The Ann Arbor Public Schools system is seeking a consulting firm to help with its redistricting process.
AAPS elementary attendance boundaries.
The second posting went up last week and the bid period will close May 30.
During the past six months, the district has started to prepare for redrawing attendance boundaries and rerouting its transportation routes at the initiative of Superintendent Patricia Green. Reports on enrollment trends, capacity trends and facility replacement costs have been given to the Board of Education.
Liz Margolis
"You look at a variety of factors (when you do redistricting), including where current and anticipated populations are in the district, birth rates, new housing developments, etc.," Margolis said. "A history of school attendance data and school locations is also part of the assessment."
She said officials would use the district's student data from PowerSchool and "geocode" students based on their school and residence. A geocode is a geographic coordinate — latitude and longitude — school officials said. Scenarios for placing students and redrawing attendance boundaries can be created through the geocodes, Margolis added.
She said the district wants and needs to hire a firm able to provide this software as well as advice and consultation on the actual redistricting.
"It is important to have a third party look over redistricting data to give it that 'third eye' as we prepare scenarios," Margolis said.
AAPS Executive Director of Physical Properties Randy Trent said the overall cost of redistricting services will depend on whether the district purchases the software or simply uses it. He said the consultation, software use, data setup and a written report are estimated at $20,000 to be paid out of the district's general fund.
If AAPS purchases the software for its use during the next three years, it is estimated to cost an additional $30,000, which could come out of the $45.8 million technology bond fund, Trent said. District residents passed the technology millage in May of 2012.
In December, Green told the board during a discussion on transportation sustainability in the Ann Arbor Public Schools that rerouting and redistricting could not be ignored. Significant cuts to transportation have been on the table for the past several years, as officials consistently have reduced educational programs, services and staff in order to slash budget deficits exceeding $10 million.
Green recommended at the December meeting, hiring a third-party organization to conduct demographic and feasibility studies prior to redistricting. In March, she said school closures were not realistic for next year and it could take up to 18 months to properly assess and prepare for considering such closures.
But closing a few low enrollment elementary schools and creating grade-level targeted schools for K-2 and 3-4 was among the recommendations the Ann Arbor Administrators Association made to district officials in March to help meet the $8.67 million budget shortfall.
Principal sharing among at least six elementary schools is on the latest short list of possible cuts the board is weighing — although as presented, it would not involve closing facilities.
Trustee Susan Baskett and Vice President Christine Stead were against principal sharing for next year, they said at the May 15 board meeting, understanding that in another year, the district will have to look at redistricting and closing schools on a broader scale. Baskett described it as "a lot of drama" for parents and students to lose their principal part-time this coming year and then to lose their building.
Baskett also said if Trustee Glenn Nelson's principal sharing proposal was different from the building combinations that needed to occur for redistricting it would be twice the drama. So she preferred waiting for the redistricting study to be done, she said. Nelson proposed on Wednesday grouping the six smallest elementaries together to share a principal: Abbot and Northside, Angell and Pattengill and Mitchell and Pittsfield.
The Board of Education will conduct a first reading and public hearing on the 2013-14 budget at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22 at the downtown Ann Arbor Public Library. A second reading, another public hearing and a potential vote will be June 12.
The board must pass a balanced budget by June 30.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.