Odle Community Forum by Golec, Jason L

One year projection slide - conclusion seems wrong

2023-10-26 01:29:19 UTC

The Western projection is Cherry picked to tell a story that it is only 2% off, ignoring the discrepancy with the other one.

You should at least average the two projections and realize if it has merit or not.

In that form there's enough discrepancy to not be able and make decisions based on a 7 year projection.

Rumor that Odle is being closed

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:31:17 UTC

At this point in time, the district is listening to our community to gather feedback. At which point the district will review and work on a recommendation. Which may actually not be consolidating any schools.

How reliable the projection is?

2023-10-26 01:33:27 UTC

It does not make sense to use a one-year projection to show the seven-year projection is accurate.

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:47:01 UTC

AL is a specialty needs and need special staff support.

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:48:00 UTC

What does the merge mean for our teachers and their talent?

Should we have the recommendations voted by parents?

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:48:27 UTC

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:48:56 UTC

What are the other ways to break out of the loop?

Are we fixing the root problem?

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:49:21 UTC

What are the right metrics to define success vs pain?

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:49:42 UTC

Is facility utilization metric the right one to track?

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:50:08 UTC

Decreasing number of students does not mean we should close schools.

golecj — 2023-10-26 01:53:08 UTC

Why not consider ways to increase it? Like from private school. Encourage more families to move to BSD because schools are good.

2023-10-26 01:55:09 UTC

Instead of closing schools, do we have other options? For example, growing the International School? My worry is closure will push students to other districts or private schools more.

Can the school minimize the changes to existing Oddle students?

2023-10-26 01:55:21 UTC

Maintain the high bar for the quality of AL
Maintain existing teachers and students to minimize the changes
Bring in students/teachers/funding from other school to hit the target for capacity or utilization.

golecj — 2023-10-26 02:07:19 UTC

Does the demographic data released as phase 1 of this study and the projections of enrollment and utilization take into account the tremendous growth in Bellevue? Like the downtown and Spring district?

golecj — 2023-10-26 02:10:22 UTC

Could you provide the reasoning how consolidation can mitigate the negative impact on program/services and course offerings when enrollment is the same after consolidation?

golecj — 2023-10-26 02:11:21 UTC

The district should consider closing out school as last resort to save cost. Instead find ways to increase enrollment.

golecj — 2023-10-26 02:12:49 UTC

The error of the trend predication seems large and we can't actually really predict when that trend will turn up. What do we prepare if trend reverses after consolidation?

Utilization Goals?

2023-10-26 02:14:44 UTC

What is the utilization goal?

100%?

80%

Do we need to pack every classroom with 30? Have multiple lunches?

Adding a program to bring up a school population to 80% would suffice?

Grouping programs to achieve... 80%?

Please share the goal.

2023-10-26 02:14:52 UTC

Please list all key forecasts that make BSD decide to close one school. Also the methodologies and model validations behind those forecast.

golecj — 2023-10-26 02:17:02 UTC

Improve and do a better job of open enrollment from out of district students would that help the funding? BSD is very attractive in this area.

Program Population

2023-10-26 02:17:14 UTC

Please share the school population by program.

How many in AL?

How many ELL?

How many "neighborhood" students? How far do they travel from home?

2023-10-26 02:17:45 UTC

Closing schools will definitively make BSD lose more students. Our neighbor, Seattle District is a good example. After closing schools and AL programs, many moved out of Seattle.

Reputation

2023-10-26 02:19:36 UTC

Consider current reputation of each school... Is it the school or program?

2023-10-26 02:20:02 UTC

Having more accurate forecasts are crucial before making the decision of consolidating schools.

AL

2023-10-26 02:20:21 UTC

If Odle closes, the AL cohort must move to Chinook. Providing advanced classes in one or two subjects does not provide the benefits that the AL cohort does.

Consolidate Programs

2023-10-26 02:20:24 UTC

Could Tyee's AL program merge with Odle?

2023-10-26 02:22:25 UTC

Middle schoolers are especially sensitive to school changes and losing friends. We should try all other methods before even thinking about changing their schools.

AL

2023-10-26 02:24:03 UTC

If Odle closes, the AL cohort must move to Chinook. Advanced classes in one or two subjects do not provide the same benefits as the AL cohort.

What is the learning from elementary consolidation?

2023-10-26 02:50:12 UTC

Heard mixed feedback from elementary consolidation, such as the AL learning degrades as one class include student from two grades.

Heard that families not from the school district also got into top tier elementary school.

When taking about equity, how can we ensure the equity of students and families who made a lot of effort getting into the AL program.

