{"id":4328,"date":"2013-12-03T20:20:59","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T03:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2013-12-03T20:20:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T03:20:59","slug":"stapleton-residents-upset-about-dpss-socioeconomic-busing-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4328","title":{"rendered":"Stapleton Residents Upset About DPS\u2019s Socioeconomic Busing Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"socioeconomic<\/a>DPS believed they finally had a plan to appease the sometimes difficult to work with community of Stapleton. DPS has put forth several ideas<\/a> on how to manage priority for the quickly growing community and their five elementary schools, all located within two square miles of each other. The most recent plan was to create boundaries for each school, much like everyone who lives here had growing up, and then allowing a certain percentage to open enroll to that school, if there was availability.\nThe discussions have mostly centered on what that open enrollment percentage should be and from the position of DPS, how they can accommodate the community\u2019s transportation needs. It has been a very frustrating situation for everyone involved. Some residents are even concerned about how not allowing open-enrollment will affect their property values. DPS has heard the community; they are just not listening to them. Which is why DPS\u2019s most recent proposal has come under fire.\n\u201cI think what people are trying to tell us is that they want the schools to be as even as possible socioeconomically,\u201d said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg. \u201cSo, what we are doing is taking a look at the existing boundaries, and we are placing a value on each of the households that live there. For example, some students will be categorized as \u2018super rich\u2019, others as \u2018rich\u2019, and then of course, the \u2018not so Stapleton\u2019 kids. Once we have those numbers in, we will have a pretty good idea of how we are going to move along.\u201d\nBoasberg says that \u2018super rich\u2019 kids will be those with a household income of $275,000 or more, and \u2018rich\u2019 kids will be categorized by a household income between $175,000 and $275,000. \u2018Not so Stapleton\u2019 kids will be those with a household income below $175,000. \u201cWhen we look at the numbers, we will see what group is easier to bus around, given the current boundaries,\u201d said Boasberg. \u201cIt may be that we have to ship some \u2018super rich\u2019 kids from the Swigert boundary over to the Isabella \u201cLarry\u201d Bird Boundary. We\u2019re just not sure yet. That is simply an example, so don\u2019t freak out. Right now, all we know is that we plan to bus kids from different districts to keep each of the schools socioeconomically diverse. Like your Green Book<\/a> says.\u201d\nMany residents are not happy with this plan. \u201cSo, there is a chance that my \u2018super rich\u2019 kid could be bused, and his \u2018super rich\u2019 kid neighbor would stay in the district?\u201d said concerned parent Kate Battenfield. \u201cThat makes no sense. We bought this house, in this area, of this neighborhood so that our kids could be around other wealthier kids. Busing completely tears that down.\u201d Other parents agree. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I like the idea of \u2018not so Stapleton\u2019 kids being bused to our area,\u201d said resident Paul Dunlay. \u201cWe moved here so we would avoid that in the schools. Now DPS says they want to bus those kids into our school. I\u2019m not into that one bit.\u201d\nSome people are actually concerned about the kids. \u201cIf the buses are not a mix of \u2018super rich,\u2019 \u2018rich,\u2019 and \u2018not so Stapleton\u2019 kids, the kids being bused could have a stigma attached to them,\u201d says child counselor Alison Heller. \u201cFor example, kids would eventually learn that the kids on the bus were \u2018not so Stapleton\u2019 kids and tease them. Heck, even the \u2018super rich\u2019 kids could end up getting teased. So, if DPS does follow through with this plan, I really hope they socioeconomically integrate the buses and not just the schools.\u201d\nBoasberg says DPS once again is delaying its final recommendation as they wait for the household income numbers of the homes in each district. \u201cOnce we get those numbers in, we can finally formulate a plan,\u201d said Boasberg. \u201cI think we do have a plan that the Stapleton community will get behind.\u201d Not so fast, Boasberg, not so fast.]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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