Redistricting: Does it bother parents more than kids?
Today, Gwinnett parents find out if their kids are among the 9,000 being restricted into new schools next year. I know the news will upset some parents. It would upset me if my kids were redirected to a new school.
But I have found over the years that my children are often bothered less by changes than I am. In fact, one of life’s great lessons has been the adaptability of kids and their openness to new experiences in school.
When my system was doing construction, my son was in three different locations in three years. Didn’t seem to faze him or his pals.
My daughter left all her friends to attend an out-of-state boarding school when she won a great scholarship at age 14. While a bit homesick at first, she loved the whole experience and met lifelong friends. (Including her steady boyfriend of six years, but that’s another blog down the line.)
I have had friends who became upset when they learned that their child’s teacher is going out on maternity leave for half the year. I have had that happen twice and worried with it, but my kids loved the subs and the year went fine
We lose sleep over a lot of school decisions, but children seem to bounce back. I recognize that some children do not do well with change, but change is a way of life. (I have learned a lot about that lately in an industry undergoing seismic shifts.)
As a reporter, I have covered many school controversies and interviewed parents at packed school board meetings. But in the cases where I also have had a chance to talk to the students, I find that the parent’s anxiety is often not matched by the child’s.
According to the AJC story, some Gwinnett students will not only be switching schools, they will be switching clusters and reporting to new middle and high schools. “We realize change isn’t easy,” said Sloan Roach, Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman. “We also know that the opening of a new school is something to celebrate. What we have seen in the past is … people who may not have been real excited about the change, once they get to their new school … their enthusiasm is just over the top.”
I think Sloan may be right.
What do you think?
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20 comments Add your comment
jim d
October 2nd, 2009
9:48 am
Whattta I think?
Why should it bother parents?
Well, let’s assume you just bought a $300,000 home in a neighborhood so your children could attend a particular school. Should you have to sell and move again? (I’d have had to moved 6 times in my child’s educational years)
We have people on this blog all the time stating such ridiculous rhetoric when they tell people they have CHOICE to move if they don’t like a school.
The solution is simple–CHOICE SCHOOLS thru-out the state. LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
jim d
October 2nd, 2009
10:06 am
I think you need check the filters
jim d
October 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
Well fortunately i saved it so lets give it another shot.
Why should it bother parents?
Well, let’s assume you just bought a $300,000 home in a neighborhood so your children could attend a particular school. Should you have to sell and move again? (I’d have had to moved 6 times in my child’s educational years)
We have people on this blog all the time stating such ridiculous rhetoric when they tell people they have CHOICE to move if they don’t like a school.
The solution is simple–CHOICE SCHOOLS thru-out the state. LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
Maureen Downey
October 2nd, 2009
10:29 am
Jim d, I have no idea why your comment went to the filter. When I was at a conference yesterday for seven hours, 41 comments went to the filter and only three belonged there.
I wonder if the fact that you cited a dollar amount made the filter respond as if you were a sales pitch.
Maureen
mom3
October 2nd, 2009
10:30 am
My problem with GCPS has always been that their districting is not done fairly. My kids went to Richards Middle. When my son was in 8th grade, there were about 80 trailers, with the entire 8th grade outside (except for one team due to a handicapped student). Three miles down the road, Trickum Middle has no trailers. But, they won’t redistrict some of the kids into Brookwood. They never mess with Brookwood. Why? Why do those kids get special treatment? Do they pay more taxes then us?
jim d
October 2nd, 2009
10:38 am
IT was a sales pitch—aa pitch for basic freedom of CHOICE!.
But thanks for freeing it up!
HS Teacher, Too
October 2nd, 2009
10:46 am
jim d — I agree wholeheartedly. Worse, it’s not just a question of “having” to sell — it is nowadays also a question of an ability to sell.
We’ve had the same home in Gwinnett for ten years and we’ve been in three different clusters so far! House hasn’t physically moved — and we’ve not had to worry because we’ve not sent kids to GCPS schools. But if we cared, we’d be in a pickle, because we have tried to sell our home and in this market the only way we can do that is to write a pretty big check.
Maureen Downey
October 2nd, 2009
10:49 am
Mom3,
I think that is a good question. My own suspicions – dating back to covering both wealthy and poor schools in ]Florida and New Jersey – are that systems opt for the path of least resistance.
They would rather not tangle with a cluster noted for highly involved, highly organized and highly vocal parents. I think that districts feel that newer neighborhoods – new subdivisions with folks relatively unfamiliar with the school histories – are less likely to organize. I also think districts expect less resistance in less affluent areas where families are more focused on making a living and have less time to agitate.
retired teacher
October 2nd, 2009
10:57 am
School Choice would make all schools better. Where to educate your child should be a choice all parents have. Competition always helps.
DeKalb Conservative
October 2nd, 2009
11:11 am
Good post. It never surprises me how resilient kids can be. That said, their ability to adapt has limits.
I’m not as well versed on the politics of Gwinnett as I should be. That said, its growth is a continued risk for redistributing. This is something that parents must be aware prior to moving in.
