Copperleaf Subdivision Near Brown

I stopped into the sales office of Riverside Homes in the subdivision being built across from Brown MS, currently in the IH boundary.

Summary
Planned size of the subdivision: 75 homes over 2 years,
Sold so far: 17 homes since April (recently had first move-in)
Occupancy by fall '08: ~35 homes
Occupancy by fall '09: 75 homes

She said that sales have been strong because they are on the higher end of the market and are seeing a lot of folks interested in upgrading from within the IH boundary because they don't want to change schools and there is very little high end housing in the neighborhood.

She expressed a preference to remain in the IH boundary since the school is very close and has been a selling point.

Update
Based on the PSU enrollment forecast study on the HSD website (here), table 8 shows that for new large lot (>3250 sq ft lot size) detached single family homes built recently (data based on 2003 build date) Student Generation Rate (SGR) for K-6 is 0.362.

The home count multiplied by SGR (75 x 0.362) shows the subdivision would likely add 26 students to IH boundary upon full occupancy, one full class added by 2009 school year.

Currently, plan #5 proposes to add 112 students to IH (not counting Kinders). Based on a class size of 26, that is an addition of 4.3 classes to IH fall 2008. Add in the expected 35 homes of this subdivision, it would be 4.8 classes.

With plan #5 add combined with subdivision growth, IH would be pushed to well over 5 total classes added by start of school 2009. Add in uncounted Kinders from plan #5 add and it is higher.

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.

Indian Hills Neighbor: Can you fit 2 more?

One of the parents at tonight's meeting mentioned that most of the kids in her neighborhood are being moved from Reedville to Indian Hills, the boundary is at Johnson, just north of her cul de sac.

Her 2 kids would have to wait for the bus alone or walk more than 2 blocks to join other kids. If they go to Indian Hills, they will be able to take the bus with the same group of kids that they ride with to Reedville now.

Here is her cul de sac:


This should be a no-brainer. Robin asked for specifics on the street name after hearing the comment and in my experience the committee typically will accommodate, even if it is just a couple kids. [edit - for clarity]

My opinion? Welcome to Indian Hills!

Where Were You in '82? Yearbook Fun

Glencoe computer club (not the Unabomber despite the resemblance; that guy hated technology and had a hoodie, not a bowl cut '80s shag). Click the image for huge bitmap goodness but be prepared, it is not pretty... Somehow I ended up as an engineer for a large local computer company. Go figure. (Thanks Mr. Brandl!!)

"...the Evergreen 8th grade girls basketball team left everyone smiling...The green team had a record of 10 wins and 0 losses...#22 voted Best Defensive Player"

Hmmm, where could she possibly find a sports friendly job in the Hillsboro/Beaverton area?

Hair seems to be a theme here.

This Evergreen counselor seems vaguely familiar. He looks like a problem solver; full of energy and ready to change things for the better.

Well, maybe after 25 years he has a cushy low effort district job where he doesn't have to deal with stressful change, over-involved parents, torches, pitchforks, etc.

Please, no hair comments. Seriously. Just don't.

Shadowood Represented

One of the parents from Shadowood in the SE portion of our boundary had a statement prepared and I wanted to capture a couple key paragraphs that express such appreciation for Indian Hills and their community identity. It would be easy to just set it aside since we are now back 'in' but I think it is important to share some parts of the comment:

[excerpt]
In 2003, my husband and I were looking to relocate. Our family was growing; we already had two boys and were in the process of adopting three more children. We needed a larger house. We lived in Beaverton at the time, but moved to the Hillsboro district in order to set down long term roots. We wanted a high quality district in which to raise our family. This year, all five of our children attend Indian Hills School. Currently, we have children in 6th, 4th, 3rd and kindergarten. We've worked with nearly every teacher in the building and have only positive experiences with the staff and principal. As you know, Indian Hills was rated "Exceptional". Of our three children who are old enough for the state benchmark testing, each have scored "Exceeds" in both math and reading. Indian Hills has been excellent for our entire family. Additionally, we have two children in IEPs and they receive their special education services at Indian Hills and two children who participate in TAG.
.....
We are part of the Shadowood Neighborhood. In Shadowood, we share a neighborhood park (across the street from our house) and a pool. The children of Shadowood enjoy the opportunity to play with one another in these settings, as well as attend school together. The draft plan would divide our neighborhood.
[end excerpt]

I've talked a lot about Paula Jean Park but have no doubt that every parent in this school loves it and is not willing to give it up easily.

Hillsboro vs Aloha

When I first started looking at the boundary changes, I had an immediate, emotional reaction. My first thought was "We're being displaced by Hillsboro City kids." I even sent fliers to a couple people that took that viewpoint.

For a lot of us in Aloha, we have a bit of a confused civic identity, occupying an unincorporated twilight zone between 2 large incorporated cities. It also feels like we are sometimes looked down on by folks from Hillsboro. A few times when I told people that we were getting our elementary school boundary within the Hillsboro district moved the immediate response was "Oh no, are they sending your kids to Aloha?" That hurts.

After some time for reflection, I really can't say that I have ever suffered from being close to Hillsboro, actually the opposite is quite true. As a product of the Hillsboro School District, I know that our inclusion in the district has been nothing but a great thing so far.

Reflecting on my comments for tonight's meeting, I realized that Hillsboro vs Aloha isn't a constructive approach to the boundary issue. Whatever school the folks from the Hillsboro annex end up in, they will and should be welcomed with open arms, if anything our own anxiety about the boundary process should make us empathetic and if we feel that we have been slighted in the process, it wasn't their doing.

I am still concerned that the makeup of the boundary committee seems to be skewed toward principals from elementary schools exclusively from within Hillsboro city limits but I haven't quite figured out what area each committee member represents. It would be nice if the committee published each committee member's school affiliation so I didn't have to try and piece it together from my meeting notes or the district web site.

Side note: As an example of how we benefit by our proximity to Hillsboro, when a man was murdered in his car in the driveway of a nearby home (which is now excluded from the Indian Hills boundary N of Rock Road in "springboard" plan #1), the Washington County Sheriff's deputies responded immediately (link). But hot on their heels were K9 units from the Hillsboro PD - they worked tirelessly for hours trying to track down the killer who had invaded our neighborhood. The same teamwork was repeated just a few weeks ago when a young teen was assaulted while walking toward his Aloha home from Quatama Max Station (link). The Hillsboro PD K9 units and other officers responded immediately to assist WCSO.

[edit - order of post content adjusted. Also, I just noticed that the statement from the SO simply says that "A K9 unit responded but they were not able to locate the suspects", Come on guys, would it kill you to acknowledge that it was a Hillsboro unit that responded? When I heard the sirens I turned on my scanner and heard with my own ears that it was HPD K9 that assisted.]

Straight Talk Link

Indian Hills Boundary News got a great write up today (link) from Hugh O'Donnell, Hillsboro District Board Member since 2003.

His blog is called Straight Talk and has all the makings of a good one with some nice personal notes about Hugh's father and Veteran's Day and then some hard punching exchanges with the Argus editorial board about the fate of the JB Thomas building.

He had lots of nice things to say about our activities here and clearly understands how powerful it can be as a way to communicate and congregate. I think his best advice is that school members actively participate in the blog, in comments, etc.

He is starting a list of community blogs so if you have a good link for him, I'm sure he'll be glad to have it.

Also, be sure to link him on any community website or blog you may have.