Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Q. Will I be able to obtain a transfer for my child to remain at their existing school? A. Yes. To provide an alternate solution for families wishing to keep children at their existing elementary schools, a special Priority Transfer window will open immediately following the Governing Board s action on new boundaries. Families wishing their current third- through fifth-grader (next year s fourth- through sixth-graders) to remain at his/her current school will be able to request and receive a Priority Transfer. All transfers requested for current third- through fifth-graders during this special window (November 19 December 9) will be granted. Younger siblings of these students who will attend school concurrently will also be able to apply for and receive a Priority Transfer. Current trans- Kindergarten through second grade students without siblings will also be allowed to apply for a Priority Transfer, but these transfers will be granted based on space availability. The exception to the automatic approval of transfers would be for students slated to attend the new Virginia Boris Elementary School. In this case, Priority Transfers would be approved on space availability with preference given to current fifth-graders (sixth-graders in 2016). Additional transfers for current third- and fourth-graders will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Q. What about siblings of these students? A. Younger siblings of students granted transfers under this special circumstance would also be allowed to remain at their existing school of attendance by applying for a Priority Transfer. This accommodation is in addition to the existing Sibling Rule contained in Board Policy No. 5106. Q. Will transportation be available for students who apply for Priority Transfers? A. Transportation will be available for Priority Transfer students living outside of the walk-in radius defined in Board Policy No. 8301 through the 2021-2022 school year, with routes determined on an annual basis. Future boundary changes may impact the availability of transportation in some areas of the district. Q. Does the District consider demographics when drawing attendance boundaries? A. One of many factors considered in the development of attendance boundaries is the creation of demographically well-balanced schools. It is the District s intent to provide every student with an outstanding academic experience in an environment that is representative of our community as a whole. One way that we can create diverse, well-rounded educational environments is to create attendance areas that are inclusive of a broad spectrum of our community. Q. What kind of support will be offered to help students transitioning to a new attendance area? A. Each school receiving new students as a result of the boundary adjustments will hold open house style events to welcome new families and allow students and parents to meet their educational team. In addition, the team of teachers, site administrators and classified staff will work closely with individual families to ease the transition between schools. Many opportunities will be available between December 2015 and August 2016 for families to attend events and become familiar with their new
school. Principals are always willing to meet with parents who would like to learn more about ways to connect with their new school community. Q. Why does the Millerton New Town area pass closer schools (i.e. Fugman Elementary and Clovis North High School) to attend Valley Oak or Liberty elementary schools and Clovis West High School? A. For the long-term health of each of its high schools, the District looks for opportunities to create high school boundaries that include some of the growth areas of the District. Because of the geographic proximity of Clovis West High School to the far northern and western boundaries of Clovis Unified School District, the Millerton New Town area provides this opportunity. The Millerton New Town Area provides a path for future enrollment growth needed at Clovis West High School and fulfills one of the purposes of this boundary study. Each of the District s high schools also contain some areas of future or current development. Q. Why weren t all of the community s requests/recommendations incorporated into the new scenario? A. Options and suggestions made by the community were carefully studied by members of the District s Administration, and included driving potential routes to and from school, re-running attendance data and enrollment projections based on suggested alternatives, visiting neighborhoods, and consulting with city officials as to future traffic and street improvements. In instances where no modifications were made, the attendance boundaries contained in Scenarios A and 1 followed existing standards for adequate walk paths and boundary lines (canals, fencing, etc.) used in other areas of the District. Q. Are students currently on an Open Enrollment Transfer affected? A. Students on existing Open Enrollment Transfers would not be impacted by these changes. Their Open Enrollment transfers will remain in effect. Q. What are the next steps in this boundary study? A. In addition to information shared online and through phone calls and emails to parents, meetings have been scheduled in school communities where numerous questions or concerns were raised. These meetings will be publicized through individual schools and will take place before October 22 to allow for additional dialogue in heavily impacted communities. Online comments will continue to be processed, and anyone wishing to further discuss their local attendance boundary can contact his/her school principal. Following this second round of meetings, a final proposal will be developed by the District Administration for presentation to the Governing Board in late October, and Board action November 18. Attendance boundaries approved by the Governing Board in November will take effect for all current fifth-graders and below at the start of the 2016 school year. A special Priority Transfer window will open November 19 and run through December 9 for families wishing to declare their desire to keep children at their existing schools (see question related to Transfers and Siblings above). Q. Why not move all of Maple Creek Elementary into the Clovis North Area and move Mountain View Elementary to Clovis West Area instead? A. Recommending the de-splitting of Maple Creek Elementary is due to the large quantity of feedback received from split school communities over time that splitting an elementary attendance area has a
