Burlington School's Excellence and Equity Discussion Moves Forward
Jeanné Collins
Superintendent of Schools, Burlington

October 8, 2007

I am pleased to report the major decision-points that will shape the direction of the Burlington School Excellence and Equity plans. At the Tuesday, October 9th board meeting, important recommendations will be brought to the full board for their approval. These recommendations include maintaining 6 elementary schools, approving a community survey on the concept of magnet schools in Burlington, and considering a proposal for infrastructure financial support.

In planning sessions over the summer, the Board expressed interest in choice-based strategies that achieve academic excellence, equitable opportunities and demographic balance. Both community and teacher input have been, and continue to be, an essential part of this process. Choice-based strategies include options such as magnet programs intended to draw a demographic mix into both of our Old North End schools. I am excited to work with the Board, teachers, and the community to identify successful choice-based strategies to achieve our shared goals.

At Board request, we have also accessed grant funds and identified an independent research firm to conduct a survey regarding magnet schools this fall. The survey will include parents of children currently in our schools and prospective parents. The recommendation to move forward with the survey will be brought to the Board at Tuesday's meeting.

The recommendation in front of the Board on Tuesday to maintain six elementary schools comes from the Agenda Committee, which had been authorized by the Board Chair, Thomas Fleury, to bring recommendations forward to the full Board on how to achieve Excellence and Equity in our schools. For the past 18 months, we have worked to separate the issue of the number of schools in our district from the Excellence and Equity planning process. It has become paramount that to effectively plan, and to respectfully address the needs of our families, teachers, and staff, a decision must be made now about how many schools we will operate.

This recommendation for six elementary schools is significant, and one that I fully support. A number of important factors have changed since last spring, when I presented the preliminary proposals. First, the data shows stable, if not slightly increasing, enrollment numbers. Second, I have listened to the community and I am impressed by the commitment and the promising options brought forth by parents and teachers. And lastly, further exploration has yielded opportunities that have the potential to help maximize revenue and maintain our six elementary schools. I am hopeful that we can develop a viable and sustainable financial plan to make this happen.

Throughout this process, it has become increasingly clear that we all share a vision of schools in which all of our children can flourish and reach their potential. I thank the board for their leadership and the community for their continued commitment to working together to create the right plan for Burlington.

As always, the Board meeting this Tuesday will be open to the public. The meeting starts with a public comment period at 7 pm and will be held at the Ira Allen Building on 150 Colchester Avenue.