received and chose not to accept it. given the current demand patterns, it cannot be assigned to a school of their toys. fewer and fewer families will get assigned to a school of their choice. what can we do to shift this demand pattern? we believe the assignment structure is one of the things that needs to change. changing the infrastructure assignment by moving beefeater pattern will help change the public perception and reality of some of our middle schools. we need to do what we can to raise awareness of our schools. we work to implement our quality middle schools initiative. knowing who we are observing and enhancing our opportunity to reflect the voices of the

specific plans. and providing those services at the middle school. >> of the next few slides will outline the board goals three, nine, 10. they are regarding strategic use of limited resources, cost effectiveness, and sustainable. >> we need a place high quality and high demand programs for schools and we need to support of reach and positive communication efforts. working to address community issues. we could not agree more with these recommendations and that is in part why we're recommending k-eight feeders. it will allow us to be more strategic and cost-effective.

if you look at the graph, you can see the middle schools receive students from between 28-54 elementary schools. this is a barrier to a strategic approach creating quality middle schools that reflected the desires of the committee and the unique needs of incoming students. our mandatory choice system of limited connection to where students live has resulted in the dispersion of students throughout the city. this lack of predictability makes it very difficult for the district to develop projections for strategic planning purposes. to use facilities efficiently and create pre-k and structural coherence and equitable access to programs and services. if a small number of elementary

schools feed into middle schools, and we can articulate and coordinate programming for all students. whether we're talking about a project based learning arts programs, or language pathways, the key is articulation between the middle schools and elementary schools feeding in the them. making transitions seem less for our students. currently, our centralized of reach and recruitment efforts must be limited to telling families about the key dates and went to were our schools. we cannot market one middle under our current system, families, teachers, and students make decisions based on public perception. there are ones they don't even visits or considered.

the conversations can start earlier and outreach efforts can be tailored to highlight the strength of a specific school. the whole community can be part of the partnerships with the middle school committees as early as when families start kindergarten. the infrastructure also provides an opportunity for greater transparency and accountability. imagine the types of conversations if a particular middle school does not draw students from their elementary feeders. the exploration of why this is not happening could be very focused and specific. we can know each year which students are choosing not to attend. the current infrastructure is too dispersed to make this type of specific follow-up feasible. we are undergoing a redesign of special education services. this will happen whether we have k-eight feeders or not.

will the infrastructure, making it easier and more cost- effective? staff believes the answer is yes. it is reassuring for families and students and also provides the district with an opportunity to cost effectively place special education services. it also permits the efficient and cost-effective use of school facilities and transformation. another key question is if the district has the resources for this program. we have made a substantial investment in building elementary language for over 35 years. the board of education has made a commitment to expand through middle school and high-school as evidenced by the multi-level policy.

and literacy. we believe the board is committed to expanding pathways hand it will happen whether or not they create a k-shaved infrastructure. we agree with the community feedback that it does not make fiscal sense for the district to invest and language pathways' at the elementary level if it does not plan to continue them to the secondary level. 31% of the kindergarten seats available in march 2011 were for language path use. 6% at the twelfth grade level. we believe the decade-8 infrastructure provides a cost- effective and stable environment for building language pathways. the ability to predict the number of students that feed to the pathways is very important.

and the opportunity to have a critical mass of students has a significant budget implications. enrollment matters in the context of school quality because with enrollment comes resources. this is in regards to goal no. 5. despite the fact that there are located in densely populated neighborhoods, the district is constrained in its ability to provide under enrolled schools with access to the variety of programs and services available have robust and rolled schools. more robust enrollment and greater articulation from elementary ho to expand opportunities and offer enriched learning environments. this is in regards to goals 6, 7, and a. regarding transparency,

predictability, and minimizing efforts. they are easy to understand providing transparency at every stage of the assignment process. there is a degree of predictability regarding where children will attend and families must invest to enroll in their students -- to enroll their students in school. we want to emphasize that feeder patterns of families the option to continue with their communities which is the norm in many schooldhi districts acrosse country. they support community schools at a very important that will provide an opportunity to facilitate transition between elementary and middle school. intrusted support network is formed providing familiarity and comfort with the adults around

the children and consistent messages that make their way to the parent community. a sense of community can be difficult to find in an urban setting. consistent messages on how to support the school's position, issues such as discipline. first and foremost, a feeling of being part of a community. >> staff is proposing revisions to the student assignment policy based on community feedback. some of the key changes from what was initially proposed in august and most recently in february, we changed the school configuration. this is the second model that was reviewed.