negative impact on that school. Because an overarching goal of this boundary study is to keep all elementary schools in their existing secondary area (and Maple Creek is part of the Clovis West Area), movement of two thirds of Maple Creek students to Clovis North who now attend Clovis West; and all of Mountain View to Clovis West (all of whom now attend Clovis North High) was antithetical to the overarching goals of this study. Additionally, because of the proximity of Maple Creek Elementary to both Clovis West and Clovis North, and Mountain View Elementary s location near the southernmost boundary of Clovis Unified (Herndon Ave.) changing the Mountain View Elementary secondary boundary would continue to require the bulk of students to drive by Maple Creek to get to Clovis West High School (just as they do now to get to Clovis North High School). Instead, we are not recommending that any secondary students are affected by these boundary changes. Additionally, we are providing the Priority Transfer option for families wishing to continue in their current attendance boundary. Q. Aren t large school enrollment numbers in part based on too many transfers being accepted into a school? Why don t you stop approving transfers? A. The option for parents to seek a transfer away from their home school into another school in Clovis Unified (or even outside of Clovis Unified) is established in California law (Education Code 35160.5(b) ) and must be honored by our school district. Every transfer request is very carefully considered before being approved or denied by the district. Even so, in approving transfers, we plan carefully to account for students who may move into a school area after the transfer process has been completed. In Clovis Unified, we have instituted language in our open enrollment transfer policy and regulations that requires that 10% of a school s enrollment capacity is left open to accommodate for late enrollment by residents. In other instances, there may be room in one grade level for transfer students, where in another the school is over capacity. Previous Frequently Asked Questions Published Sept. 18 Q. What is different about the two scenarios? A. In most areas these two scenarios are the same, but in the Clovis High area there are differences between A and 1. These scenarios were developed based on study of enrollment projects and other data and form the starting point for a conversation with the community on other possibilities. Q. When would new school attendance boundaries take effect? A. New attendance areas approved by the Board in November will take effect for all kindergarten through sixth grade students in August 2016. These changes will not impact students who are in grades 7-12 as of August 2016. Q. Why do we need to change boundaries? A. There are several reasons we are looking at attendance boundaries. The first is the opening of a new elementary school near Temperance and Clinton avenues in Fresno. We need to define what neighborhood this school will serve. At the same time, while some areas of Clovis Unified are growing rapidly (the new development areas of Clovis Southeast Urban Village, Loma Vista, Harlan Ranch and the upcoming Northwest Urban Village; as well as Fresno s Copper River and Millerton New Town),
other areas have a shrinking population of school-aged children because current attendance boundaries are. Rather than build more new schools than needed (and at a cost of close to $35 million each), the District is dedicated to building strong neighborhood schools and maximizing the use of existing facilities. This attendance boundary study will allow us to create healthier school enrollment across the District now and into the next decade. Q. What factors does the District consider when looking at possible boundary scenarios? A. Because the creation of new boundaries must consider the needs of the District as a whole, the process is kept impartial. Five considerations are used when measuring the effectiveness of any given boundary scenario. In no particular order, these considerations are: Attempt to keep neighborhoods together Maximize design capacity of existing schools Create boundaries that are long lasting Reduce or eliminate split elementary school boundaries between two high school areas Reduce operational costs Q. Will students in high school now be affected by the change? A. No. Students in the seventh grade and above as of August 2016 (those students in sixth grade and higher during the 2015-16 school year) will not be impacted by these boundary changes. Q. Are there any special circumstances under which a child can remain at their original school of attendance following the change in boundaries? A. While we encourage every student to attend their home school, we recognize that sometimes families have special circumstances that make attending a different school more ideal. There are several types of transfers available for families in these situations. Information about transfers can be found online at cusd.com. All transfer types contain some limitations in the case of a school being overcrowded and/or without space in a given grade level. Q. Will current fifth-graders (sixth grade students as of Aug. 2016) be allowed to remain at their elementary school through the end of their sixth grade year? A. If you would like your current fifth-grader (who will be in the sixth grade as of August 2016) to complete the year at their former elementary school (2016-17 only), you would need to declare that intent through the intradistrict transfer process for one year. It is our intent to make every effort to honor such requests in schools where space is available in 2016-17. Given the number of different types of transfers, you would also want to discuss your decision with our Office of Educational Services to ensure that there were no future athletic eligibility issues when your child enters intermediate school. Questions about athletic eligibility can be directed to the Office of Educational Services at 559-327-9380. Q. Who can I talk to if I have questions or concerns? A. Parents can speak with their local school principal about questions or comments regarding the boundary study. Online input can also be submitted via this page. The District s administration is committed to providing parents with ample opportunity for input and discussion about any boundary recommendations prior to the meetings of the Governing Board at which a decision will be made.