We, the undersigned, support the South Orange-Maplewood School District's efforts to racially balance its elementary schools and eliminate segregation, but we believe the Intentional Integration Algorithm can be adjusted to better serve the community and produce less student and parental transportation difficulty.  

In order to improve the Intentional Integration Plan and people's well-being, we call upon the Board of Education and Administration to conduct a survey of 2021-22 kindergarten and 2022-23 1st grade families to learn how families have appreciated, adapted to, or struggled with their elementary school assignments and how many students who are placed in non-neighborhood schools do not have someone to drive them.  We ask the BOE determine how many families need a bus and to consider elementary students' lives in a comprehensive, thorough way that includes how they get to and from school.

We ask the Board of Education to use the information gained to fine-tune the algorithm, including with some limited parental ranking ability, so that the system works better for a greater number of children and families.