The James Logan Courier

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Unified School District Public Information Officer

The Board of Education on Tuesday night approved new boundaries that will determine where students will attend school throughout the District. The new boundaries will go into effect for elementary students July 1, 2007, after the closure of Cabello Elementary at the end of the current school year, and for middle school students July 1, 2008, after the closure of Barnard-White Middle at the end of 2007-08.

Under the new elementary boundaries, there are only minor adjustments on the east side of Interstate 880, and disruption on the west side of the freeway is minimized as much as possible, as Alvarado, Eastin and Pioneer all welcome children from Cabello. No children will have to cross the freeway.

Keeping disruption to a minimum also is the goal of the new middle school boundaries, which divide the District east-west. Most students who would have attended Barnard-White will go to Cesar Chavez, and a few students who would have attended Chavez will go instead to Alvarado. The new boundary minimizes the number of students who must cross the freeway, reducing the traffic congestion that would have been created by moving students across town under the north-south options that were proposed in an effort to better balance the schools demographically.

Also on Tuesday night, the Board:

- Heard a report on student achievement based on the spring 2006 STAR results. The test results indicate good student progress, but more improvement is needed to meet the Strategic Plan goal of 85 percent of students scoring proficient or better by 2010.

- Heard a report on enrollment as of "CBEDS Day." As of October 4, the date designated for reporting by the California Basic Education Data System, District enrollment was 13,113, down 203 students from 13,316 on "CBEDS Day" in 2005. Excluding special education and home schooling students, enrollment was 12,659, down 189 students from 12,848 last year. The decade-long decline in enrollment is expected to continue, as this year's kindergarten class is the District's smallest in 10 years.

- Rescinded a previously adopted increase in graduation requirements for students at James Logan and Conley-Caraballo high schools and added a multicultural studies requirement for students at both schools.

- Recognized Principal Carmen Jorgenson and the staff at Alvarado Elementary School, which achieved a 42-point gain on the Academic Performance Index, the most impressive gain in the District. Kitayama Elementary and James Logan High both achieved 28-point gains.

Her fellow Board members and District staff also recognized and thanked retiring Board President Barbara Aro-Valle, who presided over her final regular meeting. Veteran Board member Gwen Estes was congratulated on her re-election, and member-elect Gertrude Gregorio, who was in the audience, also was recognized. They will be sworn-in at the next regular meeting, on December 5.

The Board will meet for a study session Thursday, starting at 6:30 p.m., to consider school plans for student achievement.

Agendas of all Board of Education meetings and minutes of past meetings are available on the District website: www.nhusd.k12.ca.us