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Dot and I want it the way it was up until 10PM last night.

I need another drink.

Bruce,

Several questions/requests:

1. Can you the lastest of map from last night and post it.
2. Can you find out which maps are still being considered in Anita's motion last night for "ALL" the maps, i.e. would that be: the Grier 12/19 map; the Anita neighborhood redistricting big map (the Anita map); and then which other ones will they be putting out there for comments and their dates.
3. Once you find out - you can give them names and/or dates with a brief description so people know what is even out there to comment on
4. People cannot comment on what they don't know - there are many maps not being considered.

From what I have heard from many. People like the Anita big map with the closest school or second closest neighborhood school. Not the 4th or 5th closest. People of High Point do not like blatent, obvious SWAPPING plans.

Yes, SW had mentioned they wanted a tradItional school as they didn't want Puppetry, Mime, etc. and watered down electives and the other traditional curriculum being diluted. They never said the focus programs could not stay. That was conveniently not mentioned last night.

Also in the Solutions Proposal given way back when there were other parts that went along with keeping SW a traditional school - that was long ago and one major point was keeping it a traditional school intact; making Andrews or Central a true magnet school with great programs that are PROMOTED and give the resources to them; putting NEW developments into Central and Andrews, i.e. schools that had seats available. Maps were even presented on how to do this.

If you look around the county (and country) magnet schools are put in areas to create a draw and they are put in urban areas that have seats to fill. There are other obvious agendas going on here. It is not about a few empty seats. Does "Craven" and other empty schools ring a bell?

We have all been at this too long. Three years ago some people may have been fooled, but not anymore. In the end, the voters do have a say.

Point 4 - meant to say there are several maps being considered. Which ones have been scrapped?
Which ones are going to be considered for discussion at the forums?

I haven't been able to get the map from last night. I have requested it, though, and as soon as I get it, I'll share it with you guys.

Thank you, Bruce. Please also let everyone know what else is still on the table. It seem the table is growing and growing.

You ask, "what should the new attendance lines look like?"

...well, one should be able to look at the map and NOT be able to tell if it's Greensboro Schools or High Point Schools.

You see, in Greensboro, students are transported to their neighborhood school. Nice neat lines on a map.

In contrast, High Point maps have big, odd shapes scattered all over with arrows pointing every which way--which by the way is the way that buses would have to go.

All High Point wants is a reasonable map. NO scooping, NO swapping, No abducting, NO lottery plan.

Is that too much to ask? If it is, then Eric better get busy scooping and swapping the rest of Guilford County.

Simple Stupid,

NO SOS.

NO Scoop Or Swap for HP!

This will NOT be tolerated.

How complicated can this be. First closest school. Full. Second closest school then. Just like Greensboro.

Neighborhood schools it shall be. What is good for Greensboro is good for me.

There are many places in Greensboro (and into the county) that kids are going to the 3 or 4 nearest school. Ask the kids at Rankin. They live 2 miles from Page, about 4 miles to Grimsely, 6 to NE, 8 to the new Northern and 14 to Eastern which is where they go. The new map for Northern attendance does alot of the 'scooping' that you speak of. This is for racial diversity. It has never been taken to the extreme that HP has seen, but it does exist.

Barbara Ann,
as I understand it the Northern Maps, Anita's Maps and the newest HP map are what they are thinking about.

Debora,

Thank you for sharing. Thank you for mentioning "extreme" with regard to HP. There are strong political agendas in play here. We all know that. We are very in tune.

I don't quite know if it is just these two maps. Anita's proposal was for "ALL" the maps. She kept saying "ALL" the maps. Susan also mentioned other maps to look at again. As was stated by other board members and Anita, this excercise for looking at the ENTIRE county for neighborhood schools needs to be examined and seriously considered. Busing is costly. It has been taken to the extremes. It does nothing to address the real issues of educating children. It just makes the numbers "look" better.

