Review of Agenda

1.    Lane Council of Governments Presentation
2.     Dennis Urso, District 4J Enrollment History & Trends (Elementary), (Secondary)
3.     Group discussion of themes and learnings from data
4.     Evie Matthews: Update on Schools of the Future process
5.     Report on William Spady presentation 

Welcome and Introductions/Public Comment 

Lane Council of Governments presentation

• Enrollment
• Age Distribution
• Age Trends
• School Enrollment
• Alternative Schools
• Safer Schools is another issue.
• Non-Instructional Use of Elementary School Classrooms 
• Socio-economic Status
• Vacant Land Development 
• Development Trends
• Demographic Trends 
• Economic Trends 
• National Trends 
• Oregon Job Outlook

Question:  Re:  the accuracy of population projections, particularly the increase in Hispanic populations, and the type of families being recorded.  If they are young and have young families, how does that affect the schools project?  Clair Von Bloem indicated that the estimates are provided by the Census Bureau.  It was noted that in the 1990 census the two most under-reported populations were the homeless and Latino.  Serious steps are being taken by the Bureau to remedy that in 2000. 

Question:  Re:  the proportion of students in alternative schools in relation to students in the entire district?  Dennis Urso responded that it is about one-third and not growing.  Even schools like Fox Hollow French, which has a tremendously popular program, is flattening. 

 District 4J Perspective on Growth, etc.

Elementary Schools:  Some alternative elementary schools have grown tremendously while others have stayed the same.  Neighborhood schools such as Edison, though a very popular school with a powerful program and good reputation, is declining in population.  Adams declined in enrollment then grew with the addition of Willard. 

Secondary Enrollment:  Secondary enrollment has been growing.  High schools such as Churchill, Sheldon, North Eugene are growing.  The trend is definitely up, while at the middle school level the trend has been growth, that now seems to be leveling.  Urso said enrollment in private schools show the same kinds of trends.  Regarding transfers to other districts, Urso says that he doesn’t see 4J students transferring out. The largest growth is in the Bethel area, at a rate that is out-stripping probably any of the other fifteen districts in the county.  Urso noted that while the population increased 30% within the District area, enrollment has increased only about 1.5%.  Jim Carlson noted there’s a lot of stability in the central area, and the density of students is going to continue to be lower and lower. 

Discussion

• Fewer people connected to the schools naturally through children, particularly at elementary age.  How to engage the community when 60% of households won’t have kids in schools in 2010.  Maybe we  need to re-frame how we’re thinking about these buildings and what’s going on inside them.
• New demographics:  Growth of Hispano/Latino population, especially young families.  Differences in the make-up of families:  single parent families, etc.  How do we gain an understanding of the values those communities bring to the schools?  Perhaps we need to be looking at the types of services we’re trying to provide across the day and whether we need different or additional services.
• Violence and at-risk kids:   We should perhaps be thinking especially in terms of early intervention services.
• Optimum size for an elementary school?  A report by elementary principals about a year and half ago recommends between 250 and 340.  Larger schools may be  better able to handle fluctuations in enrollment than smaller, but there may be less personal interaction between teachers and students.  A parent with a child at Eastside (144) expressed the belief that smaller schools provide a higher quality education and a better chance for community.  What about the possibility of a larger school  being able to provide smaller group environments?
• Facilities and stability and managing that capacity across our own district and looking beyond. The neighborhood may need to get larger for the school to have the same number of students. It may suggest something about how we build or rebuild our buildings. How are new buildings to be used?  How far down does a school district see it’s role with the children?  Where does the partnership role come in?   How do we re-district to alter the distribution of the schools?  A close discussion between 4J and the Bethel District may be needed because the growth is in Bethel.  Capacity needs to be linked to distribution; right now one could argue that we have all the classroom space we need, but it’s distributed badly.  At 108 classrooms in non-instructional use, that’s 3 per school.  What is the actual use currently?  Is it long-lived or does it fluctuate?  How does that build a relationship with the adjacent community or neighborhood?  It would be good to have data on that. 
• Transportation issues need to be considered in the Choice group as well as Facilities.  There may be conflicting values about transportation issues and how they relate to growth.  As was noted in LCOG’s presentation, 70% of all trips in Eugene are employment related.
• Top ten skills:  Looking at these points to the importance of integrating specialized areas of study into the curriculum.  Although they are very important, as a curricular guide, they may be confining.  Preparation for a lifetime needs to come ahead of specific jobs or skill groupings. Certain skills are trendy; they come and go.  But there are other skills beyond Year 3 that are always there, have always been there, and will always be core.  Hewlett-Packard is reportedly looking for three things in their employees:  people who can learn something new; people who can work with other people; people who can think systematically. The decision is how the school district incorporates these skills as part of its core curriculum.

Update on Task Groups

Vision and Principles

1. It was suggested that the word ‘demonstrate’ be added in Guiding Principle #5, so that the phrase reads  “. . .curricula must demonstrate and teach the interdependence . . .”  There were no additional suggestions and the vision statements and guiding principles were accepted as presented.  To keep the SFC informed on the work of the task groups, it was proposed that panels of three or four members from three task groups come to the December 14 meeting and three others on January 11.. They would be asked to answer these questions:
2.  What primary issues have you addressed to date?
3.  What have been your primary sources of information, research?
4. Are there overlaps or gaps in the areas with which you’re dealing?

Spady Presentations