Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
7:00 p.m.
Pine Castle Elementary's Auditorium
WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW
GENERAL INQUIRY
1. We have been told that this issue has not yet been voted upon, is this true? If not, when will a final decision be made?
2. Is it predetermined that the School Board intends to close one or more of the Elementary Schools?
3. What is the true underlying basis for the decision of closing a school? Is it the decreased enrollment, desegregation/unitary status, or is this purely a monetary issue? If we knew the bottom line we might be better able to come up with alternatives.
4. Who is physically studying and doing the research for the School Board and what issues are they looking at? Has the research already been completed? If not, how long have they been working on it and what is the status? How do we obtain this information?
5. Who will actually make this decision, and who specifically will provide information to the decision maker(s)? Who are the voting members?
6. In our zone, is it likely that it will be either Pershing or Pine Castle? If so, what is your understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the schools as it relates to this decision? If there are other possibilities, which other schools are likely candidates?
7. How critical will community feedback be to the decision making process? Is this simply a placating move?
8. Why is Pine Castle on the list of school closings/mergers when there are no other schools in our area that have available space? If we are closed, where will our children go, and have these options already been studied to determine whether they are even viable?
MONETARY CONSIDERATIONS
9. Has a transportation study been done? How will busing affect School Board expense? Isn’t the County having problems finding bus drivers and keeping up with the increased fuel costs?
10. Is the School Board analyzing the real estate values of these school properties and the possible sale of the real estate to generate income? If so, has the School Board further analyzed the return on the sale of Pine Castle’s real estate versus the additional costs associated with busing the Pine Castle students and placing them in more portables? What factors are being looked at regarding current real estate values and alternative uses of the property?
11. We have been told that an offer was made for the property the day after the Sentinel article came out. It is our understanding that the offer was NOT from PCCA. Who is the other interested party and how realistic is it that the property will be sold instead of revitalized?
12. Has the School Board considered rebuilding Pine Castle on its existing property and creating a symbiotic relationship with PCCA similar to what has been done with YMCAs and downtown parking garages? Would such a study help our cause?
13. Is it possible to create a partnership between the government entities to generate additional funds? (City, County, School Board)
14. Have we received from the Federal Government all of the funds for NCLB (No child left behind)? If not, why aren’t we demanding that we receive it?
15. If money is an issue, why not propose a half penny tax increase?
16. In a November 13, 2006 Orlando Sentinel article, it is reported that there was 113 million dollar “windfall” for Orlando. Why isn’t money earmarked for critical school projects from this “windfall”?
SEGREGATION / UNITARY STATUS
17. What is unitary status? When is the next “unitary status” meeting?
18. Why is the rush on now to ensure the county is in compliance?
19. Pine Castle has over a 50% minority rate and 54% of our children receive free or reduced lunches. How can it be said that we are not diversified?
20. Our school is made up of the students that represent the surrounding community. Many of our families have moved to this community because of this reason. It does not seem fair to bus them to schools that do not represent the community in which they live. What statistics could more diverse that our population of students? White 42.67%, Black 16.13%, Hispanic 32.90%, and Other 8.30%
21. How, if at all, will the current case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in this past month impact the decisions being made in Orange County, and has it been suggested that the school board table any further activity until after the Court’s ruling?
22. Why should an A school be closed due to a 1960 diversity ruling?
UNDERUTILIZATION and SENSE OF COMMUNITY
23. How can a school be considered under-utilized when it has portables?
24. Are you aware of any studies supporting the concept that because the entire staff of smaller schools know all of the students, there are fewer discipline problems to distract from learning? Are there statistics that show students excel academically in larger schools vs. a smaller neighborhood school? Recent studies from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Education show that smaller schools (400 children or less) are the optimum learning environment for children. Community schools are such models providing the safe and small personalized learning environments.
25. Does the school board realize that without a sense of community, parental involvement will drop?
26. Is there a concern that busing our children out of our neighborhood school will jeopardize many of their current afternoon extra curricular activities, and if so, how is that being addressed?
27. An Orange County Board member said in a meeting that she would take her kids and run if they were to be sent to a “wrong” area or one that was too far, how are other parents supposed to respond?
28. A school board member said it perfectly; this plan will “destroy communities.” Do you agree and with the current information you have to work with, what is your position on this issue? What should we do to become the best possible advocate for saving our school?
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