Maize continues to struggle over assigning students

More than 50 Maize eighth-graders who requested to attend Maize South High School next fall will get letters this week assigning them to Maize High instead.

But district officials said Monday they plan to grant transfers to Maize South if those students or their families feel strongly about their initial preference.

“I don’t intend for this to be a hill to die on,” superintendent Chad Higgins told Maize school board members. “I’m not using this as an opportunity to impart a change, to force something.”

The letters are the latest chapter in the district’s ongoing struggle over its system of assigning students to middle and high schools.

Higgins and board members pledged Monday to change the district’s placement policy in coming months. But that doesn’t solve the short-term problem of how and where to assign next school year’s freshmen.

When Maize South opened six years ago at 37th Street North and Tyler, district leaders opted to let families choose – or at least request – which high school their children attend. The district tries to assign about two-thirds of freshmen to Maize High, at 119th Street West and 45th Street North, and one-third to Maize South.

This year, as in some past years, too many students requested to attend Maize South High – about 58 students above the one-third threshold.

Last month the district asked for volunteers to change their preference to Maize High, but only four students opted to switch, Higgins said Monday.

Higgins said he plans to follow district policy, at least for the short term, using a random lottery program to draw 54 names of students who requested Maize South but will be assigned to Maize High instead.

If families appeal that assignment, however, chances are good they will get their initial preference.

Board member Jeffrey Jarman on Monday questioned the wisdom of choosing names and sending those placement letters, saying it would cause undue stress if the district plans to grant every appeal.

“I can’t imagine that what’s best for our students is knowingly creating anxiety that we don’t need to create,” Jarman said.

Jarman proposed directing Higgins to grant all preferences and forgo the transfer request process altogether this year. Some board members, including Kate Doerksen, agreed.

In the end, though, the board opted to send the placement letters as Higgins outlined. Families wanting to appeal placements will be directed to submit a form requesting a transfer.

Near the end of Monday’s meeting, board president Matt Jensby emphasized the need to change the placement policy soon. It’s unclear whether the board will consider geographic boundaries, a feeder-pattern system or some other strategy.

“We recognize from the conversation tonight that it needs to be solved,” Jensby said.

“I really think this board will do something. We’re not going to drag it out for two or three years. … We will do something so we don’t have to have these recurring conversations.”

In other business, the board voted unanimously to extend Higgins’ contract through June 2018. Higgins started as superintendent in Maize last summer.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Maize continues to struggle over assigning students."