Is the project accurate by taking into the growth of population that moving to the city

2023-10-26 03:00:22 UTC

Per this survey , the population of Bellevue increases.

Can we deep dive on how does this will impact the enrollment?

What if families with children move to Bellevue? How would such trends impact the enrollment and projections?

2023-10-26 04:57:20 UTC

When can we know the feedbacks from all parents?

What criteria were used for elementary consolidation and how are they different for middle school?

2023-10-26 18:34:33 UTC

Options?

2023-10-26 18:39:01 UTC

What are the other options or potential solutions that are considered to meet school district needs?

What kind of actions has BSD considered to use the funding more efficiently?

2023-10-26 18:40:48 UTC

Have the current grade 9 students been asked for their thoughts?

2023-10-26 18:41:13 UTC

2023-10-26 18:42:22 UTC

Teachers and BSD employees who get impacted when the consolidation happens will leave BSD. This erodes the quality of BSD as a Top Quality (School District)

AL Program at Odle

2023-10-26 18:49:32 UTC

Al Program together at Odle is a special & successful feature at BSD. Can BSD retain trust of the community if it breaks? Student communities will be broken up. AL kids have 'nerds' kids who bond at Odle well. Provide them a home to grow as individuals and humans.

Can you conduct a survey of BSD on trust?

2023-10-26 18:50:06 UTC

Trust is broken in BSD. How can we rebuild by providing stability?

2023-10-26 18:51:51 UTC

A voting button can be placed in community Q & A space to have residents vote on the hot topics to promote transparency and share knowledge of the process.

Is the decision planned for the long term? (next 5+ years) ?

2023-10-26 18:54:36 UTC

Extend the timeline

2023-10-26 18:55:49 UTC

With only one recommendation in January and trying to get approval in Feb if it is impossible to get feedback from the community (then) why (is BSD) rushing?

Why did the decline start at the beginning of the Covid lockdown?

2023-10-26 18:56:53 UTC

2023-10-26 18:57:40 UTC

Do you know why private schools have a high application rate? Why are we not seeing the same thing?

2023-10-26 18:58:44 UTC

The projection includes Covid data which is a rare case and should be taken out. How do you this projection?

2023-10-26 18:59:44 UTC

A big contribution to the population trajectory is migration (both domestic and international) How would the current projection be shifted if the migration factor is included?

Can you share date on the impact of elementary school consolidation?

2023-10-26 19:02:04 UTC

2023-10-26 19:02:46 UTC

How are you taking the move to in-office work and more people moving to Bellevue into consideration?

What are the actual data points that will be used to make this decision?

2023-10-26 19:03:37 UTC

What exact enrollment numbers? What trends?

2023-10-26 19:05:19 UTC

The error bar of trend prediction seems large and we can't actually really predict when that trend will turn up. What do we (need to) prepare if the trend reverses after consolidation?

Extend enrollment data to 2023 instead of 2020

2023-10-26 19:05:46 UTC

2023-10-26 19:06:57 UTC

Was the forecast correct for elementary enrollment? Short term forecast 2022-23 shows growth in enrollment in both elementary and middle school.

2023-10-26 19:09:02 UTC

if we are in or close to a recession, having made an elementary school closure should we wait for a year or two before the market stabilizes? 1) Economic Stability 2) Job Openings 3) Back to office 4) Postpone or give a few more years before deciding.

Next generation of jobs

2023-10-26 19:15:00 UTC

How are we preparing our kids to hold the next generation of jobs, not just focus on reducing costs.

How are we helping middle schoolers with emotional well-being?

2023-10-26 19:15:56 UTC

Staffing

2023-10-26 19:16:52 UTC

If a school does close, will support staff (counselors, psychs, behavior tech, etc) increase as well as the teachers?

2023-10-26 19:41:32 UTC

What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you / your student?

Can you share the number of students in each program at each school?

2023-10-26 19:42:39 UTC

2023-10-26 19:44:04 UTC

Elementary school consolidation seems to have resulted in over crowding. What process are you doing to collect feedback

2023-10-26 19:44:57 UTC

How will consolidation affect enrollment at International School? Will this number increase?

2023-10-26 19:46:42 UTC

Based on the rumors, why are Odle or tyee the target schools to be closed out or consolidated? Especially (when) these two schools have AL programs.

2023-10-26 19:48:57 UTC

For consolidation, why target the main five middle schools, why not the lottery schools Big Picture and International School?

How will consolidation impact high school choices for kids?

2023-10-26 19:52:21 UTC

2023-10-26 19:53:37 UTC

Could you provide the reasoning how consolidation can mitigate the negative impact on program/service/course offerings when enrollment is the same after consolidation?

