School
choice

One strategy the district has proposed to reduce operating costs is scaling back the number of school choices with yellow bus service it offers to students. The district would give all students fixed school assignments for the first time since the late 1980s and provide yellow-bus service only to those elementary- and middle-school students who select from the schools the district offers them.

Annual transportation cost Seattle: $1,200 per student Tacoma: $900 per student Kent: $364 per student

Here’s how the proposal would affect students at each type of school:

K-5: At the elementary level, parents' choices in each geographic cluster would be curtailed from about seven neighborhood schools to three or four. And parents would no longer be able to choose neighborhood schools outside of their cluster, even if they were willing to transport their children themselves.

6-8: The district now offers yellow-bus transportation to families who choose from two nearby middle schools and live more than two miles away from their chosen school. About three-quarters of those middle-school students ride yellow buses. Under the district’s proposal, students would be assigned to a middle school based on their home address. Those who opt for another middle school would be offered Metro passes.

9-12: Parents now can choose from any high school in the city and are eligible for yellow-bus transportation if the district determines that the student lives more than 2.5 miles from the school and can ride on an existing route. About two-thirds of eligible high-school students ride yellow buses, costing the district $3.6 million this year. Under the district’s proposal, all high-school students would be assigned to their neighborhood high school and offered only Metro passes. They could apply to get into any other high school, but neighborhood students would get priority.

K-8, K-12: Parents now can choose from any of the city's alternative schools, and the district generally provides yellow-bus transportation. The district proposes to limit choices to the one or two alternative schools in their part of the city.

For the past decade the district has drawn national recognition for its current school-choice with transportation plan. It has paid for its elaborate bus service – $26.3 million this year – with state and local funds. District officials say the “generous” plan has not resulted in access for every child to stable, high-quality schools, nor has it drawn substantial numbers of private school students back to public schools.

Related stories

School choice faces ax

     Summit K-12: A case study

The $3,300 bus ride

How the student-assignment system works

Families are asked to rank their school choices. But if they list a school far from their home, the student's chances of getting in are slim because assignments are based to a large extent on location.

And public perception of various schools' quality, justified or not, has fueled an annual spring sweepstakes, with many students clamoring to enroll in just a few of the district's schools. Some of those who lose in the sweepstakes find themselves mandatorily assigned to a school they did not choose.

When demand exceeds open seats at a school, the district uses a sequence of tiebreakers. At middle schools, for instance, it's:
1. Siblings at the school
2. Living in the region where the school is located (there are five regions citywide)
3. Enrolled in special programs
4. Living closest to the school
5. Selected by lottery

The district is looking at ways to overhaul the system; two board members want to scrap it and start over.