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1996-08-20 CC Minutes1 CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING AUGUST 20, 1996 CITY HALL COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM 13000 WILLIAM DODSON PARKWAY 7:30 P.M. The following members of the City Council were present: Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Councilmembers Bob Phelps Bill Moses Ron Pyle Calla Davis Berry Grubbs Charlie Bird The following members of the School Board were present: President Vice President Secretary Assistant Secretary Linda Taylor John Tepper John Stover Michael Morgan Duane Baccus Nancy Strickland Doug Hellman The following members of the City Staff were present: City Manager Assistant City Manager Assistant City Manager City Secretary Communications Director Director of Parks and Recreation Chief of Police Richard L. Escalante John Burke Linda Tidwell Cindee Peters Donna Huerta Jeff Fuller Jimmy Fawcett Vol. 72, Page 68 Director of Community Services Tom Scales Planning Director Michael Spicer Planning Analyst Steve Sims Planning Associate Jim Sellards Mayor Phelps called the special City Council Meeting of August 19, 1996 to order at 7:34 p.m.. DISCUSS PROPOSED SCHOOL BOUNDARIES WITH THE CARROLLTON- FARMERS BRANCH I.S.D. BOARD OF TRUSTEES. Mayor Phelps explained the City Council requested this meeting with the School Board to express their concerns, not necessarily about the boundaries, but about the inequities the City Council sees in educational opportunities for students in Farmers Branch. Mayor Phelps stated he understood the School Board is unanimous about approving the proposed boundaries. Mayor Phelps stated the City Council assumes this is strictly on a numbers basis and does not take into consideration the impact this could have on Farmers Branch students or on property values in Farmers Branch. Mayor Phelps stated the district's own figures on TAAS scores and the gifted and talented programs show that the schools in Farmers Branch are well below the schools in Carrollton. Mayor Phelps stated this leads the City Council to believe that the higher the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, the more these programs decrease. Mayor Phelps stated the City Council asked City staff to prepare a list of educational consultants to do an analysis and review of the effectiveness in providing equal educational opportunities throughout the school district. Mayor Phelps explained the City Council also asked the City Attorney what the City's options are if the School Board does not delay their vote. Mayor Phelps explained the City Council is asking the School Board to postpone their decision for 120 days to conduct this study and then would request a public hearing before the School Board to discuss the findings. Mayor Phelps related there are other alternatives and this study should identify what those alternatives are. Mayor Phelps stated the City Attorney will request a formal public hearing at the School Board meeting on Thursday. Mayor Phelps stated the City Council does not want to be adversarial on any matter. Mayor Phelps explained the City Attorney has advised the City that our options are to appeal to the State Commissioner on Education or go to district court if the School Board approves the proposed boundary changes. Mayor Phelps stated the City Council Vol. 72, Page 69 does not want to do this, however are obligated to listen to the citizens and take whatever action is necessary. Mayor Phelps stated the City Council is asking the School Board to delay their vote to give the City time to hire an educational consultant look at the entire situation. Ms. Linda Taylor stated in the beginning it has been the School Board's goal to provide neighborhood schools. Ms. Taylor stated they provide the best education to the best of their ability. Ms. Taylor felt there was an extreme lack of trust between the School Board and the City of Farmers Branch. Ms. Taylor stated in the past the City and the School District had a good working relationship. Ms. Taylor stated however the School staff worked with the City over a year on the funding for the PPYD program. Ms. Taylor stated the School Board will fund the entire PPYD program in their budget because it will be much easier than working with the City. Mayor Phelps stated Ms. Taylor was right, the City and the School District have had a good working relationship and the City would like to keep it that way. Mayor Phelps stated the gifted and talented programs in Farmers Branch are well below those in Carrollton. Mayor Phelps stated the City has received letters and telephone calls from people who are moving out of the City because of the School District. Councilwoman Davis stated no one has a problem with the neighborhood concept for the elementary schools. Councilwoman Davis stated she does not see it as busing when high schools students drive to R. L. Turner or Newman Smith. Councilman Davis stated there is only a two mile distance between these high schools. Councilman Davis stated there are six to eight bus loads of children from Addison that are bused to Janie Stark Elementary when they could be taken to Country Place Elementary. Councilwoman Davis stated because of the majority of economically disadvantaged students going to R. L. Turner and if R. L. Turner starts having problems, this will affect the entire school district. Mr. Michael Morgan stated the City felt the School Board was unanimous about wanting to approve the proposed school boundaries on Thursday. Mr. Morgan stated a vote has not been taken and