|
It's not often that a town passes up a free school and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but these are revolutionary times in Beaverton. In a stunning retreat Monday night, the Beaverton School Board announced that its partnership with a local corporation was dead--at least for now. Last fall, Sequent Computer Systems offered to build the district 10 elementary school classrooms at the company's headquarters. Sequent would pay for maintenance, utilities and lunch. In return, the district would provide teachers, administration and books. The school would be a "satellite" of Barnes Elementary, with a common site council, principal and curriculum. The district hoped to seal the deal this week, creating the first satellite school in the Pacific Northwest (there are 30 nationwide), but growing parental opposition slammed the brakes on the process. Critics of the proposed school were upset that enrollment would be restricted to children of Sequent employees and district personnel. They charged that the satellite would be nothing more than a private school paid for by public dollars. "I am fundamentally opposed unless all children can attend," said Connie Linblad, a Barnes parent. "I feel that it's paid segregation." Parents worried that the proposed Sequent school would strip middle-class white kids out of Barnes, which already has a high proportion of low-income students. The satellite school would probably siphon away the type of motivated, educated parents needed at schools like Barnes, said Julie Ramil, who has three children in other Beaverton schools and one at Jesuit. "It will hurt the volunteer pool, the parent-teacher organization pool and, most of all, hurt the children [at Barnes]," Ramil said. Sequent had no desire to weaken programs at Barnes, said Diane Williams, the company's director of human resources. The proposal, she said, was driven by "a desire to make a better life for our employees." It would allow parents to spend more time with their children and get more involved in their education, she says. "What is it parents don't have enough of?" Williams asked. "Time." Sequent has offered on-site day care for more than 10 years. The program currently serves more than 140 kids and extends through first grade. When the company drew up expansion plans last year, Williams and others suggested extending it through fifth grade. The company projected that the school could serve 250 students soon after its proposed fall 1999 opening. Williams and Sequent CEO Casey Powell took their idea to Beaverton Superintendent Yvonne Katz and school board Chairman Bob Shook last fall. In the past several months, the school board and Katz pursued the proposal, discussing progress at regular board meetings. Katz clearly loved the idea. She argued that the only difference between the satellite schools and other schools is location. The school would receive the same level of per-student funding and have exactly the same curriculum as other Beaverton schools, she said. As for claims that a Sequent satellite would segregate students, Katz and others point out that because of housing prices, de facto segregation already exists in nearly every public school district. Satellite schools, which are open to the children of all employees, from custodians to CEOs, are more ethnically and economically diverse than neighboring schools, Katz said. Board members say Sequent's offer was tempting because it would save money for the overcrowded, land-short district. Opponents weren't convinced. "Saving classroom space is a bogus explanation," said Barnes parent Allyson Jameson. Although some Barnes students would move to the satellite school, Jameson said that because so many Sequent employees commute from cities such as Portland and Hillsboro, more than half the kids at the proposed school would come from other districts. Critics thought the deal offered a lot to Sequent and very little to other Beaverton residents. Sequent is welcome to start a school, they say, but it shouldn't be financed by public funds. "If you choose private education, you need to pay for it," said Ramil, who is sending one of her children to parochial school. "I don't choose to support a private school with my tax dollars." The frustration among the anti-Sequent forces was compounded by what they saw as a lack of information about the satellite proposal. Although Sequent first approached the Beaverton school board last fall, Katz was not allowed to share details with the community until recently. Board member Charles Meyer said the board asked Katz to check out the proposal and other satellite schools quietly until the board was satisfied that Sequent's idea had merit. The board's caution stemmed from its experience last year with the Edison Project, a for-profit manager of public schools. The district flirted with Edison for some time, but after extended public debate, killed the dalliance. This time, the courtship got much further along. Meyer said late last week, "It's pretty close in my opinion to being a done deal." The school board attorney told board members that limiting the school to Sequent employees did not present legal problems. State school Superintendent Norma Paulus, who has supported innovative financing measures, applauded Sequent's initiative but had questions about the plan. "If it's not open enrollment," she said, "that would be a big concern of the state board's and a big concern of mine." It was an even bigger concern to Barnes parents, whose objections led Sequent to withdraw its proposal late Monday, said company spokesman Michael Fay. "We felt like we were offering something terrific," Fay said, "but it's very clear the community and district needed more time." |
