November 28, 2006 > New school boundaries established

by Rick LaPlante

At their November 14 meeting, New Haven Unified School District Board of Education approved new boundaries that will determine where students will attend school throughout the district. The new boundaries will go into effect for elementary students July 1, 2007, after the closure of Cabello Elementary at the end of the current school year; and for middle school students July 1, 2008, after the closure of Barnard-White Middle the following year.

The new elementary school boundaries have only minor adjustments on the east side of Interstate 880, and disruption on the west side of the freeway is minimized as much as possible, as Alvarado, Eastin and Pioneer all welcome children from Cabello. No children will have to cross the freeway.

Keeping disruption to a minimum also is the goal of the new middle school boundaries, which divide the district east-west. Most students who would have attended Barnard-White will go to Cesar Chavez, and a few students who would have attended Chavez will go instead to Alvarado. The new boundary minimizes the number of students who must cross the freeway, reducing the traffic congestion that would have been created by moving students across town under the north-south options that were proposed in an effort to better balance the schools demographically.

Also on Tuesday night, the board heard a report on student achievement based on the spring 2006 STAR results. The test results indicate good student progress, but more improvement is needed to meet the Strategic Plan goal of 85 percent of students scoring proficient or better by 2010.

The board heard a report on enrollment as of "CBEDS Day." On October 4, the date designated for reporting by the California Basic Education Data System, district enrollment was 13,113, down 203 students from CBEDS Day 2005. Excluding special education and home schooling students, enrollment was 12,659, down 189 students from last year. The decade-long decline in enrollment is expected to continue, as this year's kindergarten class is the district's smallest in 10 years.

Principal Carmen Jorgenson and the staff at Alvarado Elementary School were recognized for the school’s 42-point gain on the Academic Performance Index, the most impressive gain in the district. Kitayama Elementary and James Logan High both achieved 28-point gains.

Her fellow boardmembers and district staff also recognized and thanked retiring board President Barbara Aro-Valle, who presided over her final regular meeting. Veteran boardmember Gwen Estes was congratulated on her re-election, and member-elect Gertrude Gregorio, who was in the audience, also was recognized. They will be sworn-in at the next regular meeting, on December 5.

Agendas of all board of education meetings and minutes of past meetings are available on the district website: www.nhusd.k12.ca.us.