The families of Stevens Elementary School students who were assigned to the school for the 2013-2014 academic year and earlier, but who live outside of the Stevens assignment area for the 2014-2015 school year, have been grandfathered into the Stevens attendance area through 5th grade. However, families were notified on February 28, 2014, that they will no longer have yellow bus service to the school beginning in the Fall of 2014, because they now live outside of the assigned attendance area. 

We request that Seattle Public Schools restore bus service to the affected area for the remaining years until kindergarteners who were assigned to Stevens 2013-2014 academic are promoted to middle school. 

Following is documentation supporting the reasons for this request: 

1. Contradiction to District Policy Recommendations:The Superintendent’s Student Transportation Taskforce Recommendations dated August 30, 2012, lay out a long term plan for SPS transportation policies. (The document is available to read in full here: http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental Content/transportation/S2T2_Final_Recommendations.pdf?sessionid=eae134abd7a3a609382767abf22a9787

At the top of page 6, the document reads as follows (emphasis added): 

Long Term: 2014 – 2015 or 2015 - 2016: Schedule: Major changes in student transportation services will require major community engagement. Further, any changes in student transportation services must be understood by parents and students before they make enrollment decisions. Therefore changes for the 2014 – 2015 school year will need to be explained and adopted in the Fall of 2013. If appropriate community engagement cannot be accomplished prior to the Fall of 2013, major changes should be postponed until the 2015 – 2016 school year. 

There was no community engagement regarding these changes for the 2014-2015 academic year during the Fall of 2013. 

2. Poor Communication: This change in policy was poorly communicated. Students living in the affected area were notified by a letter dated February 28, 2014, that they would be losing yellow bus service. This was five days into the SPS open enrollment period, and well after the school open houses, leaving inadequate time for families to consider this change when making a decision about school choice for the 2014-2015 school year. The process also allowed no opportunity for community input into the policy change.

3. Changes Disproportionally Affect Minority Students: When the new attendance boundaries and yellow bus service cuts are applied to the current Stevens attendance area demographics, non-white students are disproportionally affected by these changes and the cancellation of bus service.

4. Loss of Diversity: Stevens has an incredibly vibrant, healthy community that values its diversity and is committed to meeting the needs of all students. The current Stevens student demographics very closely mirror the overall SPS student demographics across Seattle. 

5. Lack of Walk-Zone School: The neighborhood affected by this change is not in the walk-zone for any public Seattle elementary school, including Madrona K-8, the attendance area school for this area beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. Therefore, SPS is obligated to provide busing to this student population. It seems there would be no cost difference whether this transportation was provided to Stevens or Madrona. Furthermore, the school within the walk-zone for this area, TT Minor, is slated to reopen as the World School in 2016, leaving this community with no viable walk-zone elementary school available to them in the foreseeable future. 

6. Excessive Disruption to Students: This neighborhood has now been assigned to four different schools since the 2008-2009 academic year: TT Minor, Leschi/Lowell, Stevens, and now Madrona. The families in attendance areas 42/43 are bearing an inequitable amount of disruption throughout the implementation of the new SPS enrollment plan and school closure process. This change in transportation policy will only create further disruption as some caregivers are forced to change their students' school because the lack of transportation is an insurmountable hardship for them. When analyzing the demographics of this area, this hardship is another example of this policy's disproportionate effect on minority students. 

Frequent interruption in school attendance is linked to long term academic success, as numerous studies have shown, and it is especially problematic for students from marginalized groups. 

According to national estimates, one-third of 4th graders, one-fifth of 8th graders, and one-tenth of 12th graders have changed schools at least once in the previous two years. Changes in schools, particularly during the academic year, can impede children's academic progress and decrease social competence. School mobility has the strongest effect during early elementary and high school, with multiple school transfers leading to worse effects. Low-income and minority children are more likely to transfer schools than their more economically advantaged and non-minority peers. (The Negative Effects on Instability on Child Development, Sandstrom and Huerta, Urban Institute, September 2013).

7. Questionable Intentions by Seattle Public Schools: In the letter mailed to the Stevens families affected by the transportation changes, and in communication from the Superintendent's office, cutting our neighborhood's yellow bus service was explained as a monetary decision. However, when the decision was questioned by the community, researched by the Transportation Department, and revisited by the Superintendent's Board, the reason listed for not continuing bus service is noted as being related to school capacity. There is no mention of the bus cancellation having any financial consequences and did not address the potential inequity that would be caused by these changes. From the Superintendent's Cabinet Meeting: 

4.Stevens - Changes meet the intent of Board adopted changes to manage capacity, therefore no additional service is recommended.

Please watch the video provided, where you can see just 17 of the 225 children who live outside of the new school boundary lines, who will lose bus service next year if this is not resolved. All of these children were assigned to Stevens before the school board changed the boundary lines for the 2014-2015 school year. 

Contacts at SPS: 

Stephan Blanford, District V Board Director: stephan.blanford@seattleschools.org

Jose Banda, Superintendent: jlbanda@seattleschools.org

Charles Wright, Deputy Superintendent: cewright1@seattleschools.org

Pegi McEvoy, Asst Superintendent, Operation: pmcevoy@seattleschools.org

Flip Herndon, Asst Superintendent, Capital, Facilities & Enrollment Planning: ltherndon@seattleschools.org

Kenneth Gotsch, Assistant Superintendent, Budget & Finance: kcgotsch@seattleschools.org

Lesley Rogers, Chief Communications Officer: larogers1@seattleschools.org

 

Bob Westgard, Director of Logistics: bwestgard@seattleschools.org