Beverly
Cleary School Overcrowding Summary
The Problem
The current Beverly Cleary School (BCS) campus
buildings, Hollyrood and Fernwood, are extremely overcrowded. We do not have enough space this year, and in
the 2014-15 school year we expect a large Kindergarten class and a growing First
Grade class that will each compound the problem.
Why has this happened?
·
BCS has excellent programs and
results, which attract more families into our neighborhoods;
·
Targeted increased density within
the BCS catchment (new apartment buildings, etc.) has also added more families
and students;
·
When BCS was made into a K-8 (in
2006) and the boundaries expanded, we immediately started to see an increase in
numbers;
·
The BCS capture rate has jumped dramatically
(capture rate denotes the percentage of eligible age appropriate students
within the BCS boundaries that actually attend BCS). See chart below:
Statistics
We have seen consistent growth (an average of
10.2% per year) for the past five years.
|
Year
|
Total
Enrollment
|
% of
Growth
|
Capture
Rate
|
|
2009-10
|
552
|
|
59.2%
|
|
2010-11
|
604
|
9.4%
|
63.1%
|
|
2011-12
|
674
|
11.6%
|
67.9%
|
|
2012-13
|
731
|
8.5%
|
70.7%
|
|
2013-14
|
815*
|
11.5%
|
73.2%
|
|
|
|
|
|
(*The PSU numbers in spring 2013 indicated
that there would be 767 students at BCS for 2013-14, or a growth rate of 4.9%,
rather than the actual numbers of 815 and an 11.5% growth. Had we grown at the projected rate it would
have still been tight but we could have made things work.)
What space limitations mean at
Hollyrood
·
No lunchroom. This is a safety
issue for children with serious allergies and a cleanliness issue for all
classrooms;
·
The “Teacher’s Lounge” is used
for storage, the Campfire office, the lunch service room and is the general
workroom. The teachers cannot use this
space for lunch as it is always in use;
·
The library is used for library,
music, computer lab, literacy breakout space, Campfire and teacher planning space;
·
If there was an additional space
this year we could have added another K class thus lowering all the K class
sizes.
·
There is no space for meetings
with parents or other groups;
·
Campfire uses classrooms after school,
which precludes teachers from being able to use their rooms for planning or to meet
with parents.
What space limitations mean at
Fernwood
·
There is not a single empty
space. Nothing else can be converted
into a classroom;
·
There is no computer lab;
·
There are 38 kids in each of the Eighth-
Grade classes;
·
The basement rooms are not
accessible and cannot receive the mobile computer labs;
·
Campfire has no space of its own;
·
Loss of after-school programs due to lack of space.
There is no more Mad Science, after-school Spanish, martial arts, or dance
club;
·
Lunches are difficult to schedule
and to manage due to short time frame and lack of space. Kids have between 18 and 21 minutes to eat.
Current and Projected
Enrollment
Our most current numbers for
2013-14 are:
|
Kindergarten
-- 117
First
Grade -- 108
Second
Grade -- 85
Third
Grade -- 104
Fourth
Grade -- 90
|
Fifth
Grade -- 79
Sixth
Grade -- 76
Seventh
Grade -- 80
Eighth
Grade -- 76
TOTAL - 815
|
Historically, when kindergarten moves to First
Grade the numbers increase over the previous year by about 10%. That means next year’s First Grade will
likely consist of about 129 students.
Moreover, we expect to have 100-115 Kindergarteners for 2014-15.
Even if other grades do not grow, this takes
our school to 856. But given our 10% average
growth rate over the past four years, our enrollment will likely be closer to 890. All crowded into a building designed to
accommodate far fewer students.
What do we do?
Given planning, timeframe, the complexity of
a boundary change, the current enrollment and transfer rules, and the fact that
we can’t expand our buildings, we need a short-term solution for
2014-15. From our past space-enrollment
crises, we are aware that many ideas and potential solutions circulate
throughout our community. The following section
addresses many of them:
Would a boundary adjustment fix next year’s problem?
No. The
boundaries are not scheduled to be adjusted until the 2015-16 school year.
When boundary adjustments happen will that solve our issues?
If boundaries were moved under the current
rules, it would take years to relieve
pressure by attrition. The Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment
and Transfer (SACET) is drafting recommended guidelines for new rules for
enrollment and transfer. Their
recommendations will be adjusted and finalized by the PPS Board and Superintendent
Carole Smith. Their job is to craft
rules that are equitable for all children, neighborhoods and schools. The goal is to make all schools successful so
families will want to attend their neighborhood school thus keeping better
balance across the entire district.
Can we remove kids from BCS who live outside the boundary?
Current rules preclude this from
happening. But even if there was an
immediate rule change that would mandate that only kids within a school’s
boundary could go to that school, by law it would be applied district-wide and would
essentially amount to a “wash” for BCS – or perhaps even an increase.
What about modular classrooms?
This came up last year and it was looked at
it from many different angles. In the
end it was concluded that it was not viable last year for the following reasons:
·
There isn’t proper space;
·
The permitting process is lengthy
and expensive; in fact, we were told by a Board member that it was
prohibitively expensive and that PPS did not have the finances to do this;
·
All units must be fully plumbed;
·
If we could find space, the expense
and time line would make it very difficult to have them operational by August
2014.
Could we convert gym space to classrooms?
This was also discussed last year. The expense is huge and it could not
accommodate the growth we are projecting.
