Plano ISD School Zone Realignment (Dallas, Allen: section 8, apartments, how much)

[Belle77]

My family and I recently moved to Plano. I didn't even realize we could send our kids to a school in a different district. Interesting, though I'd never do it.

There are some really ugly comments at the bottom of that article. Yikes. This is really a big deal to a lot of people. I feel that the kids who want to succeed will succeed regardless of the school they attend and who their classmates are. Hmmm...

So, if parents don't like the new rezoning, can they simply move their kids to another school?

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by Belle77

There are some really ugly comments at the bottom of that article.

I'm not surprised by this. The Dallas Morning News website is filled with many awful reader comments, usually off-topic, vile, and outright hateful. The article on Plano ISDs school boundaries is tame compared to the things said about other areas, particularly Dallas and anything relating to Oak Cliff.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Belle77

My family and I recently moved to Plano. I didn't even realize we could send our kids to a school in a different district. Interesting, though I'd never do it.

There are some really ugly comments at the bottom of that article. Yikes. This is really a big deal to a lot of people. I feel that the kids who want to succeed will succeed regardless of the school they attend and who their classmates are. Hmmm...

So, if parents don't like the new rezoning, can they simply move their kids to another school?

You can not send them to another DISTRICT. You CAN send them to another school IN the SAME district that you live in. The only district that you do not have to live in and your child can tryout and hopefully get accepted to is the Dallas ISD magnet programs for high school. Booker T. Washington and the TAG center are highly sought after and people in the burbs do try to get into them.


I did not read the comments or the article. What cracks me up and if you even read between the lines even on here you can see how people are. They tout how "diverse" there area is but dare mention an area that is not as "new" and all of a sudden those same "it is so diverse" people all of a sudden are singing a different tune. Things that if someone makes less money they somehow don't have the same qualifications to be in the same school as their kids. LOL!!!

I can happily say that my daughter at Garland High School is in an AWESOME school that is VERY diverse not just culturally but also when it comes to their socio-economic "status". The kids don't judge each other on where they live or what color their skin is. They judge each other on their ACTIONS, morals, values and priority when it comes to education. Yet some people think it is a "bad" school just because it is old and has such a diverse population. Nevermind the number of kids in the IB program and National Merit finalists.

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by Belle77

My family and I recently moved to Plano. I didn't even realize we could send our kids to a school in a different district. Interesting, though I'd never do it.

You can transfer schools within one district. Most districts around here don't accept out of district transfers and if they do, you pay tuition.

I think the theory with the transfers within a district is the districts would rather transfer students than lose them to private schools.

Some Caucasian parents are quite demanding about having their children away from poor Hispanics and blacks. They are okay with Asians and Indians at any economic level. (So says a lot of teachers, administrators and parents I know.)

[Belle77]

Thanks for the info!

FarNorthDallas, what I don't get is... Don't those parents realize their children are going to have to learn to live with those who are not as rich and white as their kids are? They won't always be sheltered. That is just sad.

[FarNorthDallas]

I'm still processing what I am discovering. I don't know what to think. My son was in a private school that was almost entirely white (a school for dyslexic kids, expensive). Now he is in a public high school that is 65% white with a 17% or so low income population. I'm just flabbergasted with what I am learning.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

You can transfer schools within one district. Most districts around here don't accept out of district transfers and if they do, you pay tuition.

I think the theory with the transfers within a district is the districts would rather transfer students than lose them to private schools.

Some Caucasian parents are quite demanding about having their children away from poor Hispanics and blacks. They are okay with Asians and Indians at any economic level. (So says a lot of teachers, administrators and parents I know.)

Actually, the real reason why some "white people" don't mind the Asian or Indian students is because those parents are the least likely to be heavily involved in the school. They might "join" PTA or whatnot but they are not at the school volunteering. Therefore, the other parents can still have a lot of say in what is done. It is a cultural thing. Some schools really take an active stand to get more parents from all cultures involved and some would rather not. I've seen both and know of both.

I hear all the time about "aren't you concerned about the demographics" when I mention where my kids go to school. Um, NO! Then I really like to put some peoples feet in their mouths if they know me well enough as in they know where I live and all. If those dare get condecending about the demographics of the kids schools I always just say, "well, it looks just like the neighborhood DH and I grew up in". That REALLY shuts them up as we have done very well for ourselves having grown up on the OTHER SIDE of the tracks. Besides, their kids schools have just as many problems and some of them moreso. Actually, the schools w/ the parents that want more "white bread" students have a higher problems w/ race issues. At my kids school where the socia-economic and race rainbow is evident everyone gets along. There is no "I can't be friends with someone that is ____" as I've heard MANY times at other schools. I've even had a parent tell me once that they were concerned about one girl in the "white bread" middle school and thought about going to her parents to let them know their daughter "seems to favor the black boys". URGH!!!!! I invited them to my next pool party with ALL of my friends Needless to say they never said another word to me about anyone being a different color. LOL!!

Originally Posted by Belle77

Thanks for the info!

FarNorthDallas, what I don't get is... Don't those parents realize their children are going to have to learn to live with those who are not as rich and white as their kids are? They won't always be sheltered. That is just sad.

You'd think but some people don't see it that way. These are also the parents that if their child gets a teacher the parent does not like they are running up to the school to get lil johnny or princess changed. Me.......someday they are going to work with and for people the may not always get along with. Unless the parent is mistreating the kids by abusing them or being deragotory or such...... then my kids just need to learn to deal with it and adapt. Someday they are going to be in college and have professors that are hard to deal with and mommy is NOT going to come running to get their teachers changed.

As I said, my daughter is in a VERY diverse school and the issues of "race" are not an issue. Go to one of the more "white bread" schools and the race problems are in your face and they have serious issues all the time. Same with her friends and classmates from all walks of life. The booster clubs actually stop and consider what parents can afford before deciding on what to sell to help raise funds. They realize that not every parent can afford a $60 school spirit polo shirt. They know that more parents will buy a $10 t-shirt to support the school. So they accomodate. Give me my diverse school any day of the week.

[Lakewooder]

Wow there are some really anachronistic, nasty comments on the DMN story--- is it the 1960s in Plano?

I encounter this with some affluent white people - they see hispanics as a monolithic group. Nothing could be farther from the truth - the folks who think that are revealing a lot about themselves.

People who can't deal with other races, especially hispanics, are going to be at a huge disadvantage in life.

[MurphyPl1]

Actually I've been very involved in this debate from the beginning. What Matthew didn't cover in his article is that the people touting the "socio economic issues" are the white parents from Parker. They are claiming that the parents in Murphy and East Richardson want their kids going to white schools and that they need those kids at Armstrong and Bowman to "help" those minority, low income kids.

However, Murphy and East Richardson are both very diverse. Much more so than the areas of east Plano that are majority hispanic with some white and black families. True diversity - children of all races, religions and ethnicities. What the Parker parents truly want is for their white children not to be the minority at the schools they moved to.

Incredibly disingenious for them to claim they have the best interest of the poor, minority kids in mind when they are only trying to protect their kids from those poor, minority kids. They have called Murphy families classist/racist/elitist and yet Hunt and Boggess in the northwest section of Murphy (the most affluent of the schools) have raised no concerns about which other schools would be attending Murphy MS or McMillen HS with their children. S. Murphy parents have requested Murphy MS and McMillen HS because of proximity to their homes. They all currently attend school with children who do not neccesarily look like they do.

[Grainraiser]

From a outsider it seems to me Plano is facing the same problems DISD had during the 70's. Demographics are changing and seems Plano is starting to feel the effects. I'm sure many of those folks will move to Allen or Frisco and the cycle will start all over again.