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Show THE PARK RECORD www.park record.com SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 20C0 11 A-9 Mil' EDUCATION EDITOR: Jennifer McKenna 44t-90l4 ext.1 18 TP cation. Briefs n SAT testing Attention all parents of students grades 3. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11: the week of September 25-29, 2000 will be the testing period for the Stanford Achievement Tests in our district. To help this week be a success, please help your child be prepared. Research shows that; students test best when they get plenty of rest eat a well-balanced breakfast, come to school every day, and are encouraged to try their hardest. PATHS parent meeting Dr. Nancy DeFord, superintendent of Park City School District, and Merry Haugen, director of curriculum, will be the featured speakers at the PATHS Parents' Meeting' (Program for Academically Talented and High-Achieving High-Achieving Students). All interested parents are Invited. The meeting will be held at the Park City School District Office, 2700 Kearns Boulevard in conference con-ference rooms A and B, at 7 p.m. on Sept 28, 2000. n i j Canyoniands classes Two-week courses In Desert Ecology and Geology are offered Oct 23-Nov. 3, 2000 by the Canyoniands Field Institute of Moab, Utah. These courses are perfect for land and river guides, interpreters and those who want to know more about the Colorado Plateau. In addition to classroom lectures, lec-tures, several field studies will take place in the Moab area. For more formation, call the Outdoor Science School. 435-259-7750. ,y . , ' ' V" 2000 f-Sj fARADE HoMES ShcavnuavRS Two Weekends! Fri-Sat-Sun Noon-8pm September 22-October 1 Adults $10 Children FREE! Advance Tickets at First Security Bank Watch for parade map insert in todays paper Cwtalrlfewia tfRb Fill out your ticket stub to vote ... J t.r-t enter a drawing for a Deer Valley Weekend for two! Paid-b Parents want bussing for ineligible students, but are angry at district's fee by Jennifer McKenna OF THE RECORD STAFF "The wheels on the bus go round and round." and so do the arguments over bussing in the Park City Schoo! District. Many parents are angry that their children chil-dren are considered ineligible for free bussing, and the district's option of paid-bussing paid-bussing is bringing little comfort. For the last few years, the Park City School Board has offered paid-bussing for students who live outside state-mandated boundaries for bus service. The fee is $200 per student. The Park City School District is the only district in the slate to offer paid-bussing. Brent Huffman, the pupil transportation specialist spe-cialist at the Utah State Office of Education, said that the majority of the 40 districts in the state offer no alternatives alterna-tives for students who live outside the boundaries. What did ineligible students do before the option of paid-bussing? As with the majority of ineligible students in the state, they walked, rode bikes, or their parents drove them or joined car-pools. car-pools. Recent waves of complaints by parents and students are based on several sever-al issues. Some psy, some deal Several parents believe the policy is Report on district enrollments by Jennifer McKnna OF THE RECORD STAFF In the last three years, the Park City School Dtstrict has seen a 12.9-percent growth in ESL students in the district. Merry Haugen. district director of curriculum curricu-lum and instruction, presented the board with the enrollment numbers in the English as a Second Language program (ESL). ESL enrollment has dropped very slightly, but b really the result of redistribution, said Haugen. the number of ESL students at TMMS is grow ing due to an influx of ESL students from McPolm. The board approved several items: approval of the hiring of new dtstrict workers for buses,. technology, and teach- mg. PARK CITY AREA s I s W aTl C KNcttwtAM- wiio rt.K.a 20(X) " for the A A J t Ski j l1oMC5 Discount (copies I Record I ussing option leaves district unfair because some ineligible students pay the $200 to ride, and some do not. Students who qualify for fee-waivers in the district are allowed to ride the bus for free, even if they are inside the state boundaries. If a program or service is offered to students for a fee, said Hortin, it must be offered to students who qualify quali-fy for fee waivers free. Huffman thinks the whole idea of paid-bussing is unfair because some parents can afford to pay for bussing and others can not. "It's a If the state were to decrease the bussing boundaries to one mile for elementary students and 15 miles for secondary students, it would cost an additional $80 million per year. " - Brent Huffman Pupil Transportation Specialist Utah State Office of Education bad idea because it's discriminatory." he said. "It's not a good precedent." According to the Utah state code, and the Park City school board, bussing is a service to parents, not a legal obligation. "Some parents consider public (school) transportation as being convenience transportation, it s not. It's a support service