FAQ discussion - Schools (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: low income, to rent, house)

[kroeran]

just to start the ball rolling and to understand the core problem...following this quoted text, below is a map of the County school zones...link below

"Zones and School Selection- The District has created three sub-zones within each zone.

• Families living in sub-zone 1 will select schools physically located within sub zone 1 and sub zone 2, and Zone Magnet schools if any
• Families living within sub-zone 2 will be able to select among all schools within the entire zone.
• Families living in sub-zone 3 will select among schools physically located in sub-zone 3 and sub-zone 2, and Zone Magnet schools if any.
• Parents and students are expected to list all the schools in their sub-zone, in rank order. Every attempt will be made to assign students to the highest preference school possible."

http://studentassignment.leeschools....x17--70490.pdf

http://studentassignment.leeschools.net/mos.htm

so I guess worst case is you are living on one end of a zone and your child ends up in a school in the opposite end of the zone, with the consequential long bus trip or the parents playing taxi driver twice a day.

[kroeran]

more info...


regarding Catholic Schools, it looks like tuition runs $4,100? but if you are registered with a Parish and record your attendance by turning in donation envelopes during collections, low income families may qualify for assistance. Transportation is based on parent car pooling.
Tuition Assistance | St Andrew Catholic School

here is an interesting link on private schools
Lee County Private Elementary Schools - Florida/FL - Private School Review

looks like the lower public schools do better than the higher schools (someone else had referred to this)
"Elementary schools in Cape Coral and throughout Lee County performed substantially higher than their secondary school counterparts. District reading scores indicated that 76 percent of third graders scored a 3 or above in 2010, but that percent of students decreased to 69 percent in seventh grade and 38 percent in grade 10."
Browder: 2010 FCAT scores encouraging - cape-coral-daily-breeze.com | News, sports, community info. - Cape Coral Daily Breeze
http://schoolperformancemaps.com/fl/ [Charlotte & Gulf Coast are B level Highschools north & South of Lee]
http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/pdf/0809/SGGuide2009.pdf [grading system explained]
http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/...tance&tab=over
http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/...tance&tab=over

[hiknapster]

Whoops. You are writing in one place and I'm somewhere else!

Yes, there are zones, but really the worst case is your child gets a not-very-good school.

In all honestly, yes, it is going to be a nightmare for a parent trying to drive a kid, etc., but that was hardly my issue. Having them sit on a bus for two hours everyday is inexcusable and it jives with the snickering I received from the woman at the school department. Translation: Do they really care about the kids?

But, at the end of the day, I want my kid in the best darn school. That's why people buy next to a good school or in a good school zone. In Lee County that all goes out the window. Oh, you didn't know that? Well, tough. You went to all the trouble of buying that house so little Johnny would go to the best school, only to find out that there is no room. If they assign a failing school, due to No Child Left Behind you can now tell them no, you want a better school. However, it still means your child could end up in a mediocre, at best, school. Bear in mind that schools across the country were able to set their own bar with NCLB and a lot of them set a very, very low bar. So mediocre can equal horrible.

Originally Posted by kroeran

just to start the ball rolling and to understand the core problem...following this quoted text, below is a map of the County school zones...link below

"Zones and School Selection- The District has created three sub-zones within each zone.

• Families living in sub-zone 1 will select schools physically located within sub zone 1 and sub zone 2, and Zone Magnet schools if any
• Families living within sub-zone 2 will be able to select among all schools within the entire zone.
• Families living in sub-zone 3 will select among schools physically located in sub-zone 3 and sub-zone 2, and Zone Magnet schools if any.
• Parents and students are expected to list all the schools in their sub-zone, in rank order. Every attempt will be made to assign students to the highest preference school possible."

http://studentassignment.leeschools....x17--70490.pdf

Welcome to The School District of Lee County

so I guess worst case is you are living on one end of a zone and your child ends up in a school in the opposite end of the zone, with the consequential long bus trip or the parents playing taxi driver twice a day.

[kroeran]

this is my first take on schooling....kinda longish
===

FAQ - SCHOOLING IN LEE COUNTY

The main challenge with public schooling in Lee County is a unique form of mandatory "School Choice", which requires the parents to rank their preference for three schools in their zone, and then the school district attempts to match the student with their ranked choices. There are a limited number of new slots that come up each year in popular schools for upcoming students (once a student is allocated to a school, they cannot be forced to give up their slot), which are allocated on a lottery basis. This may lead to a student being assigned to a school a considerable distance from their neighbourhood (an hour each way is not unheard of) or to a school the parent does not perceive to be of sufficient quality. The schoolboard is also required to maintain minimal racial diversity within each school, which also accounts for some of the long distance busing.

The application deadline is March of the preceding school year, which presents a timing problem for families moving into the area after that period with school-age children who may have expected that their children would go their neighbourhood school. They may even have moved to a specific neighbourhood for a particular school and are then surprised by the unique allocation process, being left with the slots of distant or less desirable schools. Apart from long bus rides, the quality of public schools is generally good to very good for elementary grades, but there may be greater concern regarding the quality of secondary public schooling (a notable exception is Fort Myers Public Highschool).