we are not recommending a middle school attendance area based on feedback we receive and other key changes that we are recommending full of implementation of the feeder pattern to be delayed which means that the students currently enrolled a elementary school would be impacted. they're a be a tiebreaker between now and the point which we provide an initial offer to students based on where they attend school. this to elaborate a little more on what that means, that might be helpful if i described what currently happens with middle schools. and requests for non-language pathways, it is the under siblings that live. there was a tie-breaker if children were currently enrolled.

those were how the tiebreakers very of the language patterns. just to explain a little bit more about how tiebreakers work, the preferences used to assign students schools, is it possible to give everyone what they want? what we're finding is that there is a lot more demand than there are things available. the messages designed to be equitable to fill up space. the tiebreakers that we have by looking at all possible combinations, the highest tiebreaker always trumps any combination of tried -- tiebreakers. it is allocated by random number. let me give you an example. in march 2011, there were over 3300 applicants.

because you can list as many choices as you want, we had over 10,000 requests. this slide shows a 70% of the tiebreakers -- the random piece is a strong element of the current process. 18% had one tie-breaker. 3% had the younger sibling tiebreaker. this illustrates what that would mean for three of our schools. they had over 1200 requests. 36 have sibling tiebreakers. 201 and 901 did have any. that is the same for presidio. that is have the choice process works. it does have these tiebreakers that give preferences to

siblings living in low test score areas. we are proposing that maintaining the choice process and to modify the tiebreakers so that after the younger siblings have been involved, it would be those enrolled in the elementary schools. this is part of the infrastructure designed to support the creation through choice. we want to shift demand patterns through a choice process by having this tiebreaker that will actually encourage and support families that make that choice. but also reorganize our outreach and recruitment efforts to strategically raise awareness about the opportunities in this school. and the elementary schools would be able to immediately begin working together to create a pathway is and create coherence and a sense of community. it would still be a choice

using it as a tiebreaker. for any kind of program pathway that exists, it would be the younger siblings of the students and the middle school tiebreaker. if people are currently enrolled, it would be the low test score area and a random numbers. from now, starting with the fall of 2012 to the fall of 2016, beginning in 2017, the first year that children entering kindergarten will be going in the sixth grade, we would promote sixth graders into a school and program pathway based on elementary enrollment. there would be a choice process. the tiebreaker would be starting with anyone promoted to middle school but not in the desired pathway. if a student a general education

pathway was interested in the language pathway or any other in middle school, their request would be considered home for children from other schools. their children also say, they would get an initial offer based on elementary schools and their program pathway. if they chose to go to a general education pathways, that is what this tie-breaker would be for. younger siblings are already enrolled and in wishing to continue at school. that is what the tiebreaker choice process leader pattern proposal is.

we have other modifications to that policy that we are recommending to the board in the red line document. one is to remove the density tiebreaker. it is not working as expected. there are fifty eighth elementary attendance areas. we believe that has diminished its value. we are recommending them not to continue with that. we're also recommending that we amend the designation guidelines. we mean making offers to families that didn't get a choice. it is important and of the families that did not get choice, families and students that were not assigned assigned after the choice process are closest to where they live. for middle schools, it will be the middle school feeder. we are recommending that we add language to the policy that will

say on the application form, parents or guardians can allow to be designated to the closest language program instead of the closest school buildings. the change would be on the application form so that they would be able to let us know if we are designating the closest school with openings are the closest family. we're also recommending an adjustment to the time line changes. currently, revisions need to be acted on six months before launching the enrollment process. we believe this prohibits the board from the flexibility of making changes year to year. the letters go out in march and it would be difficult for the board to approve a change for the following year. we're still trying to figure out the implications of the march assignment. we would like to propose that three months before launching

the process is sufficient time for staff to translate to the materials needed for enrollment. that is the primary reason for the lead time, making sure there's enough time to print and translators materials. the next steps are deputy superintendent taking us through the next step. >> commissioners, we're almost at the end. just to remind you that you curiously approved and adopted a strategic plan in 2008 that prioritizes the achievement gap and putting excess and accountability at the forefront of everything we do and everything we are committed to doing. student assignment alone will never close the achievement out or create quality middle schools.

