Just as parents of kids in San Francisco public schools are breathing a sigh of relief after assignment letters went out Saturday, the school board has voted unanimously to approve a new assignment plan for next year. Parents who hoped neighborhood schools would be the new order may be disappointed: Under the new plan, children living in census tracts with the lowest test scores are given assignment priority over kids living in the school’s attendance area.
The San Francisco Chronicle explains the new rules with a list:
New system
Students would be assigned to high-demand schools using the following order of preferences:
Elementary schools
– Students with siblings in the school
– Students who attended preschool in the school’s attendance area
– Those in low-scoring census tracts
– Those in the preferred school’s attendance area
– All others
Middle schools
(For those participating in choice process)
– Students with siblings in the school
– Those in low-scoring census tracts
– Those in the school’s attendance area
– Those in densely populated attendance areas
– All others
High schools
– Students with siblings in the school
– Those in low-scoring census tracts
– All others
Announcement of the new rules has been met with guarded praise from parents. As one typical commenter on the SF K Files sums it up: “I expect the result of the assignment system will be old wine in new bottles. Low SES families will continue to participate in the system at a lower rate than high SES families. Higher SES families will continue to fill high-demand schools in disproportionate numbers. Schools will remain imbalanced and segregated to some extent.”