of the district," said Huffman. According to the Huffman, "It's neither the (school district's) legal nor their ethical eth-ical responsibility." Many parents argue that since they are taxpayers, their children have the approval of more home school applications. applica-tions. approv al of rental policy for Eccles center The board was presented with several reports: Lori Anderson, president of the Utah Education Association for Park City district dis-trict teachers, reported on the association's first meeting of the vear. Teachers were given information on iicense renewal, plans for hiring substitutes, preparation and organization, said Anderson. The association associa-tion is cmrently looking for a vice president. presi-dent. Casey Stanislaw, the student on the board of education, reported on the recent activi- , -Please see Growth, A-1Q - I UUHN GREENVVOOO MCCHCAt. CENTER 7495 S. State St. MtDVALE B01-E6r-7;X) UUHN WESTRIDGE MEDICAL CENTER 3730 W. 47CO S. WEST VALLEY CITY 0l-t64 2300 UUHN STANSBURY MEDICAL CENTER 220 Mlllpond Rd. 100 STANSBURY fvRK 43'43CXX fJ?T? Coupon OK) I J right to ride public school buses to school, regardless of their distance from the school. "I hear from parents. I'm a taxpayer" said Huffman, but Tiding the school bus is not a property right.. If sou are a taxpayer, does your child have the right to drive when he's 14? No. He not eligible (because of) something-Huffman something-Huffman said it is the same with free bussing - not every student is eligible, a line must be; drawn somewhere. It's a matter of moory According to Huffman. J53.2.VS.T2 has been budgeted by the state for the bussing of eligible students in the -WJ districts dis-tricts for the';(XW-;()jl school year If the state were to decrease the boundaries bound-aries to one mile for elementary students and 1.5 miles for secondary students, thus increasing the number of eligible students for bussing, it would cost an additional $80 million dollars. "The board gets beat up for trying to do a favor to the parents." said Yon Hortin. business administrator a, the Park City Scfiool District T&res-ysar tnrcllmeat wnmirlsoa n EngiliU as i Second Lansings stufleots 2 ZOO 150 too 50 x 2 a as your past with -lft yt X."" fri4.'t of it. out yoa v flirt' it up a little. Welt, it',' time to take a : iKu' titii) if'yoit " up a tittle to tnucfo (oroee if' it ha, ttiken it, toll). Join iw on one of the followinif iXtteo at any of our 9 1 lexical Center.' for a JFifZC C?hote.'tertl Seretiititf. Detecting a huh cholesterol cotttJ mean at'oithntf future health prol'tetu like hetirt atttteko artt) otxke.. to thefirot ,'tep in makina ,'ure you ean keep V'jy up etrty now an' then for a tona time to come. 1 - . HllhNtwork September 2oth cA 29th http . uuhn mut. 8:30am-5:30pm t .'!.' j .vten- UUHN ADULT MEDICAL. CENTER O RMMC 24'X) S. State St, SALT LAKE UUHN WOMEN S CENTEP & RMMC 2490 S. Stat St. SALT LAKE SO ia3210O UUHN REOVVOClD MEDICAL CENTER 1525 W. 2100 S. SALT LAKE HOI SST-2400 in catch-22 Park City School District Office. Many parents do not consider $2013 a favor, but it is far less than the actual amount it costs for the district to bus those ineligible ineligi-ble students. Huffman said it costs the district "ai least double" the $209 to bus each ineligible student The remaining portion comes out of the district's budget budg-et for the year If the district did use other monies to bus ineligible students, "it would take aay from teacher salaries, from all salaries." said Hortin The fiee bussing boundaries are state-mandated. state-mandated. and the school district can not chance the distances to make more students eligible. As it is, the school hoard has budgeted 4.5 percent ($1.027.254) for student bus transportation transporta-tion this year, said Hortin According to Utah la, there is a maximum tax school districts can levy for tunspurlaiion (.OoO.t). lt vve levied the maximum tax we could by law for transportation, we could not pay for lull district wide bussing tor all students." said superintendent superin-tendent Nancy DeFord l.ocatioa, location, locaftoa Huffman said much of the complaints are due to several change for parents Many who have moved from other states are comparing the laws of their previous state to laws in Utah School bus transportation, trans-portation, however, is state-regulated system, and vanes from state to state According to Huffman. Utah is a "typical "typi-cal state." whose boundaries and regulations regula-tions mirror many states Some states, like Texas, require elementary and see- Ptease see Budget, A-10 Although the ESL student enrollment has fluctuated at each school during the past three years, the District ESL student enrollment enroll-ment has increased by 12.9-percent since 1998. MfiaMuGES you? 1 j if 'MO0 , u t i (ChoiesterotSc T t-t-nins Llnivrsitv of UtnH UUHN SUMMIT HEALTH CENTER 1750 Sun Peik Dr. PARK CITY 435-C4 7 S740 UUHN PARKWAY MEDICAL. CENTER 145 W. University (Partsway OR EM fiQl-22s7555 UUHN DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER 1492 W. Antelop.9- Dr. 150 LAYTON W1-7 7G6444 Copy |