School District to Form Task Force on Equity

The will create a new task force to take on concerns about equity, and refine district policy about what that looks like for Albany public school children.

Officials, parents and teachers spent more than two hours Tuesday night discussing equity for children, particularly in relation to the role PTA and classroom donations play in ensuring all  kids have fulfilling experiences.

At the core of the matter are hours spent during the daytime on . According to information released by the school district for Tuesday's meeting, and elementary school students have historically gotten  on such creative pursuits than children.

These programs, some of which have long histories at local schools, are funded by community donations.

Field trips also play a large role in the discussion.

In the 2010-11 school year, according to the school district, Marin school parents plan to spend more than $90,000 on activities. Cornell parents will spend an estimated $64,000.

Ocean View parents will fund closer to $40,000, said the school's PTA president, Edel Alon. 

Much of Ocean View parent donations end up paying for transportation for field trips and student scholarships, said . 

While many parents from Marin and Cornell schools described these allocations as a "choice," and an indication about what Ocean View parents prioritize for their kids, many Ocean View parents said there just isn't enough money to go around.

"It's not because we're lazy," said Tamina Alon, an Ocean View mom who is married to the PTA president, Edel. "It's not because we're not getting the word out. We're just not able. You just can't squeeze milk from a stone. You just can't. Really that is our reality and that needs to be respected."

One example that has come up in the conversation is transportation for field trips. Marin and Cornell have many more parents who are able to drive kids on trips, whereas Ocean View parents may often only have one car, which isn't available for use during the school day. Or, if both parents are working, they may not be able to take the day off to volunteer. As a result, money must be spent coming up with a way to fund transportation, rather than creative day-time activities.

Ocean View parent Jennifer Carlson, whose son is in third grade, said it's clear to her that parents at her school just don't have as much money available.

"My choice is often to pay the electricity bill or buy soccer equipment," she said. "I don't get to choose to fund a class in chess."

Officials pointed out last night that 95 percent of Albany parents have traditionally had their first choice in terms of which elementary school their children attend. But often geography is a driving factor, because parents want their kids to be able to walk to school, and stick close to other children in their neighborhood. 

Some parents said, if most families are getting their first choice, they should be happy with the school-day opportunities and differences offered by each campus. 

Others argued that, with geography and a desire to remain in one's neighborhood the main concerns, there are a host of socioeconomic challenges that arise, with neighborhoods, and programming, becoming wealthier as one moves east through the city.

The district said this could mean, moving forward, that officials take a more active role trying to balance the campuses more in terms of diversity and socioeconomic factors. 

Board member Miriam Walden said it also likely would mean that parent donations will eventually be shared among the three elementary schools.

"If we all say we want this amount of arts across the district... that does not have to be this big negative thing," Walden said. "The only issue is that we haven't been there and we haven't done it. We'll get to it."

Many parents said they are open to joint fundraising opportunities, but added that they don't want the district making decisions about which schools their children can attend and how their money will be spent.

Many said equity is about much more than having the same programs across all three campuses.

"We can't expect our schools to be the same," said Cornell parent Adrianne Cabanatuan. "We can expect the quality of education, staff and programs to be the same."

Former Board of Education member Marsha Skinner said it was important to remember the "real demographic differences" between the campuses, and said Title I money received by Ocean View for staff development should be part of the equation.

Skinner also said it would be important to leave room for schools to experiment with programs they'd like to bring in, and not make regulations about what happens on each campus so rigid that there's no room for local culture and ideas.

Marin parent David Greensfelder said he was "delighted" to hear people talking openly about the issue of equity, and that he hoped it would result in rich programs at all three campuses, rather than eliminating programs at Marin and Cornell. 

"It's important to have the tide raise all boats," he said. "I think we should stay there rather than trying to re-slice and re-dice the data."

Miss last night's meeting? Watch it here.