he does not get that feeling. Mr. Morgan stated two years ago he had a child that attended R. L. Turner. Mr. Morgan felt R. L. Turner was educationally on top of other schools. Mr. Morgan stated the School District's rankings on State level in regards to TAAS and other tests are ranked according to factors the School Board has no control over, such as drop out rates which the district is working real hard on. Mr. Morgan stated after citizens voiced their concerns at the last School Board meeting, the School Board should look at a course of action to study this more carefully. Vol. 72, Page 70 Councilman Pyle stated the schools in Farmers Branch continue to be a source of pride for the City of Farmers Branch. Councilman Pyle stated he does not sense a lack of trust between the City Council and the School Board. Councilman Pyle explained he does sense a lack of trust from some of the citizens. Councilman Pyle stated he was concerned about the perception of the quality of education the students in Farmers Branch receive. Councilman Pyle stated everything he has seen from the School District is numbers based and the City would like some time to look at other alternatives. Councilman Pyle stated City staff has already listed several consultants and prepared a scope of work. Ms. Taylor stated the best consultants are employees of the School District. Ms. Taylor stated she did not understand how the City could bring in an outside consultant to study something as diverse and vast as education in twenty-six schools when the school district has the consultants right here. Councilman Grubbs stated if you look at projections, the data suggests what will happen with a school that is predominately made up of disadvantaged students. Councilman Grubbs stated the percentage in R. L. Turner would run about 29 % of where it is now, and eventually 58 % when both the north and west high schools are opened. Councilman Grubbs stated this percentage may even exceed the 15 % guidelines used by the Department of Justice in terms of minority student populations relative to the school district's average. Councilman Grubbs stated research shows scores, participation, and extra curricular activities go down. Councilman Grubbs stated there has to be a plan to assure that our students receive the opportunity for equal education. Mayor Phelps stated it was his understanding that the school boundary changes would not go into effect until the 1997-98 school year. Ms. Taylor stated most of the boundary changes will be two years away. Ms. Strickland stated people who have never entered R. L. Turner and pay no attention to what is going on there are the ones that listen to gossip. Ms. Strickland stated the School Board had heard about gangs for seven or eight years now and there has been no problems with gangs. Ms. Strickland explained R. L. Turner now offers AP classes, calculus and other important classes and it is the responsibility of the School Board to make sure those classes remain. Ms. Strickland stated that may need to be in a plan that the School District guarantees these classes be available for the students. Ms. Strickland stated the School District is looking at students the City of Farmers Branch is bringing to our school district even though they may be low socioeconomic students. Ms. Strickland explained we are going to teach them and do the very best job possible. Ms. Strickland stated we are going to offer them opportunities to better Vol. 72, Page 71 themselves. Ms. Strickland felt the School Board should recommend to the Superintendent there be some investigation on the courses being taught from the first to fifth grade, and the sixth to the eighth grade. Ms. Strickland stated not all children are designed to go to college. Ms. Strickland stated the City of Farmers Branch should also look at offering families a place to live in an area with higher socioeconomic. Ms. Strickland stated there are three new residential areas in Farmers Branch not included in these figures. Ms. Strickland explained she read an article about a pilot school which teaches low socioeconomic children and would like to have the School Board look at programs such as this. Mayor Pro Tem Moses stated there was no question as to what R. L. Turner is doing now. Mayor Pro Tem Moses stated it does concern him when the School Board questions the lack of trust because the City Council would not be here tonight. Mayor. Pro Tem Moses explained when citizens inform the City Council of their concerns the City Council will listen. Mayor Pro Tem Moses stated this is why the City Council is asking for a delay in the decision to change the boundaries. Councilman Bird stated he does trust the School Board members. Councilman Bird hoped the City Council and the School Board might both learn something from the consultant's study. Councilman Bird stated when he moved to Farmers Branch fifteen years ago, the first question was how are the schools. Councilman Bird complimented the School Board on the wonderful schools, but does not want to see it change. Councilman Bird asked if the boundary changes do not go into effect for two years, why the School Board could not delay their decision for 120 days. Mr. Doug Hellman stated he was concerned about this situation because it could develop into a problem. Mr. Hellman stated he has a vested interest in Farmers Branch because he has a business here. Mr. Hellman stated he has seen the demographics change in Farmers Branch. Mr. Hellman stated he did not want to see the School District used because of an evitable problem. Mr. Hellman