MB Cluster Meeting - School Closure

Last night the MB Cluster Committee met for three hours to discuss school closure.  The purpose of the meeting was:

• Review the Proposal from SDUSD to close certain sites,
• Review the findings of the MB Cluster Task Force the volunteered to investigate the issues,
• Review options for school closure considered by the MB Cluster Committee Task Force,
• Poll the MB Cluster Committee Members regarding their opinion on various options.

Polling


Polls regarding opinions (In Favor / Opposed) to various options were conducted.  The polls were taken from the Cluster Committee Members.  Committee Membership was apportioned according to the number of pupils at each site.  Eligibility includes:  parents of students, staff at sites, and community members residing in the attendance zone.  Ultimately, the principal of each site dictated how Committee Members were selected, be it by appointment or vote.

The concept of the Committee Member was to provide representation of the interests of the community, students and staff of the site.  In some cases Committee Members were established weeks prior.  In other cases they were assigned last night.

A straw poll was taken at the start of the meeting for various options.   The poll was designed to provoke consideration of the options as we reviewed the issues.  A final poll was taken at the conclusion of the meeting.  The final poll was not significantly different than the straw poll.

Recommendation

The MB Cluster Committee did not provide a recommendation to SDUSD.  Given the short amount of time, complexity of the issues, and challenge in achieving consensus a single recommendation was not produced.  Instead, the opinion regarding each of several options was considered individually as "In Favor" or "Opposed".

The opinion regarding each option may change dramatically under a number of conditions:

• Further consideration of the details of each option,
• Change in financial condition of the SDUSD,
• Impact of reduced busing on student enrollment,
• Further discussion within each site's community

Material Reviewed


Below is the material reviewed by the MB Cluster Committee.  The results of the polling are inside the document.


111019 Cluster Meeting (w Poll)