EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ELEMENTARY IMBALANCES SHOULDN'T CREATE OTHER IMBALANCES

School superintendent Dr. Dan Steska invited concerned parents to let him know if they have other ideas for how to successfully resolve the high/low capacity problems between Blanchard and Franklin elementary schools, and that is what this column addresses. The numbers I have used come from the April 27 counts provided by Cathy Evans, assistant superintendent, which are included.

First if all, I would like to address the problems I see with redistricting the section south of Franklin Elementary School as proposed by Evans:

1. The next two to three years are an interim period, and the main problem is capacity inequities between Blanchard and Franklin. Redistricting in this particular area does not change the capacity differences in an optimal way. For example, under the plan proposed by the district, the most crowded grade at Blanchard would receive the least relief. At Blanchard, the proposed redistricting would only reduce next year's third-grade classes from 30.3 (this year's second grade) to 26.7 (next year's third grade) students.

2. Because, as of April 27, Blanchard is at 96 percent of capacity and Franklin is at 68 percent of capacity, I agree that enrollments should be looked at for these two schools. However, if equalizing capacity at both schools and free/reduced lunch percentages are the issues, then Franklin, Blanchard and Alma Schrader elementary schools should be examined now. Alma Schrader only has 13 percent free/reduced lunch students, while Blanchard has about 75 percent. Obviously, there is a gross inequity between these two bordering enrollment areas. I strongly disagree with the impetus toward increasing Franklin's free/reduced lunch percentage and not addressing Alma Schrader's.

3. Under the redistricting proposal, Franklin class sizes next fall would be bigger than Blanchard class sizes in grades two, four, five and six.

4. Franklin has always been the most well-balanced school in terms of reflecting the districtwide minority and income makeup. This proposal would push Franklin into having low-income students overrepresented, as they already are at Jefferson and Franklin. If there really is a commitment by the Board of Education to redistricting all five school attendance areas once the high school is built, then is it really an advantage to force Franklin into being a Title I school for a year or so?

5. If Franklin ends up being 49 percent rather than 50 percent low income, then almost the same number of stressed students will be moved there with no increase in funding.

6. The only class that is overcrowded at Blanchard is second grade. Yet the board is proposing moving 60 to 70 students to Franklin.

7. Redistricting now does not allow for flexibility or unexpected changes such as children moving into the Franklin district or unexpected changes in which particular grades are overcrowded at Blanchard once actual fall enrollments begin.

8. Planning ahead for redistricting for all five schools should be starting now. Unnecessary tweaking will only create irritation and distrust and make moves two or three years from now harder to take.

9. Since 1996, the board and redistricting committee have said that equalizing minority and income balances are the priorities. Yet only minority balances have been addressed in the past. When the elementary schools move to K-4, that will be the time to either make redistricting changes or disarm the issue altogether by instituting attendance centers for K-4 as we will already have done for grades 5-12. That will also remove the need to tweak every year. Remember, children are being tweaked, not borders.

10. If the capacity at Blanchard is 25 students per room, you might argue that there is no reason to move students at all if the rooms are not over capacity, regardless of what the overall enrollment is at Franklin during the interim period.

If the board does not want to tackle the low-income issue right now and wants to avoid crating the anger and ill will that developed last year with redistricting, then I would suggest: Don't redistrict. Here are four alternate proposals to the one provided by Evans.

1. Don't redistrict anybody, but send overflow students from Blanchard (and possibly Alma Schrader) to Franklin. Overflow would be defined as more than 25 in any room, including special-education students. Kindergarten, first- and second-grade limits might be defined as 20 to 23 students per room. Any movement should not result in Franklin classes being larger than Blanchard classes for any given grade.

2. Don't redistrict anybody, but identify the number of free spaces at Franklin and allow Blanchard parents to choose to move their children to Franklin if they want to do so. If there are more children than spaces, a lottery could be used to choose who could move. Any movements should not result in Franklin classes being larger than Blanchard classes for any given grade.

3. Move only second graders and their siblings. Even though the capacity percentage differs the most between Franklin and Blanchard, it is only the current second-grade class that has more than 25 students per room, including the special-education students. The proposed redistricting would only reduce next year's third-grade classes from 30.3 to 26.7. There fore, if only second graders and their siblings were moved to Franklin, the only grade with an enrollment problem would be relieved to a greater degree than by the proposed redistricting. Any movement should not result in Franklin classes being larger than Blanchard classes for any given grade.

4. Redistrict Franklin, Blanchard and Alma Schrader to address both capacity and free/reduced lunch percentages. Any movement should not result in Franklin classes being larger than Blanchard classes for any given grade.

Regardless of the solution chosen, grandfathering should be allowed.

In conclusion, all of this discussion points out the dire need for the school board to get on the ball and have this information entered into a computer spreadsheet program in order to make calculations much easier in the future.

Martha S. Zlokovich is an assistant professor of psychology at Southeast Missouri State University who was a candidate for the Board of Education in last month's election.