optional schools – Memphis Flyer

Parents who camped out at the school board last week could breathe easier Friday as they turned in their paperwork for cherished spots in the most desirable optional schools.

Those seeking spots in top schools fall into three categories: the locks, the lucky, and the late.

The locks got low numbers and assured spots because they camped out multiple nights, some of them sleeping in tents or bringing propane heaters to stay warm.

The lucky either wound up near the back of the line or will take their chances in a lottery that determines 20 percent of the slots. Jeanie Harrison, who was at the school board auditorium Friday morning, hopes to get her child who is now at Richland Elementary into White Station Middle School. Her husband got in line last Sunday, but the early birds got there three days before. Monday night the Harrisons opted for a propane heater and lawn chairs. Her number is 96. There are 100 slots at the school, and there were 68 parents seeking those slots in front of them. Because siblings get priority, the Harrisons, who have no children currently at the school, are on the bubble.

“I don’t think we will know for four to six weeks,” she said. “We will probably be in the lottery.”

Candite Harbin got number 385 and also hopes to get her child into White Station Middle School. She did not camp out and instead came to the school board on Tuesday. She too is likely to wind up in the lottery.

The optional school game has a new wrinkle this year because of the merger of the city and county school systems and all the attention on public education. Bianca Williams was at the board Friday hoping to get her daughter, who now attends Harding Academy, into White Station Middle School. She was told that she will not know the outcome for another six to eight weeks.

An indication that the process is even-handed — one of the mothers at the board auditorium Friday morning who camped out last week was Maura Black Sullivan, deputy chief administrative officer for the city of Memphis. Also in line was attorney Lori Patterson, who is representing the Shelby County Commission in the schools cases.

Linda Sklar, head of the optional schools program, said final numbers on applicants would be available Sunday. I will update this post when I have more information.

Kriner Cash

The Unified Shelby County School Board has trouble voting on matters within its control, but did agree on Tuesday to tell citizens to vote for the referendum calling for a half-cent increase in the sales tax.

The vote was 14 to 6, with one abstention. It came near the end of a five-hour meeting during which the board also voted 15-6 to conduct a national search for a superintendent.

The majority of board members felt that the sales tax increase, while regressive, would raise $62 million, of which $31 million would go to schools.

“This benefits all children regardless of where they live,” said Martavius Jones.

The superintendent search vote came after an amendment changing the search from national to local (effectively handing the job to John Aitken, superintendent of the current Shelby County school system) failed.

“I’m sitting here wondering how anyone in their right mind would want to come to work for us 23 board members,” said David Reaves. He noted that the board took 90 minutes to approve a resolution on merger strategy and timeline after questioning whether it gave the administration too much power.

The timeline calls for a key meeting on November 15th about Transition Planning Commission recommendations. Additional meetings will be held in November, and members predicted they will last several hours and possibly draw thousands of spectators.

“This is a whole lot of work,” said MCS Superintendent Kriner Cash. “There’s never been a merger like this in the history of anything.”

Cash also said, “We are going to have to get down and dirty with this, and that dirt is coming real soon.”

The basic problem is that the board is divided between urban and suburban interests, the suburban representatives don’t trust the Shelby County Commission, several board members don’t trust the administration, and several more members from both camps don’t trust the Transition Planning Commission and the outside interests working behind the scene through foundations, nonprofits, the state Department of Education, and the group Stand For Children.

In a sign of divisions and votes to come, the auditorium was filled with members of AFSCME, the Memphis Education Association, and supporters of the CLUE program in MCS for “gifted” children. They carried signs saying “Keep CLUE,” “No Lottery For Optional Schools,” and “Stop Rich Folks making $ from public education and creating low-wage workers.” Among the TPC recommendations is a lottery for some spaces in optional schools. Slots now go on a first-come, first-served basis. CLUE, heavily supported by parents from Grahamwood Elementary School and a few of their children who also spoke, is often under the gun at budget time. The “rich folks” reference was apparently to operators of charter schools.