Nicole
October 2nd, 2009
11:14 am
My daughter was recently redistricted. She was attending Arnold Mill, where we became very close with the teachers and faculty, only to then, see them all have to leave and us as well when her year of 3rd grade came. She is now at Little River. At first we were very very upset. We wanted her to have a set area, where the surrounding school body would get to know her, and she would get to know them. I mean..who can usually say that the principal knows your child personally for good reasons? However…I was extremely happy to see that she is making those same connections just as easily at Little River. Now..if they were to redistrict us again? then I’d have a problem. As a child my family moved around alot, first when I was 3, then when I was 8, then when I was 10, which at that point moved me between 3 different schools. We then moved when I was 16 and 2 years from graduating with all my friends. This was in an age where long distance was to expensive for phone calls, and visiting was out of the question. I have no long lasting friendships from my youth. I don’t want that for her. I want her established.
Lee
October 2nd, 2009
11:19 am
I think most parents understand redistricting on the basis of headcounts and geographic area. Where most of us have problems are when they start redrawing the maps for other reasons.
You know, like when McEachern tried to get more white students in the district to prop up test scores.
Of course, regardless of the reason, if a parent feels that their child is going to a worse school than the one they were in, they will not like it.
Terry
October 2nd, 2009
11:28 am
retired teacher – Great Post and I agree.
I can only say that my kids have been redistricted several times and have lived through it just fine. No big deal. Maybe a whine here and there, but my usual response to that is put my hand up and tell them to ‘talk to the hand’.. Seriously tho, no problems for them, they’ve adjusted well and made new friends each time.
Vince
October 2nd, 2009
12:07 pm
After seventeen years in the Dacula cluster our two youngest were redistricted this year. We were excited about it. The kids hate it. I know they will get over the switch eventually, but it isn’t very pretty right now. Dacula got split three ways this year. Some kids went to Mountain View, some went to the other new school, Archer, and some stayed at DHS. Kids just miss their friends, but hopefully with time, will make new ones.
KH
October 2nd, 2009
12:58 pm
As Lee said, as much as you may hate the effect, it is easy to understand redistricting for headcounts and geographic area. I moved back to Gwinnett from Wake County (Raleigh) NC, which has similar growth issues, but was always redistricting to maintain racial and socioeconomic basis. Pockets of people were picked up and shipped to schools across the county… I do appreciate Gwinnett’s attempt to keep cluster boundaries fixed (except when adding new schools) and keeping geographic reasonableness preserved.
That being said, I am a true fan of real school choice!
TeachGA
October 2nd, 2009
1:59 pm
Well, the new district maps came out last school year for the most part….before someone moved or bought, they could have reviewed the GCPS website. Now, I disagree with the redistricting for Lanier Cluster….North gwinnett has gotten all the “good”/rich neighborhoods while Lanier Middle and the new High have gotten the leftovers…apartments, old neighborhoods, etc…the teachers in the Lanier Cluster are going to have more free/reduced lunch and higher ESOL/EEL students and are going to struggle for awhile on tests…not fair when NG cluster will not be having the same issues since they received a better district of homes/families…..they should mix it up and not make one better than the other…i went to Lanier MS and NGHS and remember when Collin Hills opened and this happened and it has taken NG cluster over 10-15 years to rise back up and be competitive with Parkview,etc and I hate knowing that Lanier cluster is going to struggle the same!
Anita
October 2nd, 2009
2:00 pm
Enter your comments here: grammar error in 1st sentence. should proof read
Maureen Downey
October 2nd, 2009
2:25 pm
Thanks Anita, I fixed it. (Assuming I caught the same error.)
d
October 2nd, 2009
7:27 pm
After 16 years, GCPS is finally fixing a mistake at the south end of the county. I started at Shiloh in 1993, but was redistricted to South Gwinnett after my freshman year. I was grandfathered in and allowed to stay at Shiloh, but my two younger sisters were not given the choice and were bussed past every school in the Shiloh cluster to attend Snellville Middle and South Gwinnett. The new maps finally put the subdivision I grew up in back to Shiloh due to the construction of the new Snell Elementary. Thanks GCPS for finally getting at least one thing right.
d
October 2nd, 2009
7:36 pm
Retired teacher, usually I do agree with competition being a good thing, but I think in public education it is a bit different — in fact that statement from John McCain at the RNC cost him my vote. That aside, my only problem with competition is taking money from public schools and giving it to private schools who don’t need it does not help the public schools. How can they improve when money is removed? Governor Perdue has cut K-12 funding every year he has been in office. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to choice, even intradistrict permissive transfers, but I do oppose sending my tax dollars to private for-profit institutions. Finally, people need to realize what a good deal they’re getting for their tax dollars. The school portion of my property taxes this year was about $1000, now what private school could I put multiple children in for that amount of money a year? I get so angry at the voucher people thinking they deserve $5000 per child vouchers for a private school when they don’t put anywhere near that amount into the public system to begin with.