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Updated 12/12/2011 10:16 PM

Carstarphen posts 7 action items; Eastside overhaul sparks protest

By: YNN Staff

Update 10 p.m. - The board rejected bids to sell their headquarters on West Sixth Street.

Update 8:30 p.m. - Many Eastside Memorial students expressed concern about making their school an IDEA charter facility. Eastside student Brittany Nobles said her school is one of “the most accepting campuses,” and is a place where students feel safe to be themselves.

Ken Varifus from Education Austin spoke. He said he's concerned about IDEA’s lack of engagement within the community, and believes the decision was rushed by district officials.

"If you're not listening to them I don't know who you're listening to,” he said. “Please vote no on this proposal."

Several students from IDEA schools spoke in favor of the proposal, stressing their success and wishing the same for Austin students

Under the agreement, IDEA would serve kindergarten, first, second and sixth grades for the 2012-2013 school year, and a new grade would be added each additional year.

All Allan Elementary school students would be eligible for the program, others will be enrolled by lottery system.

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Watch a press conference with AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and the district's board president before the meeting in the video above.

Update 7 p.m. - A passionate crowd has gathered at Monday night’s Austin Independent School District board meeting, including many people who are upset about the possibility of bringing charter schools into the district.

A company called IDEA, which runs charter schools, is in talks to take over the long-troubled Eastside Memorial campus.

Some recent IDEA graduates from other parts of the state said they planned to talk about their own success in order to convince AISD to let IDEA take over. However, those in the Eastside community say the school is making positive progress on its own.

AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen posted the following seven recommendations to be considered tonight (see below).

Carstarphen’s recommendations to Facilities Master Plan

A. Dual Language Immersion Programs to four additional schools

-One (1) one-way Chinese dual language immersion program at Doss Elementary
-Three (3) two-way Spanish dual language immersion programs at Blanton, Casey and Galindo Elementary Schools

B. Learning support center to replace Alternative Learning Center (ALC) and Alternative Center (ACES) for elementary students

-The recommended delivery model for this scenario is an agreement with an outside provider to operate a Learning Support Center that will serve all mandatory removals, and only those discretionary removals will be reviewed by the Associate Superintendents' offices.
-New discretionary removal will be served at the home campus by an additional 16 FTEs, including teachers and social support staff that will be assigned based on campus and student need and related services. These additional staff would be part of the existing Child Study Teams.

C. Better use of existing AISD facility capacity to address north central elementary school overcrowding

-The recommendation for this scenario is following:
-Move 6th grade students at Barrington, Brown and Walnut Creek elementary schools to their respective middle schools. Sixth grade students from Barrington and Brown elementary schools will attend Webb MS. Sixth grade students at Walnut Creek ES will attend Dobie MS.
-Create a Pre-K center at Dobie MS. Pre-K students from Graham ES and Hart ES will be assigned to Dobie MS.
-Create a Pre-K-8 model at Webb MS and reassign a portion of Barrington ES attendance zone to Webb MS, retaining the same boundaries for the existing middle school students and growing the model with specific grade levels at a time as appropriate.
-Reassign remaining Barrington Pre-K to Reilly ES.

D. Designation of 2008 Bond Program

-The recommendation for this scenario is the designation of the elementary school from the 2008 Bond Program as a north central elementary school with a capacity of 669 students.

E. In-District Charter: Graduation Pathways Education Program

-The recommended delivery model for this scenario is an in-district charter program agreement with Responsive Education Solutions serving Travis and Lanier High Schools.

F. In-District Charter: College Preparation (IDEA Public Schools)

-The recommended delivery model for this scenario is a contractual agreement with IDEA Public Schools for a K-12 college preparatory in-district charter program. This college prep design emphasizes core curriculum, results-driven culture, core values and a no-excuses culture that prepares students for success in college and citizenship by developing academic, social, and leadership skills needed to succeed in a four-year college.
-The structure of this model is:
--Begin with K-2 and 6th grades at Allan Elementary in 2012-13
--K-2 grades at Allan grow yearly to K-5 by 2015-16
--Govalle and Ortega elementary schools will receive students, who opt out of the IDEA program or are in pre-K, or grades 3, 4, and 5 for 2012-13 school year.

1. Govalle Elementary School receives Allan Elementary School students residing in the current western portion of that attendance zone, roughly bounded by the current attendance zone boundaries on the west and north, Airport Blvd. and Bolm Rd. on the east and Ed Bluestein Blvd. on the south.

2. Ortega Elementary School receives Allan Elementary School students residing in the remaining eastern portion of the current Allan attendance zone.
--The 6th and 7th grade will move to Eastside Memorial High School in 2013-14 and will grow yearly until 2018-2019 when it will be a 6–12 school.
--Students attending Eastside Memorial will co-locate with IDEA from 2013-14 until 2016-17 as the IDEA program is phased in.
--Students from Eastside Memorial HS Vertical Team (Martin attendance zone) will have preference to attend the secondary IDEA program (6-12) at Eastside Memorial at the Johnston Campus.
--Middle school students who do not enroll at IDEA at Eastside Memorial campus will be assigned to Martin MS. High school students who do not enroll at IDEA at Eastside Memorial at the Johnston Campus will continue to have the choice of attending Crockett HS, Travis HS, LBJ HS or Reagan HS.
--IDEA at Allan would not have Pre-K; therefore, Pre-K students from the current Allan attendance zone will attend Pre-K at either Govalle or Ortega, based on their residence address.

G. Single-Sex Middle Schools in District 1

-There is not a recommended delivery model for the scenario at this time. Additional time will allow the administration to appropriately develop the design with a timeline for implementation. The administration will continue to explore the delivery model for this scenario which will combine the attendance areas of James E. Pearce Preparatory Academy and Gus Garcia Middle School. Males would attend one school, and females would attend the other middle school. Students who live in the combined attendance zone and who do not want to attend a single-sex school would enroll in designated middle schools. The focus is on selected middle schools in District 1.

Additional Considerations for the Annual Facilities Recommendations in Development:

A. Evaluate, accept or reject administrative facility bids for either or both Baker Administrative Center and Carruth Administration Center.
--Recommendations for the acceptances or rejection of the bids for both will be provided via separate agenda items in advance of the Dec. 12, 2011 board meeting.

B. Evaluate transfer policy and practice at over-enrolled schools

--A committee of principals and staff met to review transfer data, look at the impact of transfers on schools, and make recommendations that could be implemented during the 2012-13 school year.

C. Boundary Changes

---Three AAFRs that are under consideration for boundary changes are in-district charter, north central overcrowding and single-sex middle schools in District 1

Information courtesy AustinISD.org.

Earlier:

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People flocked to Austin Independent School District headquarters to sign up for the limited number of spots to speak at the meeting Monday night.

The most controversial item on the agenda is Eastside Memorial High School and the proposal to allow a charter school, known as IDEA, to operate some campuses on the east side.

Students from both schools plan to speak at Monday night’s meeting.

"There are definitely way too many questions that are unanswered, for them to be voting on it tonight with all these questions in the air for the students the faculty," Eastside Memorial High School Student Paul Mannie said.

IDEA Frontier Graduate Debbie Fuentes said she wants people to listen to her experience at the charter school.

"I would really appreciate if people would just listen to us and actually learn, you know investigate in depth, you know to not go by what other people are saying but like rather listen to people like us that we've been there," she said.

Parents, teachers and students filled the 30 available spots to speak at the meeting Monday. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Carruth Administration Center located on West Sixth Street.