Several strategies can be considered to deal with the risk of receiving an undesirable school slot in Lee County. While Charter schools are under the same process, slots for one of these schools near your home may be easier to get due to the lack of busing service (parents must carpool) and greater parental time commitments. Parents may also seriously consider secular private or religious/parochial schools, home schooling or residing just north or south of the county boundary and commuting to Lee County for employment. Some believe that the cost of private schooling must be included as part of the cost of moving to Florida. You may choose to rent until you know your assigned school(s), then move to the neighbourhood of the school to minimize busing distance. A older student close to finishing highschool might be left with relatives up north.

http://studentassignment.leeschools.net/
Florida School Performance Maps [Charlotte & Gulf Coast are B level Highschools north & South of Lee]
Lee County Private Elementary Schools - Florida/FL - Private School Review
Browder: 2010 FCAT scores encouraging - cape-coral-daily-breeze.com | News, sports, community info. - Cape Coral Daily Breeze
http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/pdf/0809/SGGuide2009.pdf [grading system explained]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Cape Coral]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Fort Myers]

[hiknapster]

I disagree with your assessment of the elementary schools. You might want to check this link I've provided in this post. There are some good ones, for sure, but also some terrible schools. This is a great link that I personally use and urge friends and clients to use. It is a bit less biased. No Child Left Behind allowed the schools to set the bar so their standards are far less than ideal.

To cover your butt, it is best to simply leave it at "check these links for school assessments." Period. Make sure to add the School Choice situation (which I thought you did a decent job of explaining) and leave it at that.

Elementary Schools in Lee County Public Schools - Fort Myers, FL | GreatSchools

[kroeran]

How about this:

Public schooling in Lee County employs "School Choice" within a zone, which requires the parents to rank their school preference by March of the preceding school year, then the school district attempts to match the student with the ranked choices. The higher rated schools usually have more demand than slots, so these are allocated on a lottery basis, which may lead to your child being assigned to a lower quality or more distant school (up to an hour bus ride each way) than you had hoped, which is almost a certainty for new residents who miss the March deadline.

While Charter schools are under the same process and tuition free, slots for a charter school of a known rating near your home may be easier to get due to the lack of busing service (parents must carpool). More radically, consider renting until you know your assigned public school(s), then move to the neighbourhood of the school to minimize busing or dropoff distance. It is not uncommon to reside just outside of the county boundary (in Punta Gorda or south of Woods Edge Parkway) and take on a long commute to Lee County for employment. In Florida, it is more common than elsewhere for middle class parents to pay for private, Catholic or Protestant/Christian schools. Finally, some choose to home school.

Welcome to The School District of Lee County
Florida School Performance Maps [Charlotte & Gulf Coast are B level Highschools north & South of Lee]
Elementary Schools in Lee County Public Schools - Fort Myers, FL | GreatSchools
http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/pdf/0809/SGGuide2009.pdf [grading system explained]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Cape Coral]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Fort Myers]
Browder: 2010 FCAT scores encouraging - cape-coral-daily-breeze.com | News, sports, community info. - Cape Coral Daily Breeze
Lee County Private Elementary Schools - Florida/FL - Private School Review

[hiknapster]

Bus transportation is provided to Charter School students.

Originally Posted by kroeran

How about this:

Public schooling in Lee County employs "School Choice" within a zone, which requires the parents to rank their school preference by March of the preceding school year, then the school district attempts to match the student with the ranked choices. The higher rated schools usually have more demand than slots, so these are allocated on a lottery basis, which may lead to your child being assigned to a lower quality or more distant school (up to an hour bus ride each way) than you had hoped, which is almost a certainty for new residents who miss the March deadline.

While Charter schools are under the same process and tuition free, slots for a charter school of a known rating near your home may be easier to get due to the lack of busing service (parents must carpool). More radically, consider renting until you know your assigned public school(s), then move to the neighbourhood of the school to minimize busing or dropoff distance. It is not uncommon to reside just outside of the county boundary (in Punta Gorda or south of Woods Edge Parkway) and take on a long commute to Lee County for employment. In Florida, it is more common than elsewhere for middle class parents to pay for private, Catholic or Protestant/Christian schools. Finally, some choose to home school.

Welcome to The School District of Lee County
Florida School Performance Maps [Charlotte & Gulf Coast are B level Highschools north & South of Lee]
Elementary Schools in Lee County Public Schools - Fort Myers, FL | GreatSchools
http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/pdf/0809/SGGuide2009.pdf [grading system explained]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Cape Coral]
Florida schools - FL elementary, middle and high school information [Fort Myers]
Browder: 2010 FCAT scores encouraging - cape-coral-daily-breeze.com | News, sports, community info. - Cape Coral Daily Breeze
Lee County Private Elementary Schools - Florida/FL - Private School Review

[kroeran]

as an aside, I thought this was hard to accept - apparently you don't get bus service if you are within 2 miles of your school?

Welcome to The School District of Lee County

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by kroeran

as an aside, I thought this was hard to accept - apparently you don't get bus service if you are within 2 miles of your school?

Welcome to The School District of Lee County

Growing up, the school districts in my area would pick up if the child lived one mile or more away, and the same held true for my children that are now adults when they were in school. It is the same right now in Knoxville, TN.