Ruby Sinreich's blog
Last month the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board decided on the new school districts that will go into effect as we open our eleventh elementary school this fall. I was always aware that these school reassignment discussions were contentious, but now that my son will be starting kindergarten in 2014, I'm trying to learn a lot more about how our coveted educational sausage is made. Since my neighborhood was assigned to the walk zone of the brand-new Northside Elementary, I was able to wade deeper into the mucky reassignment debate without having much personal investment in the outcome.
I think the board did the right thing in choosing the plan that did the best job of distributing racial and economic diversity. But the process is inherently impossible. There is simply no way to put everyone in the school they want without inconveniencing someone else. In this post I attempt to briefly summarize how the whole 2012-2013 redistricting went down.
I've noticed that Raleigh and other nearby municipalities are using tools like SeeClickFix.com to help residents connect and use local government. Durham's even using it's own website called http://www.liveworkplaydurham.com/ where folks can post their ideas for improving the community.
As an experiment I threw together this SeeClickFix widget.
The rain has been pouring down and I'm thinking even if the snow doesn't stick, temperatures below freezing tonight are going to make tomorrow morning treacherous at best.
How is everyone doing out there? Did you stock up on your white stuff? Feel free to share updates closings, conditions, etc.
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I just sent the following to the Chapel Hill Town Council:
I see that on your agenda tonight is a recommendation to expand the Central West committee by one member and to appoint a specific person to that committee. I haven't seen anyone make the case that the original formulation of the committee was faulty. The number and type of constituents as well as the specific individuals that you already appointed have been publicly discussed and agreed upon.
I believe the Town should either work hard to find someone from the public housing community, or leave the seat vacant until you do. I see no reason to make this change other than to oil a very squeaky wheel. I hope you have a higher standards for policy changes than this.
Thanks for your consideration.
The recommendation in question is this: http://chapelhillpublic.novusagenda.com/Bluesheet.aspx?itemid=2076&meetingid=195
Learn more about the Central West Focus Area at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=2020
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