Dear School Board Members:
The reason we are writing this letter is because we are concerned that our daughter and son, who are 4th and 5th graders respectively at Atlantis Elementary, will not be going to Space Coast when the time comes. We want our children to stay in the same school district they are in now. When we decided to move to Brevard County two years ago, we visited many elementary schools within the county. For many reasons there was absolutely no doubt in our minds that we wanted to purchase a house in the Atlantis Elementary/Space Coast school district. We chose the school district FIRST, then the house. To say the least, we are absolutely appalled at this soft-redistricting proposal. Our children will not be bussed to another district. My husband and I will consider another avenue available to our children for schooling, i.e. Catholic School (I went to Catholic school from K-12 grade and we are Catholic, so this avenue is a viable one) or possibly moving out of the district altogether. This is how strongly we feel about this.
We do understand there is no easy fix, no easy solution. We truly do. We are only asking that you be open-minded to other proposals. Please consider making Challenger 7 a 6th through 8th grade middle school and divide the Kindergarten through 5th grade students up between Atlantis and Challenger. It would keep our children within our district.
Thanking you in advance for your kind consideration to this important matter,
Charles & Elizabeth Bertrand
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2 comments:
This is my e-mail I sent to Mr. Jordan. I have not received a reply as of 3:15 Thursday, December 6th.
Good Morning Mr. Jordan,
I am a concerned area SAC member, as well as a Port St. John parent, who has been reading and hearing alarming reports regarding bussing Port St. John students out of Port St. John. Could you please answer some questions for me? I have sent a copy of this to your peer board members as well as Superintendent DiPatri just to keep everyone up to date on my concerns, that I believe, I share with other community members.
Florida Today has published possible changes that will affect Brevard Public schools. Our immediate Port St. John concerns are Enterprise and Space Coast Jr./Sr.
Enterprise: About 160 prospective pupils would move to Coquina Elementary. The move could decrease Enterprise from 127 percent capacity to 107 percent and increase Coquina's capacity from 72 percent to 97 percent.
Space Coast Jr./Sr. High: About 185 prospective middle school pupils would be sent to Clearlake Middle. The move would decrease Space Coast from 126 percent capacity to 111 percent and increase Clearlake's capacity from 59 percent to 90 percent. This group of pupils who could be zoned for Clearlake would go back to Space Coast for high school, while their classmates would attend Cocoa High.
Conflicting television reports say only new to the Port. St. John area students will be expected to attend the schools outside Port. St. John.
I have a few questions...
> What is the time line on the construction of the new PSJ middle school?
> Please define "new to area" students. New to Port St. John in 2008? New to middle school? What does "new" mean... new in the past 1-6 months or 1-5 years?
> When will the "soft redistricting" changes go into effect?
> How do you account for the number of students reflected in the report that would be bussed from Port St. John to Clearlake or Coquina?
Comments I would like to share...
> Tax payers, like myself, chose Port St. John because of our great schools and a promise of continued support with the building of a new middle school. That is why we tolerate the high number of portables. We live with it, and work through it, with the promise that there will be change. Bussing is not the change we are paying our taxes for, nor the hint of some other community's middle school construction "bumping" our scheduled construction of our new school.
> With the current fuel prices, it does not make sense to me that students would be bussed out of Port St. John that could otherwise walk, bike or have a much shorter bus trip to Enterprise or Space Coast. This move would also include two different bus depots which adds fuel costs, scheduling nightmares and simply more confusion than necessary.
Thank you for your time,
Doreen R. Erickson
I know this is an old post, but, boy does it fit the current situation.
With the possibility that several schools might be closed, including Challenger 7, I think it would be wonderful that if *IT* has to happen, that Challenger 7 not be closed but converted to a middle school for 6th - 8th grade. Hopefully, this will help alleviate the problems of dispersing the current student between Atlantis and Enterprise, which are both at or above occupancy.
Our students are growing, and some of our schools may need to grow with our students.
Has BPS looked into this option?
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