stated he would hate to see middle class Anglo students moved down to solve a demographic problem. Mr. Hellman stated Dr. Shriver had presented figures that showed by the year 2003 this would be a minority school district. Mr. Hellman stated he was open to delaying this for 120 days and see what the study provides. Mayor Phelps stated this is what the City Council would like to see the School Board do on Thursday night. Mr. Duane Baccus stated he was very angered tonight. Mr. Baccus felt like Mayor Phelps insulted the board, talked about unequal education, and legal action if what the City proposed was not done. Mr. Baccus stated in the same sentence the Mayor talked about not wanting an adversarial relationship with the school district. Mr. Baccus stated he has seen numerous school board members stand up for schools that lie in the Vol. 72, Page 72 Farmers Branch area for equal education. Mr. Baccus felt the City should not use the School District to solve the problems of Farmers Branch. Mr. Baccus asked the City Council how they would feel if the School Board asked for an outside consultant to come in and study how the City Council is running the City of Farmers Branch. Mr. Baccus stated he was tired of hearing from all the hot spots in the district. Mr. Baccus felt this was just another hot spot. Mr. Baccus explained he would not be in favor of postponing the vote. Councilwoman Davis stated the School Board keeps stating this is a Farmers Branch problem. Councilwoman Davis stated there are 6500 socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Carrollton and only 2400 socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Farmers Branch. Councilwoman Davis stated she understands that Carrollton has a larger population but this is not just a Farmers Branch problem. Councilwoman Davis was curious how the school staff would handle the problems they are building into R. L. Turner. Dr. Shriver stated this is not an easy problem to deal with. Dr. Shriver explained the complexion of the district is changing. Dr. Shriver stated the issue is to solve it through boundary decisions or solve it through educational decisions. Dr. Shriver stated if we solve it through boundary decisions, this means busing of students. Dr. Shriver stated staff is in the process of evaluating equal educational opportunities to see if this is taking place. Dr. Shriver stated he has heard the terms socioeconomic and minority and asked which one applies. Dr. Shriver explained he had a concern with trying to solve the problem of opportunity by looking at results. Dr. Shriver stated the results are a reflection of socioeconomic status which is not the School District's purview to control. Mayor Phelps explained it was not his intent to upset Mr. Baccus or the School Board but to show the School Board our concerns. Mayor Phelps stated the City of Farmers Branch uses consultants because the City is not an expert in certain fields such as engineering. Mayor Phelps stated the City Attorney gave the City Council their options and he did not mention this to be adversarial. Mayor Pro Tem Moses stated the meeting held last night was an open meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Moses explained the City Council informed the School Board about the legal options because a newspaper reporter attended the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Moses explained the City Council did not want the School Board members to read in the paper that the City Council had discussed legal options. Mr. John Tepper stated the School Board has tried very diligently to provide equal education opportunity in Farmers Branch. Mr. Tepper stated Farmers Branch is an older community and no new schools are being built in that area. Mr. Tepper stated the concern is over high schools, but Carrollton Elementary and Montgomery Vol. 72, Page 73 Elementary were both "schools of excellence". Mr. Tepper stated that elementary school students which are adequately prepared through elementary school, are going to have the best chance to be successful. Mr. Tepper stated he does disagree with Mr. Baccus and .agrees this is a district problem. Mr. Tepper stated many neighborhoods in Carrollton are changing rapidly in terms of socioeconomic status. Mr. Tepper stated he was very sensitive to the concerns Farmers Branch has on educational quality in Farmers Branch and in R. L. Turner. Mr. Tepper felt the solution would be in maintaining the quality of education in the elementary schools and middle schools. Mr. Tepper stated he was unsure whether to postpone adopting the boundaries. Councilman Pyle stated the issue does not have to be constrained by geographic boundaries. Councilman Pyle stated he hoped what would come out of the study is other alternatives that will be discussed with the School Board. Councilman Pyle stated he did not know what those alternatives were but has heard about such programs as magnet schools, open districts, and stronger programs in some schools. Councilman Pyle stated the mention of legal options were not meant as a threat but may be a reality. Councilman Pyle stated the City does a good job of addressing problems and the City provides excellent services. Ms. Strickland asked if maybe it would not have to be an outside consultant but the principals and teachers. Ms. Strickland stated these people are sent to excellent training programs on modern techniques in teaching. Ms. Strickland stated these principals and teachers may be aware of what might work that the School Board does not know. Ms. Strickland stated a hold up on the