The facts are in the numbers provided by the South Dakota Department of Education on the SFSD’s website: PDF OF DOCS.
*Look Closely At:
Race/Ethnicity
Economically Disadvantaged
Student Performance
The last time the boundaries were re-drawn in the SFSD was 25 years ago. The demographics of our community have changed dramatically in those 25 years.
The process to re-draw the boundaries for ALL schools in the SFSD has now begun. A 30-member Task Force of community members has had 2 of 3 meetings. Their third meeting will be February 19th from 5:30 to 7:30 at IPC. The District will then hold five community input sessions at multiple locations.
Sioux Falls Taxpayers have committed 190m (capital costs only) to build three new schools and make 40m of improvements at existing schools. NOW is the time to make certain our public schools are NO LONGER segregated.
Part of what School Board President Mickelson charged the Task Force with is Quality Education For All Students by balancing the economic status across secondary schools. This was emphasized by Doug Morrison, “We try to make our schools as reflective as possible of the community we live in.”
At both TF meetings, several members have suggested moving specialty programs (Spanish Immersion and the Challenge Center) from Edison to George McGovern. This would move approximately 500 students TO McGovern and 500 students OUT OF McGovern to aid in the effort to balance the socioeconomic and ethnicity numbers. There would be no additional cost involved for transportation. McGovern students are currently 100% bused and students attending all specialty schools in the SFSD are required to provide their own transportation or pay to be bused.
Each time this has been brought up, Doug Morrison, the District’s TF facilitator,has shot the suggestion down. His argument is that the District wants to keep these programs centrally located. With a close look at where the District’s specialty programs are located, This Response Does Not Hold Up.
Currently there are multiple specialty programs located in the:
NW Quadrant:
All City Elementary at Jane Addams
CTE
New Tech High
Dual Immersion at Hayward (*this program is in its first year, an additional grade will be added each year)
Additional Specialty Programs not located in central SF:
Rosa Parks Dual Immersion (mirrors the program at Hayward)
Lincoln High School (Challenge Center)
Look closely at the numbers provided by the SD Department of Education. Sioux Falls Taxpayers have committed almost 200 million dollars in order to provide a quality education for all of our kids.
NOW is the time to desegregate Sioux Falls schools.