Boundary Changes

By Nina Moore

I support the recent boundary changes but feel that the process used to implement them was flawed. We must ensure that no student loses programs or suffers academically as a result of boundary changes.

At the elementary school level, I am a strong supporter of neighborhood schools. I believe that children in Fremont should be able to attend a neighborhood school and should not be overloaded across town.  The overall goal of redrawing boundaries at the elementary level was to reduce overloading and to send each child to a neighborhood school with his or her neighborhood friends.    Having said this, I believe that the elementary boundary decisions were rushed and I expect that some fine-tuning of the boundaries will need to occur over the next year.   

Despite my belief that boundary changes were necessary, I believe that the PROCESS used left a great deal to be desired. Government works best when the citizens feel they have participated in the decision processes. Giving working parents one-to-two days notice prior to public meetings, as was done on several occasions, is unacceptable. The process was further flawed by incomplete supporting data submitted with proposals and a lack of early involvement by affected parents in the transition planning process. We need to ensure that the BOE members and the public are discussing issues on a regular basis, not just when there is a potentially contentious proposal on the table. The recent Grand Jury report only reinforces my views on this subject.

I intend to change and dramatically improve the FUSD communication process.