Portland Public Schools



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MEMORANDUM

Date: April 11, 2016

To: Members of the Board of Education

From: Judy Brennan, Director of Enrollment

CC: Superintendent Smith

Subject: Response to Board Questions Regarding Attendance Area Changes for Lincoln and Wilson Cluster Schools

Summary

A vote is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, 2016 on a set of attendance area changes for Lincoln and Wilson cluster schools. This memo provides responses to questions received from Board members about the proposed changes. Staff will be available to clarify or answer additional questions in advance of the scheduled vote.

Question 1: I am confused (or perhaps just reflecting the public confusion) around Bridlemile's split at Patton.  The reason is that north of Patton the TriMet service to Lincoln is about 1/5 the time to Wilson, while south of Patton has a commute to Wilson that's more manageable.  Is there really a split in that little zone along Scholls Ferry Road, too?  I thought the little "West Slope" panhandle area was all going.

Response 1:  Staff found three areas where average travel times to Wilson would be 2-3 times greater than to Lincoln.  The Superintendent is recommending that those areas remain assigned to Lincoln.  This action means that, with your approval, there are no addresses in the Bridlemile boundary assigned to Wilson whose best travel option requires a 30+ minute walk, or reliance on the 58 Bus, necessitating transfer downtown and significantly increased rider time.

Specifically, staff identified eight random addresses in different portions of the Bridlemile boundary as test cases, and then used Tri-Met travel time data to estimate the average student commute to Lincoln and Wilson.  The results of that random address analysis are shown on the attached map and chart. 

One of the areas with greater travel times to Wilson was identified after a concern was raised by a community member at a Board public hearing.  The Superintendent added that area located south of Highway 26 and along Hewett Avenue, into the final recommendation and it is included in the resolution for your consideration.

Other portions of the Bridlemile boundary, including the area near Scholls Ferry Road and Patton Road, have similar travel times to Lincoln and Wilson, according to staff analysis of Tri-Met data. The language in the resolution has been clarified to explain that this area is included in the proposed boundary change with Wilson.

It is notable, as well, that there are large portions of the Bridlemile boundary which have travel times to Wilson that are 10-20 minutes shorter than travel times to Lincoln.  Therefore, those areas are included in the proposed boundary change to Wilson.

Question 2: Are there places where some students go to one school while students closer to that school go to a school farther away. Or in other words are there schools which aren't made up of the closest kids (in travel time)? Where are these places?

Response 2: There are numerous PPS school boundaries with houses that are closer to a different school than to the assigned neighborhood school. Multiple factors contribute to this situation, including school building capacities and population changes over time. Here are several examples from across PPS:

Examples of areas assigned with boundary assignments to schools further than nearest school

|Approximate Area |Assigned School(s) |Closer School(s) |Reason (if known) |

|South of SE Powell, east of SE 82nd|Harrison Park K-8, Madison HS |Lent K-8 (for some), Franklin HS |Lack of capacity |

|South of SE Lexington, east of SE |Lewis ES |Duniway ES |Lack of capacity |

|42nd | | | |

|South of NE Killingsworth, east of |Vernon K-8, Jefferson/Madison HS |Beaumont MS, |Former Meek neighborhood merged |

|NE 33rd |Dual Assignment |Grant HS |with Vernon; lack of capacity |

|South of N Willis, west of N Wooley|Astor K-8 |Cesar Chavez K-8 |Legacy boundary remained after K-8 |

| | | |configuration; lack of capacity |

|North of SW Hamilton, west of Dosch|Rieke ES |Bridlemile ES |Legacy boundary |

|Rd. | | | |

Question 3: I am very concerned about residency fraud and whether we are doing anything about it. I agree this is a problem and even a "Tip Line" might at least dissuade people from obtaining false residency.

Response 3: School staff are diligent in following up on questionable address information and send dozens of questions and tips to the Enrollment and Transfer Center. The department also receives anonymous requests, and will start an anonymous tip line for the 2016-17 school year. Information about the tip line will be part of all back-to-school information packets.

The Enrollment and Transfer Center responds to requests by reviewing district and city data, including contacting utilities and taxing agencies. We contract out home visits for questionable addresses to a private investigator. The department has and will continue to revoke enrollment in cases of verified address fraud.

Question 4: Can you please give me more info on Ramona. Are we displacing critical services to make space for Chapman?

Response 4: The transition plan is to move two Early Learner and one Early Head Start classrooms and the support staff that go with these programs to other PPS locations. While we appreciate the locations for SW and NW parents, there are few children served who live in those areas. There is also a PPS special education transition team housed at the Ramona this year and an MECP classroom supporting 5 children that opened in January 2016.  Albina Head Start has indicated that, should PPS programs move, they too would be looking to re-locate to the east side of the river.

Question 5: Please give me more information around the dual enrollment middle school option and transportation for Bridlemile.

Response 5: Resolution 2884, approved by the PPS Board of Directors January 12, 2004, requires us to “actively solicit voluntary transfers from Bridlemile students to Robert Gray Middle School, and to offer limited bus transportation on an interim basis to these students. Since the 204-05 school year, PPS has offered guaranteed transfers for Bridlemile residents into Robert Gray MS, and have extended the transfer option through Wilson HS as well.

PPS has continued to provide yellow bus service for Bridlemile neighborhood students who transfer to Robert Gray MS. Each year there are approximately 10 Bridlemile stops set at major collector roads, such as Dosch Rd and Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. All PPS high school students receive Tri-Met youth passes.

Below are five years of Bridlemile guaranteed transfer results. On average, 23 incoming 6th grade students have transferred to Gray MS, or 28% of eligible students. Over the past four years, an average of 14 incoming 9th grade students from the Bridlemile boundary have transferred to Wilson, or 17% of eligible students. The voluntary Bridlemile transfer guarantee has not significantly impacted overcrowding at Lincoln High School.

Bridlemile Guarantee results 2011-12 through 2015-16

|School Year |How many |How many students |% Participation | |How many students |How many students |% Participation |

| |students were |could have | | |were approved to |could have | |

| |approved to |participated each | | |Wilson? |participated each | |

| |Gray?  |year? | | | |year? | |

|2014-15 |39 |91 |42.9% | |21 |87 |24.1% |

|2013-14 |26 |90 |28.9% | |16 |77 |20.8% |

|2012-13 |15 |84 |17.9% | |6 |70 |8.6% |

|2011-12 |20 |80 |25.0% | |10 |not available |  |

 

 Attachment: Travel times map

Cc: Harriet Adair, Teri Brady,,Tony Magliano, Sarah Singer, Zachary Worthen

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