If self-contained AL is discontinued, BSD will lose families to private school.

2023-10-29 21:35:50 UTC

Self-contained AL is one of the BSD offerings that actually attracts families to the district FROM private school. I know at least a dozen families who only put their kids in BSD from private after their kids testing into self-contained AL. If self-contained AL were to be discontinued in favor of differentiated learning, you will lose many, many families.

The logic from "deficit" to "close school" is broken.

2023-10-30 07:17:28 UTC

In order to address the defict, the first question to ask is "what has led to the deficit?" [not enough fundings due to lower enrollment? too much (reasonable / unreasonable) spendings?]

The second question to ask is "What has led to the enrollment decrease?" [lower birth rate? COVID19? students move to private schools/other districts? BSD does not provide enough good education resources as before?]

Why are we seeing more competitive admission rate in many private schools?

Are we sure that we are not going into the vicious circle: less enrollment-->school closure--> less education resources/worse quality --> less enrolllment ?

Instead, shall me consider: invest more on schools (especially the schools with higher performance) --> higher quality education quality / more opportunities --> more enrollment --> more fundings ?

2023-10-30 18:45:45 UTC

AL students are designated to receive special services by WA state law RCW 28A 185.020. How will BSD plan comply with said law if they continue to dilute the AL services, and eventually deny services to highly capable students by closing down Odle?

The AL elementary classrooms are overcrowded. This has increased teacher burden, student dissatisfaction, and parent anxiety.

The budget is balanced. Enrollment is up. Why close?

2023-11-03 22:15:18 UTC

My understanding is that the district is back in the black AND enrollment is higher than expected. We're making there cuts based on highly questionable demographic models that excludes migration and private schools as causal factors.

https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/bsd405/Board.nsf/files/CUM2VM04096C/$file/Board%2023%2024%20budget%20overview%20August%2017%202023.pdf

More transparent budget/deficit please!

2023-11-04 00:39:57 UTC

Please let parents know what district did to cut cost and any potential way to increase incomes. We want to know bond and levy can or cannot fund schools to avoid consolidation. Please put together a more informative report and send to parents. We need to understand each other better, to know the deficit/difficulty better. Our community deserve to know more than some limited projections.

2023-11-06 11:03:21 UTC

I want to remind everyone that preserving the ODLE and preserving the school program can be achieved together. Don't assume that keeping the Odle district will lead to program cuts. It's not just about closing Odle to prevent program cuts.

The deficit is only attributed to parents, students, and teachers.

2023-11-06 16:49:06 UTC

I saw the budget cut from classroom size, school bus availability, and teachers' salary. I did not see that from BSD admin. How can you make a budget plan without the cut of admin staffing? Maybe you should cut whoever made that budget plan, and whoever associated birth rate only and housing with the enrollment. You lost students to private schools!!! I cannot believe someone did it as a full time job.

2023-11-06 17:47:39 UTC

BSD can rent the facility out at weekend to raise Millions of dollar. Closing school will get a bad reputation, it will drag more parents enroll kids to private school.

2023-11-06 18:30:57 UTC

aimelycn — 2023-11-06 18:33:49 UTC

aimelycn — 2023-11-06 18:41:46 UTC

I want to remind everyone that preserving the ODLE and preserving the school program can be achieved together. Don't assume that keeping the Odle district will lead to program cuts. It's not just about closing Odle to prevent program cuts.

aimelycn — 2023-11-06 18:42:02 UTC

Never separate AL program!

2023-11-07 01:29:05 UTC

The only good point of Bellevue school district is that it is the only school district that provides gifted program all the way up to high school. Many parents from other school districts transferred their kids from their highly capable program to BSD AL is to seek the better high-quality education. If the AL program is separated from Odle or Tyee and move to other schools, many parents will not accept and will transfer their kids away from BSD, which will cause a huge loss of students from Bellevue School District.

Besides, we need high-quality education for AL program in Bellevue. As far as I know, many teachers from BSD AL program does not even hold a teaching gifted students certificate, which is not as good as other school districts. We need the excellent teachers to teach AL program in Bellevue so that parents will not transfer their kids to private schools.

4-year forecast is totally wrong

2023-11-07 02:12:05 UTC

while federal funding for special education cut into half, the special education expense goes for to almost 20%??? why dig such a big hole on the book, for what reasons? How many students in special education program, and growing so fast, while we foresee lower student enrollments? no logic here!

Budget planning data and details need to be audited and corrected!

2023-11-07 02:13:14 UTC

too many concerns, to many!