Compare and Contrast: Beaverton and Hillsboro

Beaverton is currently going through a somewhat reduced boundary adjustment process north of Sunset Hwy. I did some reading through the BSD website and it was interesting to see the differences.

Communication from Hillsboro is great, we got off to a slow start but the district website is very up to date and it is easy to find relevant info. The Beaverton site is a little harder to find, less crisp.

Another interesting difference is the tone, Hillsboro has been extremely open while Beaverton's process seems a little more closed.

The Oregonian has more:
Not Just School Boundaries At Issue For Board

The tone with parents is slightly combative as can be seen in this exchange with a parent group apparently with Superintendent for Beaverton Schools Jerome Colonna:

Emerald Estates - appears to have changed the destiny of a larger group of approximately 250 students, 30% of the total amount of displaced students. If you don’t keep in mind capacity and safety in a well established neighborhood, staying on Wismer Dr., if my child does not attend Wismer Elementary it is an irony. Is it the "pizza slice" that creates this change? It appears a small group of students tips the balance one way or the other.

Response: I am aware of the feeling among the community that those who speak the loudest and the most about a particular topic have the greatest opportunity to make changes. The squeaky wheel gets the grease so to speak. If you simply ask long enough or hard enough with enough people, you will be successful is swaying the final decision. It is understandable. What is swaying the District to change are better ideas. Change will not be made based on the number of people who speak about a particular topic.

A little testy perhaps, but it gets a little more pointed from parents in a following exchange:

Terra Linda – As a teacher and parent I have worked hard to fund the schools. This last bond was passed for capacity reasons. Now Findley will be over 100% capacity, Terra Linda reduced to 80% and the Beaverton School District is not doing what it said it would do with the bond dollars. Why did we pass a bond to work on capacity and even out the schools, making it so Findley could have Kindergarten on site which is not considered in this proposal? Have you looked to the future? You discuss buildings and buying land, but where is that money going to come from? My concern is all the people who voted to have their taxes raised in order to alleviate over crowding. They are not going to vote for a bond when the Beaverton School District has not done what it says it’s going to do.

Response: I have received several email messages that indicate if we change the boundary the person would lose faith in the Beaverton School District. They didn’t feel they could support a future bond. I am sorry people feel that way. My colleagues and I are trying to do the very best that we can for the overall District four years out...A bond measure is not for an individual son or daughter, one classroom or one school. It is for public education across the entire District. We live in a State that does not fund growth for schools and that puts the burden on community members. If in the best of our ability to try to make the best decisions we can causes the community see the District as not following through with what we said we would do with the bond and loses faith, I am really very sorry about that...If it doesn’t go quite your way, I hope with time, in your heart, you would be able to find for the greater good, to vote against future bond measures against thousands of people’s children in a State that does not fund growth is a fairly extreme measure and I hope that we can regain your faith.

I think that the argument that voting against future bonds just hurts kids is a weak one and that a district must be committed to working with the community for the best solution now, for the parents who fought to get a bond passed and expect to see their children benefit. Everyone won't be happy but the more open the process, the easier for parents to deal with the result.

Given the turmoil in Beaverton, I also think that the Hillsboro School Board decision to place the boundary process in the hands of competent administrators was the right move to make.

I hope the Hillsboro School District and District parents keep on the same path we have been on with open dialog and constructive input to the process. As the process gets closer to an end, we need to make sure the communication stays positive and everyone is working for an optimum solution.