vote would not solve this issue. Councilman Moses asked if these teachers would speak freely concerning these issues. Councilman Moses stated he had talked with several teachers before and they would not voice their opinions. Ms. Strickland stated she was not implying the teachers talk with the City Council but with the School Board. Councilwoman Davis stated she did not have a problem with forming a task force to look at this issue. Mr. Baccus explained he thought it was a bad idea to put off the vote because there are four to six hot spots in the district. Mr. Baccus stated no matter what the School District does concerning the boundaries, there will be people who do not like any decision. Mr. Baccus stated it would not be fair to other parts of the district if the vote was postponed because the City of Farmers Branch wants the decision postponed. C Vol. 72, Page 74 Councilman Grubbs felt the need to respond to the issue of hot spots. Councilman Grubbs stated we are not talking about some group but the entire City of Farmers Branch. Councilman Grubbs stated 26 % of the School Board's budget is funded by City taxes. Councilman Grubbs stated we are not talking about a small little pocket. Councilman Grubbs hoped whatever plan the School Board has developed, reflects the input of your teachers. Councilman Grubbs explained he was in favor of getting input from a consultant that would meet with your teachers and the City Council. Councilwoman Davis asked how the School Board can justify spending more money on programs at one school and less on another. Ms. Strickland stated because it is needed. Ms. Strickland stated the school district already does this. Councilwoman Davis asked why then is Janie Stark and some of the other schools so much lower academically. Ms. Strickland stated this has not been brought to the School Board specifically. Mr. Morgan stated there are programs in place that work with students on language skills. Mr. Morgan stated this program is targeted to students who have limited English skills. Mr. Morgan stated the School Board is implementing a program to identify gifted areas. Mr. Morgan explained a student from Cambodia or a child that has spent their entire life in a Spanish speaking home will be at a disadvantage. Mr. Morgan stated this board is taking steps to address these type problems. Mr. Hellman felt it should not be the teachers who serve as the consultant. Mayor Phelps stated if the City brought in an independent consultant to hear the concerns of the School Board and the City, the consultant would take both sides into consideration when looking for alternatives. Mr. Baccus stated he is open to more study, but still feels this is a Farmers Branch problem. Mr. Baccus felt the issue is people do not want to live in Farmers Branch anymore and that is an economic problem for Farmers Branch. Councilman Pyle asked Mr. Baccus if the Carrollton City Council would not say they also had a problem. Mr. Baccus felt Carrollton would not have a problem with the school district. Councilwoman Davis stated she spoke with Mayor Gravley and he feels this is a district problem. Vol. 72, Page 75 Mr. Morgan stated the School Board has a vested interest in Farmers Branch because of the tax base it provides. Ms. Taylor felt the meeting tonight was to address possible solutions. Ms. Taylor felt the opening remarks about legal options was not in the spirit of getting things done. Ms. Taylor explained getting students educated, no matter where they live, is our problem. Ms. Taylor felt the City was trying to take the responsibility out of the School Board's hand. Ms. Taylor stated the solution will be in programmatic issues and not the boundaries. Councilwoman Davis stated if the consultant found the boundaries should be changed for whatever reason, it would be extremely difficult to change these boundaries back if the School Board has already approved them. Mayor Phelps asked if anyone in the audience would like to make a short statement. Mr. Mike McClung, a Farmers Branch resident, stated Farmers Branch is land locked but Carrollton is still growing. Mr. McClung stated years before Farmers Branch was the dominant city and let Carrollton into the school district. Mr. McClung stated he would like to see Farmers Branch create their own district. Mr. Jim Barrett, a resident of Farmers Branch, stated he felt the School Board has made this a Farmers Branch issue. Mr. Barrett explained the School Board stated their goal is to provide equal educational opportunities. Mr. Barrett stated as new school board members are elected, we need to assure this goal is carried through. Mayor Phelps thanked everyone for attending this meeting. Dr. Shriver stated growth is not a problem for the school district, which is up 955 kids today versus the same day a year ago. Dr. Shriver stated it is unfortunate this got to the level where the solution was "your problem" versus "our problem". Dr. Shriver felt the real issue the Board needs to deal with is the policy issue on whether the solution is boundary or educational opportunities and educational programs. Dr. Shriver explained it is a policy issue and to ensure it has longevity it needs to be in a policy statement. Dr. Shriver explained is it solved through a policy issue or boundaries by moving kids or solving it through a policy issue on educational equity and opportunity. Vol. 72, Page 76 ADJOURNMENT. A motion by Councilwoman Davis, a second by Councilman Bird, all voting "aye", adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Mayor City Secretary i Vol. 72, Page 77