Boundary Change Process Update - February 28, 2020

Marysville School District Boundary Change Process Update

February 28, 2020

Boundary Change Process Update - Meeting with the Board of Directors

The Marysville School District Enrollment and Demographics Committee reconvened to meet with the Board of Directors on Thursday, February 28 at 6:30 pm. The Board requested a meeting with the committee to learn more about the committee process and get any additional questions answered about the process and the draft proposal.

Scott Beebe, Assistant Superintendent, provided background information on steps taken to-date including revisiting the committee's purpose and work. Included in the information shared at the meeting, was the scope of work by the Board of Directors, and update from the February 3 board work study as well as themes that emerged from the Let’s Talk dialogues.

Scott presented two alternative scenarios that he was asked to bring forward. In the first scenario; the proposed change would swap Sunnyside and Pinewood middle and high schools. This would change the middle school feeder pattern configuration to the following:

Marysville

Cedarcrest

Totem

Shoultes

Kellogg Marsh

Quil Ceda Tulalip

Cascade

Sunnyside

Pinewood

Allen Creek

Liberty

Marshall

Grove

And the high school feeder pattern configuration to:

Marysville Getchell

Marysville Pilchuck

Allen Creek

Shoultes

Kellogg Marsh

Marshall

Grove

Quil Ceda Tulalip

Sunnyside

Pinewood

Liberty

Cascade

Committee discussion was held. The committee members shared that they worked hard to follow the parameters as outlined by the Board and feel that the new proposal introduced tonight does not balance the schools equitably. 

The committee did not have consensus around the new proposal.

The second scenario would move Allen Creek to MPHS, and Cascade and Sunnyside to MGHS. This would change the middle school feeder pattern configuration to the following:

Marysville

Cedarcrest

Totem

Shoultes

Kellogg Marsh

Quil Ceda Tulalip

Marshall

Cascade

Pinewood

Liberty

Grove

Allen Creek

Sunnyside

And the high school feeder pattern configuration to:

Marysville Getchell

Marysville Pilchuck

Cascade

Shoultes

Kellogg Marsh

Marshall

Grove

Quil Ceda Tulalip

Sunnyside

Pinewood

Liberty

Allen Creek

Discussion was held by the board members around the involvement of the equity committee. Scott explained that some of the committee members also served on the equity committee and at the time when going through the processes, meetings were held with The Tulalip Tribes which included students from the youth council, and members of the Hispanic community. In addition to the five community presentations, the district’s Parent Advisory Committee and the Indian Education Parent Committee also received presentations. Rocky Verbeck, the district’s athletic director, provided some insights on the impact to high school sports.

The Board of Directors further discussed the boundary proposal in a work study session on Friday afternoon. Scott Beebe provided an overview of the meeting with the Enrollment and Demographics committee held Thursday evening. He shared that the committee recommended that the Board accept the recommendation as originally presented. The Board discussed different scenarios and looked at how potential changes would impact equity, access, and socio-economic balance of the schools as these were important factors that the committee and the Board of Directors are taking into consideration. The board also took into consideration timelines and communication with stakeholders and the work needed to implement change. The board plans to take action on Monday, March 2.