however, it can be part of a combination of strategic long- term actions that we can take towards this goal. as you know, san francisco has the highest achievement gap in california. it is not even close. we heard from many committee members this year and years - prior that is essential to keep the dialogue. high-value choice. i want you to know that i am sending my children to the best possible schools and i want to assure you that the quality middle schools work will continue despite the feeder or the feeder pattern work. the patterns will help support and facilitate the work by strengthening school communities, resources, and the

alignment of our work. i believe that the board unanimously approved a critical part of addressing a systemic problems with our current assignment system. and that unconstrained choice will simply never achieve a full solution. we can't perpetuate a system that has helped to widen the gap that we are concentrating on. it has helped to concentrate the underserved students in the same school. this system is what the policy as a whole from the tiebreakers in kindergarten tosh can disrupt. it is what we adopt. it increases our opportunity to &e%ei effectively build a strong middle schools that will accelerate the achievement of our most underserved students. based on your feedback and

community feedback, we have altered the feeder patterns and we have listened to the feedback. entering kindergarten families will know exactly and what their child could have the option of continuing on with their classmates until the eighth grade. our recommendation supports other initiatives in the san francisco unified school district that is designed to create and support quality students in every neighborhood. we will respond to any questions the board may have. and the board discussions as needed, i would like to remind the board that we can bring this back to the committee as a whole. or the ad hoc committee meeting.

we know this has been a dance presentation, a lot to consider. that will be below the second reading and action. we want to thank you for your attention and we look forward answering any questions you may have. >> we are going to hold off on the questions item battue1 -- and go back to item 1 on the agenda. thank you to staff, pac and pps for waiting. come on down. oh, ok. we'll wait, don't worry.

see that in your packet right behind the agenda is the document from pac and pps. please. >> good evening, commissioners, superintendent, members of the community. my name is ellie rossiter, i'm a parent of children and mira loma and james glick. >> hello. [speaking foreign language] >> good evening, board members.

i am representing pac, the parent advisory council. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i have two children attending school. one is in 2nd grand the other is i -- grade, the other is in 4th grade. >> i'm chair of the pac this year, i have a second grader and a fifth grader. >> i will get us started. " we wanted to do is give you a chance to have more dialogue with us. we have prepared a couple of questions. there are three questions. we would like to offer you a chance to ask us any questions either about the process that we

went through, some of the comments, our reports, our recommendations, or any reports we have given since then. we have been able to follow what the initial report with a number of board meetings since then. before i get started with the questions, i wanted to ask you, would you rather we read all three questions first or would you like to take each one at a time? >> i would prefer that you read each one first and the sub questions so that everybody has the information. then the board will have any questions like to talk to you about. -- any questions they would like to talk to you about. >> [speaking foreingn language]

>> i would like to ask these questions to the board. are we missing something? are we seeing some things that we are not addressing? or have your priorities changed? >> [speaking foreign language] [inaudible] [speaking foreign language]

>> the proposed feeder patterns do not seem to achieve your priority goals. first of all, and racial isolation and the concentration of underserved students in the same schools have an equitable access to the district's range of opportunity. >> [speaking foreign language] >> and having systems that are very transparent and having systems that work for families. and having access to the range of opportunities. in fact, many of the feeder patterns seem to do just the opposite. >> [speaking foreign language] >> for example, some of the

feeders would concentrate from lower performing elementary schools and the same middle school. >> [speaking middleforeign lang] >> others will block students from getting into higher performing schools in the west side. our question is, are we missing our question is, are we missing something? >> thank you, pac and parents.

>> in the recommendations presented on may 9 of district staff, we needed time to develop plans for the master schedule. including services for special education students. plans to address these issues should be in place before you adopt this policy. [applause] people ask a lot of questions at the community forums. we expect the district's proposal to address them. we still have a lot of the same question. are you willing to adopt the system without knowing these things? what resources are needed? what will the trade-off be to expand the proposed language programs? wh