Sumner School Board debates enrollment and graduation requirements

Published 12:47 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Teresa Herriman

The Courier-Herald

Open enrollment between Bonney Lake and Sumner high schools has hit a snag, according to Sumner School District deputy superintendent William Noland. The hang up is getting students who wish to take specialty courses from one school to the other in the limited amount of time allotted between classes.

The idea of "two schools with one campus" has been a mantra for those in charge of designing the curriculum for both schools. While the core classes will be consistent, special programs will not be duplicated due to the cost of building a unique facility or the difficulty in finding specialized teachers for a specific program, Noland explained at a recent school board meeting.

The district's current policy is for students to attend their home school, as defined by attendance boundaries, unless granted a waiver. Noland asked the board to consider a modified open enrollment plan to allow students entering ninth through 11th grade to request the opportunity to attend a school outside the students' home attendance boundary without penalty. The recommendation was made on behalf of a subcommittee of the Plan 2005 group, known as Secondary Programs 2005. The subcommittee is in charge of working out the details on a wide variety of high school topics, including open enrollment.

As recommended, the modified open enrollment procedures would require students who wish to attend a school outside their boundary to complete a waiver form, Noland said. The forms must be submitted no later than Feb. 18, 2005, and will be considered on a space available basis, based on the order in which the forms are submitted. There are other stipulations.

The family must provide transportation and all other athletes must comply with the athletic transfer policy. The board recently voted to allow a one-year waiver for sophomore athletes to choose a school without penalty. According to the current policy, student athletes who change schools are not eligible for varsity sports for one year following their transfer.

By allowing students to choose which school they attend, the subcommittee reasoned, the idea of a shuttle service between the schools becomes unnecessary and should be abandoned.

"It's a good concept that doesn't pencil out very well," Noland said.

The idea was to transport students on a shuttle during the mid-day break only.

"We are not talking about transporting kids between periods," he explained.

Members of the committee who took several trial runs with a shuttle bus from each school found that students would need 27 of their 30-minute lunch period to get from one school to the other. That leaves no allowance for traffic or inclement weather.

Noland's group expressed concerns about students driving themselves between schools. They are worried students will try to stop for lunch then race the clock to get to school on time raising safety concerns.

"I am personally disappointed we can't work out the shuttle," board president Sherm Voiles said.

Board member Greg Hanon also voiced his regrets. He said he didn't want give up on the open campus concept based primarily on a transportation issue.

"At this point it's too early to eliminate this option," he stated.

Noland admitted the issue was daunting, but not impossible.

"As we have worked on it, we have seen enough potential problems we didn't feel we could come here in good faith and say we'll do it," he explained.

The board decided to accept the modified open enrollment plan for a first reading and address the issue of a shuttle at a later date.

In other business, the board discussed the issue of graduation requirements. Bonney Lake High School planning principal Linda Masteller presented recommended changes to the current requirements. The changes would affect students entering the ninth grade in the 2005-06 academic year and incorporate new State graduation requirements.

Masteller said the Plan 2005 committee took the opportunity to recommend some additional changes to the class schedule. They recommend switching to a four-period day schedule for freshmen and sophomores while keeping the current five period schedule for juniors and seniors.

The four-period day would provide extended class times for expanded time with a particular subject. Because of the lengthened class times, the previous requirement for three science credits is dropped to two credits. An additional math or science requirement was added, allowing student a choice of subject area.

"Students are getting more science with the two-period system than with three classes in a four-period day because they are getting more time," Masteller explained.

One credit is earned upon the successful completion of a class.

For the class of 2005 and thereafter, a minimum of 27 credits will be required to graduate rather than the previous 29. Each student has the opportunity to earn a maximum of 30 credits under the new system instead of the current 32.

A discussion regarding seniors who elect to attend school part time was tabled for a later date.

The board approved the new graduation requirement as presented.

The revised requirements are available on the district Web site, www.sumner.wednet.edu.

Teresa Herriman can be reached at therriman@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.