Student Assignments Approved By Board Jan 19 2010 (3) (1)
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The Board of Education approved changes to elementary, middle, and some high school attendance areas. For elementary schools, Option 3 was approved with an amendment to keep one neighborhood at its current school. For middle schools, Option 4 was approved to assign 6th and 7th grades to Bluffton Middle and 8th and 9th grades to McCracken Middle for two years. High school attendance areas were approved for Whale Branch, Bluffton, and Hilton Head High Schools, while attendance areas for Battery Creek and Beaufort High Schools were delayed for further analysis. Additional recommendations included grandfathering rising seniors, tightening transfer criteria, and monitoring compliance with transfers.
Student Assignments Approved By Board Jan 19 2010 (3) (1)
- 1. Student ReassignmentActions taken by Board of Education at the January 19, 2010 meeting
- 2. The Board approved Option 3 for the elementary attendance areas with an amendment to allow the Islands West neighborhood (41 total students) to remain at Okatie Elementary School, pending the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) approval.
- 3. Elementary Schools Student AssignmentElementary Option 3as amended on January 19, 2010:Bluffton ES: The attendance area would include only neighborhoods on Buckwalter Parkway south of the intersection with the Bluffton Parkway at the Townes, and excluding the Willows, Arborwood, and Sandy Pointe. MC Riley ES: The attendance area would lose the “satellite piece” of the Hwy 170 corridor to Pritchardville Elementary.Okatie ES: The attendance area would be as current, with the addition of the Willows, Arborwood and Sandy Pointe. Islands West area remains at Okatie.Red Cedar ES: The attendance area would be as current, minus the Vista View area and all of the streets on Hwy 46 from Buck Island Rd to Buckwalter Pkwy.PritchardvilleES:The attendance area includes all of the areas along the Hwy 170 corridor, all neighborhoods off Hwy 46 from Rose Dhu Creek west to the New River, includes all neighborhoods on Old Miller Rd and adds Vista View and all the neighborhoods along Hwy 46 west of Buck Island Road.
- 6. The Board approved Option 4 for the middle school attendance areas.
- 7. Middle Schools Student Assignment Approved Middle Option 4:Bluffton Area: At the January 8 retreat, Dr. Carbiener and Ms. Bush asked if reconfiguring the middle schools’ grades and finishing out Bluffton Middle would be feasible to help alleviate Bluffton High overcrowding. After due diligence regarding the building construction, costs, availability of funds, sports participation impact, research on success of ninth graders, and analysis of student data, we recommend that the Board consider assigning sixth and seventh graders to Bluffton Middle and eighth and ninth graders to McCracken Middle School for at least two years.Increasing Bluffton Middle School’s capacity from 800 to 1100 students (14 classrooms) could be accomplished by fall 2010 at a cost of approximately $1.1 million. Funds are available in the Bluffton Middle School project budget (2006 referendum). We would also save the cost of moving mobile classrooms to Bluffton High School. Adopting this Option 4 would leave approximately 500 students at McCracken Middle for their ninth grade year and reduce BLHS enrollment from 1653 to approximately 1295 (moving students up plus allowing for growth of about 75 students). One suggestion from community input sessions was to reconfigure the elementary schools as PK-6 and form two 7, 8, 9 schools at BLMiddle and HEMMS. Because of fewer fields at BLMiddle, ready access of after school sports between HEMMS and BLHS, and the opportunity for highly able students to take advanced courses at the high school, we recommend serving grades 6, 7 at Bluffton Middle and grades 8 and 9 at HEMcCracken Middle. The principals agree with this approach.Beaufort Area: Students who are assigned to Beaufort Elementary School currently split for middle and high school attendance. About half (246) attend Beaufort Middle School and about half (219) attend Robert Smalls Middle School. We recommend that all BES-zoned students attend Beaufort Middle School and then Battery Creek High School. This action adds about 80 students to BMS, increasing the percentage of African-American students from 27% to 33%, with Hispanic and Other categories remaining about 11%. Adopting this option keeps the PK-8 population from Beaufort Elementary together.
- 9. Middle School Student Assignment in the Beaufort Elementary area
- 10. The Board approved completing the fourteen classroom shell of Bluffton Middle school to increase capacity from 850 to 1100 ($1.1 million from FY 06 Referendum funds)
- 11. The Board delayed approving attendance zones for Battery Creek High and Beaufort High Schools, but approved attendance zones for the Whale Branch Early College High School, Bluffton High, and Hilton Head Island High.
- 12. Descriptions of the high school attendance areas that the Board approved on January 19, 2010:Whale Branch Early College HS: The attendance area would include all of the WBMS zone, plus Laurel Bay and the areas just outside of the gate including the neighborhoods of Irongate, Capehart, and Pinewood subdivisions.Bluffton HS: Attendance boundaries would not change; however, ninth graders would be served at HE McCracken Middle School. Hilton Head HS : Attendance boundaries would not change
- 14. This table shows the anticipated enrollment for the high school student assignments approved by the Beaufort County Board of Education on January 19, 2010, pending approval by Office of Civil Rights.Students Grades 8-1114Capacity shown in parentheses
- 15. The Board delayed approving attendance zones for Battery Creek High and Beaufort High. Through an amended motion, the Board created an Options I and J for staff to analyze and bring back for consideration.Option I Option I would split the Beaufort ES attendance area down the middle of Ribaut Road so that the east side of the split would attend Beaufort High and the west side would attend Battery Creek High. This option leaves the Mossy Oaks area and Port Royal areas attending Beaufort High. Option J Option J would split the Beaufort ES attendance area and the Port Royal ES attendance area down the middle of Ribaut Road, sending high school students living on the east side of the split to Beaufort High, and students on the west side to Battery Creek High school. This option leaves Mossy Oaks area attending Beaufort High.
- 16. The Board of Education also approved the following Additional Recommendations as presented by the Superintendent:
- 17. Additional Recommendations“Grandfather” rising high school seniors who are affected by student assignment changes. Consider exceptions to students assignment changes by application to a Student Services Appeal Panel, to promote consistency and fairness.Tighten criteria for programmatic transfers, specifying admission requirements for each program. Only transfers approved by Office of Student Services will be allowed, alleviating schools from the responsibility of considering transfer requests.
- 18. Additional Policy RecommendationsMonitor closely compliance with approved transfers, requiring transfers to be renewed annually.Require annual student registration in August to verify home addresses and other important information to reduce students’ attending out-of-residency zones.Promote programmatic transfers that alleviate overcrowding at Beaufort High and Bluffton High, providing transportation if feasible, for such programs as the Early College magnet at Whale Branch, International Baccalaureate degree programs at Hilton Head High and Battery Creek High.Retain the current employee courtesy transfer benefit.