Secession Movement Growing in Schools

[chlamor]

Posted on Fri, Mar. 25, 2005

Secession movement growing in schools

By Jackie Burrell

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

It's not often that an entire community tries to bail from a school district, but the school secession movement that took root in Hercules last year may be spreading.A Lafayette neighborhood that is outside the city limits and served by Martinez schools has launched a secession bid.The Pinole City Council is weighing alternatives for its schools, which are part of the West Contra Costa School District; council members and parents say the massive school district is unresponsive to their concerns about school violence and other issues.

In Lafayette, where school attendance boundaries zig and zag, residents of the Hidden Pond neighborhood submitted a petition Wednesday to the Contra Costa County Office of Education, launching a three-month hearing and review process.The 58 homes in Hidden Pond already have a Lafayette zip code. Their residents hope the petition will gain them entry to Lafayette and Acalanes schools as well.

"It's not common that you have a district willing to give up territory, (especially) with declining enrollment and bond indebtedness," said Martinez superintendent Dan White, who will have to sign off on the Martinez-Lafayette transfer. "But school boundaries? You kind of wonder who designed them."

<snip>

It's really about money, Rinehart said"We would lose $9 million in developer fees," she said. "This is an opportunity for us to grow.".

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/education/11227411.htm

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. It's a Big 10-8 Place all right

"I like Orinda
And 409
I like Martinez
And all the green slime
I like Lafayette
When the weather is fine
And I like Contra-Costa County
Almost all of the time"

--Negativland

[bikeboy]

2. Secession Movement Growing in Schools

What it really is , is a bunch of upwardly mobile folks that don't want their kids to go to school with...uh... ya know...urban kids...never mind that both Pinole and Hercules have the newest buildings in the district and that the district has gone out of it's way to deal with the issues that the parents have concerning violence in the schools. It's the URBAN ISSUE! It is a small group of very vocal parents that really don't understand the economic benefits of belonging to a district the size of WCCUSD. If they are successful in succeeding they will have shit for school programs because of the dept they will inherit from all of their nice new buildings...

IMHO they should really be asking AHNOOLD to give the money back! but they most likely voted for the ass so if they leave they get what they asked for... a flaming bag of dog shit at the door step!