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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Monroe students forced to switch classes Some parents criticize a lottery that sent children to other classes By Kaitlin Manry Herald Writer MONROE -- No one wanted to win this lottery. A group of parents gathered at Chain Lake Elementary School on Friday for the drawing. One at a time, children's names were picked from a white envelope. The students whose names were selected were supposed to switch classes. After a week of school, district officials decided to bus four Chain Lake kindergartners to Salem Woods Elementary, about three miles away. Their goal was to help level out enrollment in classes that were inundated with children who enrolled at the last minute. Many parents are upset that district officials didn't recognize the enrollment problems in kindergarten, third and fourth grades sooner. Changes should have been made before school started, they said. "They should have thought it out more, and I think a lottery is a terrible way to do this," said Cindy Jones, whose fourth-grade daughter, Shelby, will stay in her class. "Kids were not sleeping at night because they were afraid their names were going to be drawn. It's not just parents; there's stress being put on these kids." In the end, just two third-­graders were involuntarily assigned to new classes as a result of the lottery. A fourth-grader whose name was drawn was allowed to stay in his class after another family volunteered to move their child. Two other fourth-graders also moved voluntarily, said district spokeswoman Rosemary O'Neil. "No one likes it -- whether you're a school staff or you're a family," O'Neil said. "Once you go into a school year, you have certain expectations and you're planning forward, but sometimes things change. The bottom line is trying to ensure that all young people have the same opportunity for a quality education. By evening out class sizes, we think that contributes to having that good educational experience." Over all, Monroe elementary schools have 40 fewer students than last September. However, there are 36 more elementary students than the district budgeted for -- and some schools, including Chain Lake Elementary, had more students than expected. Some of the late enrollees at Chain Lake were students from Frank Wagner Elementary, whose parents decided to transfer them after low standardized test scores landed that school on a federal watch list in August. The list prompted about 50 students to transfer from Frank Wagner to Chain Lake and Salem Woods elementaries, O'Neil said. The Monroe School District is required by the federal No Child Left Behind law to provide transportation to Frank Wagner students who wanted to transfer to another school. Schools throughout the state are facing similar situations. About two dozen parents protested the lottery at a Monroe School Board meeting Monday. "It's probably not a great big story, but it's something that was upsetting to a lot of parents in our area," said Michelle Stein, whose fourth-grade son was in the lottery. "Our district really dropped the ball on student enrollment." As a result of parent comments, district officials plan to draft policies that outline how to deal with similar situations in the future. The district also plans to notify parents whose students attend schools that are receiving students transferring as a result of the No Child Left Behind watch list. Meetings will also be arranged to give concerned parents an opportunity to brainstorm other solutions, School Board President Tom MacIntyre said. "It probably could have been done better," he said. "The main piece now is, 'OK. If this comes up, is there a better way to deal with it?' That's all you can do after the fact." Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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