Community invited to take web-based school survey to shape ‘Redesign and Reinvest’ process

<?xml:namespace prefix =" st1" />BOSTON – Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Carol R. Johnson is working with parents, students, and stakeholder groups to develop a plan that will outline clear, competitive, comprehensive school choices in every neighborhood in Boston. Since June, Dr. Johnson and other district leaders have met with more than fifteen groups of parents and students from across the city on this topic, and today, BPS is extending the questions raised at those meetings to the entire community through the internet.

The same “Redesign and Reinvest” survey BPS has presented to parents and student focus group sessions is now also available at bostonpublicschools.org/redesign in English, and at bostonpublicschools.org/rediseno in Spanish. The ten-minute survey asks parents and students and other community members how they would define a high-quality school and what factors they would like BPS to consider as the district begins the process of expanding, merging and possibly closing some school programs in the Fall of 2011.

“This is another step in our effort to improve every single classroom in Boston,” said Dr. Johnson. “We can give more families access to our most successful school programs by expanding them. We can grow those programs by taking another look at the schools that are not performing quite as well. By reinvesting resources into what our families tell us is working, we can give our students what they need to learn, and be sure that teachers have everything they need to make a real difference.”

In late August, BPS will post the information gathered from both the on-line survey and the June 26 Neighborhood Day of Dialogue community meetings on the BPS website. In addition, formal and informal discussions with stakeholders, community groups, and parents and students will continue throughout August. In mid-September, BPS will present a draft “Redesign and Reinvest” proposal to the Boston School Committee, then hold public forums to discuss the draft and gather additional feedback before the school committee receives a final proposal in late October. By making decisions on school mergers, expansions and closures now, the “Redesign and Reinvest” effort will allow parents to make school choices in time for the 2011-2012 school year, and it will set the stage for a reexamination of the overall student assignment process this winter.

“We have been listening to our parents and our other community partners tell us what they need for more than two years now, and it’s time for us to act,” said Dr. Johnson. “This is about educating all of our children, and preparing them for a successful future.”