Additionally, in 2017, the state laws for physical fitness curriculum
are slated to change and we may need both gyms to accommodate the new laws.
Could we use Fernwood and Rose City Park to create one larger
school?
The distance between the two buildings would
preclude campus assemblies, reading buddies, shared concerts and programs. To bus kids from one to the other would be prohibitively
expensive. If RCP were opened in another
form (other than the ACCESS program) it would most likely become a self-contained
school again.
Could the ACCESS program move to Hollyrood?
No.
Their program is too big and Hollyrood was designed for younger
kids. We know how crowded it feels today
with our 225 students K and First grades.
ACCESS currently has 246 kids in First through Eighth Grade, and their community
has expressed a desire to grow the program.
They have targeted their enrollment to increase by up to 75 additional
students for the 2014-15 school year. PPS has assured their community that they
will remain at RCP at least through the 2015-16 school year.
Is there space at Grant?
There is very limited space at Grant. Moving kids to Grant would not alleviate
pressure at Hollyrood. We will not know
what space is available there until the Grant programs are dictated for 2014-15.
What are some potential solutions?
The BCS community has been informally
discussing possible options for several months.
In terms of a temporary, one-year solution, the most viable general
direction seems to be to move some grades to the Rose City Park (RCP) building
at 2334 NE 57th Ave. RCP has some empty
space and is open. They currently house
the ACCESS Academy with 246 students in grades 1-8. When ACCESS was moved
into that building, it was with the understanding that they would be sharing
the space with another program. While
this is not ideal, it is the most likely way that BCS will be able to
accommodate next year’s enrollment figures.
A more drastic move to RCP was presented last year but PPS opted to keep
BCS in our current configuration.
It is important to note that fire codes
currently require all K, 1 and 2 kids to
be located on a ground floor with access to the outside. There is not enough eligible (ground floor)
space at RCP to host more than one K-2 grade.
Several years ago, PPS explored a waiver that would exclude Fernwood from
those restrictions, but they either withdrew the request or the waiver was
denied.
Specific Option 1: Move one of the K-2 grades and one of the 3-8 grades
for one year to RCP.
This keeps Hollyrood open and gives Hollyrood
back three classrooms as they will most likely need five classrooms for any
younger grade next year. In addition, it would allow for a lunchroom and
space for Campfire at Hollyrood, perhaps even a pre-K program. Moving an
older grade to RCP loosens up space at Fernwood and would continue a reading buddies
connection if it were a compatible grade for that program.
Note - We could not move more than one grade
from K-2, because there is not enough ground floor room for all of them at
RCP. If we moved one grade from the K-2
grades and one grade from the 3-8 grades, RCP could accommodate those numbers
and grade combinations.
Specific Option 2: Move Grades 6-8 to RCP
This would free up lots of space at Fernwood
but not at Hollyrood. We will need between 13 and 15 ground floor classrooms
for K-2 next year or approximately five for each grade. There are only eight
rooms at Hollyrood and seven at Fernwood that meet their requirements for
fire/life safety. This means that the First
Graders would have to be split. The lack
of a cafeteria and the safety issues that come with it would still be a major issue.
It is also concerning to PPS that this is a
policy statement (moving away from a K-8 school to more of a middle school
model). It would strongly suggest that we are amenable
to re-opening a middle school program for our kids. Many of next year’s 6-8 kids started at Hollyrood
when it was still an independent K-3 school and then had to adjust to a K-8
program. The parents, teachers and
administrators for these kids have been through program adjustments and worked very
hard to make BCS the successful K-8 program that it is. Our growing numbers are
a testament to that fact. A K-8 program
is much different than a K-5 and middle school program. Additionally, all of next year’s 6-8 grade
kids will also be displaced during the Grant High School rebuild.
Other PPS owned spaces* exist that are
currently closed to students. These are
not in the BCS boundary but could house students with some updates.
·
Harriet Tubman Academy
·
Rice School
·
Humboldt
·
Edwards Elementary
(*None of these schools have been discussed
with the district. We do not know the
condition of the buildings, nor do we have any idea of what the cost would be
to get them up to current fire/life safety codes.)
Conclusion
There is no perfect solution to this
issue. Some children and families will
be affected by any change put into place.
Ultimately, the Beverly Cleary community does not get the final say in
what happens but we can have measured and balanced discussions with PPS
leadership and staff to ensure our opinions are considered. As
the PTA, we felt that we needed to inform our parents about the challenges and
issues as we understand them and what is happening to date.
It is unlikely that District staff will be
prepared to discuss the issue in more detail until early 2014. When they are available, we will convene a
meeting with the facilities team and our community to discuss options. Until then, we encourage you to join the online
discussion on Facebook to stay abreast of any changes. (https://www.facebook.com/BeverlyClearyK8School)
This information is for you to consider and
discuss. It is hard to think about how
it will affect you and/or others. There
are many moving parts and perhaps some that we have not been made aware of as
yet. We need to be mindful that what
doesn’t affect you may greatly affect another family, and may even affect other
schools in the Grant cluster. We all
want what is best for our children. This
can be an emotional subject but it needs to be approached with a measured
response from us as individuals and mostly as a whole school.
It does not behoove us to formulate a
“solution” before meeting with the district as there may be more information
and other potential solutions proposed at that time. We suggest you discuss the “possible
solutions” shown above and formulate others.
When we have more information we will make sure that it is shared with
our community.
Regards,
BCS PTA Board
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