Dear Friends and Neighbors of the CMS Community,

We are seeking your support for a request to delay the Board of Education’s vote on the Phase II Student Assignment proposal scheduled for May 24th. The absence of adequate data and time sets an unacceptable precedent for future CMS proposals and forces our community to make uninformed decisions. By signing this petition, you are showing your support for asking CMS to delay the rezoning proposal. It is our hope that with community-wide support we will be setting the expectation that during times of proposed changes to our schools, CMS must properly inform all stakeholders in a timeframe that allows those impacted ample opportunity to review and comment. Otherwise, we are all at risk of CMS making future changes without our influence.

The challenges of overcrowding, proximity, and concentrations of poverty are not isolated to any one community but are consistent throughout CMS. We recognize the need for change and want to partner with CMS to create a proposal that addresses CMS’s challenges and provides parent participation in the final stages of the approval process.

CMS made their current proposal public on April 25th and Ann Clark has stated that she will be making her proposal back to the board on May 9th. We have heard from both that they are willing to listen to feedback and consider alternative solutions. The questions and ideas surfaced in the community forums held during the past week have made it clear that a proposal of this magnitude cannot be properly evaluated without sufficient time and key information including, but not limited to detailed transition plans, transportation studies, facility and resource evaluations and staff recruiting and professional development plans.

The current transitional state of our CMS leadership also demands that this vote be delayed. CMS’s new superintendent will begin July 1, 2017, three current Board of Education district representatives will not be running for office in November, and the remaining three district representatives are all up for re-election. These new leaders will be responsible for overseeing the implementation and execution of any final approved plan.

As a stakeholder in the CMS community, you could be affected by a CMS proposal in the future. We feel strongly that there is not ample time to understand and evaluate the current proposal. Please join us in supporting our request for a delay in the vote. By doing so, we will all be better informed and equipped to make our schools successful.

With our thanks,

Concerned CMS Parents

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