The Columbia Public School District has made recent proposals to change attendance area boundaries because of overcrowding at Gentry Middle School. We feel that this is not in the best interest of our community and its students at this time. We respectfully request that no boundary changes be made at this time, to allow more solutions to be considered and to allow more time for increased public awareness and conversation.
The current proposals are not viable solutions at this time because:
- They will have a negative impact on many students, not only the students who are transferred from Gentry Middle School to Jefferson Middle School, but also all current and future students at both schools.
- Proposed affected neighborhoods, being on the very edge of town, are too far from Jefferson Middle School. This will limit the ability of our kids to get their homework done, participate in extra-curricular activities and feel like their school is truly a part of their community. The distance also hinders parental involvement at the school (which studies have shown benefits students in numerous ways) and makes parent pick-up extremely difficult for families who have children at multiple schools.
- The extreme change will not actually fix the problem. Data provided by Superintendent Peter Stiepleman at the October School Board meeting shows that Jefferson Middle School will become immediately overcrowded if this change is made and within a year or two Gentry Middle School will again be overcrowded.
- At this time, families and residents of Columbia have not had enough time to educate themselves on this issue. It will not only affect students and families, but also the property values for all homes in the affected areas. The four drafted proposals were not posted until December 1st, 2016. Then feedback was requested on only two of the drafted plans (confusingly, now called scenarios) via an online survey which can be filled out between December 20th and January 12th, over the holidays, a time which is extremely busy for most people. Additionally, only two sessions for public comment and questions have been scheduled on two consecutive days starting at 5:00pm, a time that will prevent many from attending. As far as we know, only parents of Gentry students were notified by email about the proposed changes that will have an influence on ALL residents in the affected areas as well as families and residents in the Jefferson Middle school attendance areas.
Again, we request that no boundary changes be made at this time, to allow more solutions to be considered and to allow more time for increased public awareness and conversation.
Updates
January 10, 2017
We just hit 250 signatures and the momentum is building. Post the link on Facebook today and text three friends who live in our school district to keep this pressure on the board.
Reached 250 supporters
January 9, 2017
January 8, 2017
The momentum behind this petition is proving that our community will not accept these boundary changes without a real fight. Post this link on your Facebook page today and email your school board representative to demand they pause this plan.
Reached 100 supporters
January 7, 2017
95 Comments
Please keep SW neighborhoods in South schools, keeping kids close to their schools benefits the children. We chose to live in our neighborhood largely based on Gentry & RBHS. CPS is big on 'neighborhood school' mentality and this is absolutely NOT consistent with that. Better planning is needed.
This change does not appear consistent with guiding principles 3, 4 or 5 set by the Board of Education. More time is needed to evaluate long term solutions that will allow the School Board as well as the parents of the district to reasonably plan for the future.
My son is already meeting the bus at 6:18 to travel to Gentry which is like 2 miles away. I don't want to even think of what time he'd have to catch the bus to go to Jeff, let alone what time he would have to wake up! Opposed.
Having done the commute to JJ from TB in the past, it was 2 horrendous years and a major disruption of our home life. While the school is good, that commute was ridiculous at times over an hour + commute. Moving kids around to satisfy demographics at the expense of family does not make for less stress.
The proposed boundary change is the third our area has had to deal with in the last few years. This is too many for the children's well being, not to mention the burden on them in regard to travel time. Please leave the boundaries as they are.
Address 3110 Crape Myrtle Dr 65203
I live in Magnolia Falls and want my kids to be left where they were when we moved here. We moved for the schools. Keep them at Gentry.
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The Columbia Public School District has made recent proposals to change attendance area boundaries because of overcrowding at Gentry Middle School. We feel that this is not in the best interest of our community and its students at this time. We respectfully request that no boundary changes be made at this time, to allow more solutions to be considered and to allow more time for increased public awareness and conversation.
The current proposals are not viable solutions at this time because:
- They will have a negative impact on many students, not only the students who are transferred from Gentry Middle School to Jefferson Middle School, but also all current and future students at both schools.
- Proposed affected neighborhoods, being on the very edge of town, are too far from Jefferson Middle School. This will limit the ability of our kids to get their homework done, participate in extra-curricular activities and feel like their school is truly a part of their community. The distance also hinders parental involvement at the school (which studies have shown benefits students in numerous ways) and makes parent pick-up extremely difficult for families who have children at multiple schools.
- The extreme change will not actually fix the problem. Data provided by Superintendent Peter Stiepleman at the October School Board meeting shows that Jefferson Middle School will become immediately overcrowded if this change is made and within a year or two Gentry Middle School will again be overcrowded.
- At this time, families and residents of Columbia have not had enough time to educate themselves on this issue. It will not only affect students and families, but also the property values for all homes in the affected areas. The four drafted proposals were not posted until December 1st, 2016. Then feedback was requested on only two of the drafted plans (confusingly, now called scenarios) via an online survey which can be filled out between December 20th and January 12th, over the holidays, a time which is extremely busy for most people. Additionally, only two sessions for public comment and questions have been scheduled on two consecutive days starting at 5:00pm, a time that will prevent many from attending. As far as we know, only parents of Gentry students were notified by email about the proposed changes that will have an influence on ALL residents in the affected areas as well as families and residents in the Jefferson Middle school attendance areas.
Again, we request that no boundary changes be made at this time, to allow more solutions to be considered and to allow more time for increased public awareness and conversation.
Updates
January 10, 2017
We just hit 250 signatures and the momentum is building. Post the link on Facebook today and text three friends who live in our school district to keep this pressure on the board.
Reached 250 supporters
January 9, 2017
January 8, 2017
The momentum behind this petition is proving that our community will not accept these boundary changes without a real fight. Post this link on your Facebook page today and email your school board representative to demand they pause this plan.
Reached 100 supporters
January 7, 2017
95 Comments
More time for ALL CPS families and homeowners in the areas to review and more meetings at varied times to allow for public questions, comments and suggestions. Information about scheduled meeting dates and times must be sent to all families who would be impacted by changes, not just those of one school!
Please keep SW neighborhoods in South schools, keeping kids close to their schools benefits the children. We chose to live in our neighborhood largely based on Gentry & RBHS. CPS is big on 'neighborhood school' mentality and this is absolutely NOT consistent with that. Better planning is needed.
This change does not appear consistent with guiding principles 3, 4 or 5 set by the Board of Education. More time is needed to evaluate long term solutions that will allow the School Board as well as the parents of the district to reasonably plan for the future.
My son is already meeting the bus at 6:18 to travel to Gentry which is like 2 miles away. I don't want to even think of what time he'd have to catch the bus to go to Jeff, let alone what time he would have to wake up! Opposed.
Having done the commute to JJ from TB in the past, it was 2 horrendous years and a major disruption of our home life. While the school is good, that commute was ridiculous at times over an hour + commute. Moving kids around to satisfy demographics at the expense of family does not make for less stress.
The proposed boundary change is the third our area has had to deal with in the last few years. This is too many for the children's well being, not to mention the burden on them in regard to travel time. Please leave the boundaries as they are.
Address 3110 Crape Myrtle Dr 65203
I live in Magnolia Falls and want my kids to be left where they were when we moved here. We moved for the schools. Keep them at Gentry.
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More time for ALL CPS families and homeowners in the areas to review and more meetings at varied times to allow for public questions, comments and suggestions. Information about scheduled meeting dates and times must be sent to all families who would be impacted by changes, not just those of one school!