BEST OPTION. Please reconsider. Neighborhoods like Monticello that are right next door to English Landing are now traveling to another school, ONLY to be pulled away again in middle school by coming back to Lakeview. This does not make sense. Please reconsider. This is not the best option. If the goal is to balance socio-economic levels, do it in a better way.