Seattle Public Schools is planning to change the boundary for Maple Elementary School, to take effect in either 2019 or 2020. On November 20, 2013, the district approved a vast set of boundary changes across the city (as described in this 88-page document), with most taking effect the following school year, and others planned for later years. In recognition that the future Maple Elementary School boundary change may not be racially equitable, the Board unanimously passed an amendment to the 11/20/13 resolution to "reassess all boundary and feeder pattern plans for District 7” (Southeast Seattle) with racial diversity in mind.
The Maple change was originally supposed to take effect in 2020, but due to capacity issues at the school, the district is considering moving that change up to 2019. Therefore, the district and community are now doing the work to reassess the boundary in terms of racial equity. As such, the district has created an Alternate Plan for Maple Elementary. The below table compares the 2013 Plan with the Alternate Plan according to criteria of racial equity, English Language Learners equity, Special Education equity, the district's own guiding principles for boundaries, and other arguments raised by the community.
Neither impacted area wants to be displaced from Maple Elementary. However, as shown below, the Alternate Plan is the better plan in terms of racial equity, equity for students requiring special services, keeping children in walk zones, cost savings, minimizing displaced students overall, and upholding the district's own boundary criteria. Please email schoolboard@seattleschools.org and growthboundaries@seattleschools.org and let them know you support the more racially equitable Alternate Plan for Maple Elementary.
| # | Plan Comparison Criteria | Better Plan | 2013 Plan | Alternate Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Displacement of children | Alternate Plan | Displaces +8% more children | Displaces -8% fewer children |
| 2 | Displacement of black children | Alternate Plan | Displaces +40% more black children | Displaces -29% fewer black children |
| 3 | Displacement of Asian children | Alternate Plan | Displaces +21% more Asian children | Displaces -17% fewer Asian children |
| 4 | Displacement of Latino children | Alternate Plan | Displaces +9% more Latino children | Displaces -8% fewer Latino children |
| 5 | Displacement of multi-racial children | Alternate Plan | Displaces +20% more multi-racial children | Displaces -17% fewer multi-racial children |
| 6 | Displacement of children of color | Alternate Plan | Displaces +20% more children of color | Displaces -17% fewer children of color |
| 7 | Displacement of English Language Learners | Alternate Plan | Displaces +20% more English Language Learners | Displaces -17% fewer English Language Learners |
| 8 | Displacement of Special Education students | Alternate Plan | Displaces +17% more Special Education students | Displaces -14% fewer Special Education students |
| 9 | "Create boundaries that reflect equitable access to services and programs" | Alternate Plan | Displaces +20% more children requiring special services | Displaces -16% fewer children requiring special services |
| 10 | "Maximize walkability" | Alternate Plan | Displaces children from the walk zone | Does NOT displace children from the walk zone |
| 11 | "Enable cost-effective transportation standards" | Alternate Plan | Requires children who currently walk to be bussed | Does NOT require any new bussing |
| 12 | "Maintain key features of New Student Assignment Plan (e.g. opportunities for creating diversity within boundaries, choice, option schools, feeder patterns)" | Alternate Plan | Exacerbates racial segregation | Minimizes racial segregation |
| 13 | "Be mindful of fiscal impact (costs and savings)" | Alternate Plan | Requires new bussing | Does NOT require new bussing |
| 14 | "Ground decisions in data" | Alternate Plan | No data-based reasons for this plan | Better plan for all the data-based reasons above |
| 15 | "Minimize disruptions by aligning new boundaries with current attendance area boundaries when feasible." | Tie | Changes existing boundaries | Changes existing boundaries |
| 16 | "Be responsive to family input to the extent feasible" | 2013 Plan | More families have submitted complaints, reflecting higher proportion of white families impacted | More impacted families are from disenfranchised groups, and have submitted fewer complaints |
| 17 | Alignment with expectations from 2013 | Tie | 2013 Board resolution unanimously called for a reassessment of SE boundaries with diversity in mind | 2013 Board resolution unanimously called for a reassessment of SE boundaries with diversity in mind |
| 18 | Splits the neighborhood | Tie | Splits Mid Beacon Hill in jagged way, keeps Georgetown together | Splits Mid Beacon Hill in cleaner way, could easily be revised to keep Georgetown together at Van Asselt |
| 19 | Historical ties to Maple School | 2013 Plan | Maple was originally located in Georgetown in the 1880s | Until Brown v. Board of Education, minority children could legally be segregated from white children; minority children will never have strong historical claims to schools that started white |
Notes and source documents for criteria:
Criteria 1-8 (population inequities):2013 Plan, with race, ethnicity, and special service numbers at the bottom of the page
Alternate Plan, with race, ethnicity, and special service numbers at the bottom of the page
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mvoRYczMRluKonx9T_iVJzt2HeFF2a6t8VTJlhbjd_4/edit?usp=sharing">Spreadsheet with the percentage calculations for criteria 1-8
Criteria 9-16 (District's "guiding principles" for boundaries):
List of guiding principles that the 2013 boundaries were supposed to follow.
District walk zone for Maple
District walk zone for Van Asselt
Criterion 17 (2013 decision)
Minutes from 11/20/13 meeting, including a unanimously passed amendment that the School Board must "collaborate with the diverse communities of District 7 to reassess all boundary and feeder pattern plans for District 7 for the five-year planning horizon, and review them annually with appropriate data and community input." (Note: District 7 is SE Seattle.)
Criterion 18 (how neighborhoods are split)
2013 Plan
Alternate Plan
Criterion 19 (Georgetown's historical claim to Maple School
History Link article about the history of Maple School
Medium article about segregation in Seattle schools and housing redlining (image in article shows Georgetown's relative whiteness compared to Beacon Hill)
