this year Student Assignment proposal actually focuses on the opening of four new schools bowling Road Elementary Pleasant Plains Elementary Rex Road Elementary and Felton Grove High School um it also includes base assignment changes calendar application changes and other recommendations to relieve capped and overcrowded schools in our district while also working to fill some of our underutilized schools

The policy that guides the development of our District's annual enrollment plan is board policy 4150 this policy does direct staff to balance to the extent reasonable uh the goals and factors identified by four main pillars those pillars are student achievement proximity stability and operational efficiency

for students that are living in attendance areas that are projected to be assigned to the new Pleasant Plains Elementary School the stability rules that are recommended are very similar to those in fact exactly the same as the ones that we used for Woods Creek last year the idea here is expanded stability... instead of it just being fifth graders that are eligible both fourth and fifth graders

Pleasant Plains currently is recommended to open as a multi-track yearound school which will give it a capacity of 900 124 students the reason that staff is recommending this for all of our new elementary schools is because if you'll notice on that CIP there's really not any more elementary schools coming in this region over the next seven or so years and so we feel like it's from a taxpayer fiscal responsibility um sort of stewardship lens to provide the most capacity possible with the very first opening year

because this area is impacted but what I by what I call maybe cascading or Domino impacts with the opening with the expanded capacity of bam Elementary and some seat availability going to become open at Scott's Ridge as a result of the opening of Pleasant Plains if anyone's being recommended to go from let's say Olive Chapel to Scott Ridge or from Olive Chapel to bakam or Salem to Bam any families in those situations because it's an existing school with an existing complement of students an existing teaching staff we have really expanded and generous stability rules any student at any grade would be eligible to stay at their current school if they can provide their own transportation

in the last couple of assignment plans or enrollment plans we have done some pretty drastic changes whole base attendance areas not being able to have transportation to the opposite calendar from their base that's not to say that you can't ask for that it's just we're no longer providing transportation and again that's just largely in response to the um bus driver shortage that everyone is keenly aware of

we hope that what we've been able to present to you in this session tonight has been informative and that you better understand the recommendations included in the initial draft of the plan separately we really want your open and honest participation and appreciate that your input and your feedback is vital to the refinement of the enrollment plan