JCPS Holds Sessions on Assignment Plan

Officials of Jefferson County Public Schools are holding public meetings about proposed changes to the system’s assignment plan. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.Tomorrow the district is holding the first of seven meetings this month about the new assignment plan. (See below for locations and times.)The plan is supposed to create diversity in schools. It redraws boundary lines for 16 high schools and 20 middle schools for the 2010-11 school year.  The district proposed the plan in December, and the school board would have to approve it.Pat Todd of the public school system says the plan will affect at least 1,000 and as many as 1,500 students in next year’s fifth and eighth grades."We anticipate a minimal number of students will have to change," Todd says, "because we’ve tried to provide for as much continuity in the changes as absolutely possible."Todd says Todd says the meetings are intended to help parents understand the plan and that the plan has been devised to accommodate families."We’re going to try to provide opportunities for siblings to stay together and for transfers," Todd says. "And there’s still going to be lots of choices for parents."Last year, the county board of education approved changes in the elementary assignment plan after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the district's old plan that made assignments according to a student’s race.INFORMATION SESSIONSTuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, 7 p.m., Ramsey Middle School, 6409 Gellhaus LaneWednesday, Feb.11, 2009, 7 p.m., Westport Middle School, 8100 Westport RoadThursday, Feb.12, 2009, 7 p.m., Shawnee High School, 4018 W. Market StreetWednesday, Feb.18, 2009, 7 p.m., Louisville Urban League, 1535 West BroadwayThursday, Feb.19, 2009, 7 p.m., Eastern High School, 12400 Old Shelbyville RoadTuesday, Feb.24, 2009, 7 p.m., Western Middle School, 2201 W. Main St.Thursday, Feb.26, 2009, 7 p.m., Doss High School, 7601 St. Andrews Church Road