Petition To Maintain Current, Equitable High School Districting In Establishing New Boundaries For The Proposed Two Middle Schools

We believe that our current high school districting, with only a 3% disparity in free lunch qualifying students, has demonstrated STRONG socio-economic equity between schools and should be used to establish boundaries for the proposed two middle schools.

1. The current districting will continue to maintain and advance our District’s Goals and Purposes to provide equity among our schools, as stated in the Strategic Plan.

2. Use of the existing High School districting areas for the potential Middle School changes would allow the middle schools to each feed directly into an already balanced High School, and would eliminate the need for artificial balancing of students by moving specific programs. The allocation of all Stretch students to one specific school, for example, is not an acceptable solution.

3. Stakeholders are generally pleased with the current balance, which has held up since being established many years ago, and their continued residence in Lawrence Township, and the selection of our schools for their children, is crucial to the township’s future.

4. The Administration and the Board have not conveyed any validation for moving away from the current equitable balance, nor any potential academic advantages or cost savings expected from aligning our middle schools differently from the current feeder system.

We seek the School Board’s pledge to preserve the middle school feeder systems to the existing, balanced high school districts, thereby maintaining the equitable balance of Lawrence Township students in all middle and high schools.