Reflect on Dot Kearns' statements:
Not so long ago, she stated that the most important thing in selling a house was the school district.
Two years ago, the mantra was - schools "for all the children."
Now, she wails "There needs to be change for that city will survive".
If you listen closely enough, a person will tell you exactly what their motivations are!
Kearns' motivations are property values and a socialist agenda to return Central (where the rich went to school) to its former glory back when HP was a mill town.
Where is her duty to improve the education of students?
I don't blame the Andrews parents for being angry. They were duped. Is there less violence in their school as a result of the Lottery. No. Have the scores in that school improved as a result of the Lottery. No. Is the teacher turnover less as a result of the Lottery? No. Has a principle managed to stay for longer than a few months? No.
HP is not surviving because some of the leaders, who have been in power for decades, have not adjusted to inevitable change. Just look at the names of the streets in HP and you can see who created this mess.
The school board and superintendent should fix the problem. The citizens of Guilford County respectfully insist that they focus on education not playing with the numbers.

Splinter,

Spit it out. Are you referring to the comments about gangs at Central High?

Was this to just spread out the gangs?

It was interesting reading the newspapers today. Of the students interviewed and quoted, it seems like some of them were under the impression that they could not stay at the school they were assigned to. Others seemed misinformed that the programs are being taken away.

This is not the case.

I hope the content of Nancy's motion will be conveyed to the students: the lottery aspect is gone; the programs are still in place. All students can apply for these programs. If you are in a program now, you can stay in that program.

From what Alan and Amos mentioned, there will be a commitment to the students, improving the programs, and providing resources for same.

The focus needs to be on the education of all students, eliminating discipline problems and violence in our schools, providing alternative schools for children who cannot function in a traditional classroom setting.

We need to stop the "swapping" of students attempting to make things "look" good when they aren't good. We need to be committed to make them good.

The commitment to the programs now should be exactly the same as what it should of been "with" the swapping plan.
If at all different, I mean if they cancel some programs, it will be because there is no "market" for them with or without the swapping.
That is one of the problems. We have nice programs on paper but the only true one is the IB at Central.

Dot said that things have to change in order to save High Point. Hasn't she been on the school board for 97 years? If things have gotten so bad, somebody please hand her a mirror so she can see the problem. If there was ever a school she would have dedicated herself to help it would have been Central but here she is--groveling for help from the other side of town.

Dot,
YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF SOLVING ANY PROBLEMS WITH OUR SCHOOLS...YOU HAVE TO SEE HOW UNQUALIFIED YOU ARE...PLEASE STEP DOWN IMMEDIATELY!!!

Anybody see frontpage of N&R today of kids coming out of SW High today. Looks lilly white, huh? Wonder if it meets Allen Johnson's definition of "quaint". Allen, at what level does one lose one's "quaintness"? We need to know. We really do.

Itch,

I think that the comments coming out of Central this morning speak for themselves. It's not necessary fo r to provide an interepretation.

Busing is alive and well in Guilford county schools !!
Look again at the maps. You will see the long extension deep into Greensboro 20 miles from Eastern Guilford. Carefully avoiding the appropriate neighborhoods.

Busing based on the free and reduced lunch numbers has existed for years in the eastern part of the county. If this is now against policy, it needs to be evaluated across the board, not just in High Point.

Why do neighborohood schools only exist in the richest sections of Greensboro. The county schools were used to export the poorer populations from within town based on the free and reduced lunch numbers years ago and continues to do so.

Look again at the maps and if you know anything about Greensboro you will see that students from downtown Greensboro pass (Page, Grimsley, and Dudley on their 20 mile ride to attend Northeast or Eastern in Gibsonville.

Busing helps no one. Look at the results at Eastern years after busing was instituted. It's helped no one. Everyone should be given back neighborhood schools and more money and resources should be given to the schools that need it.
There will be more money to when you stop busing students 20 miles one way.

Frank,

Agreed. I just spoke with a friend of mine who is in the Eastern zone. He shared many stories with me and neither of us can understand that long "finger" that pulls kids 2 miles from Page (4 miles from Grimsley) all the way 15 - 20 miles to Eastern.

That needs to stop.

The folks in High Point are ready to join forces with you to request that the School Board implement a county-wide districting that allows students to attend their first or second closest schools.

Families wishing to participate in magnet programs should retain the right to attend a school farther away if that is what they choose.

Quest and Frank

WELL SAID.

The entire county should be neighborhood schools.

All schools should have the same resources.

I hope you will all come out and speak at the forums in favor of neigborhood schools.