Students Doe Exhibit 79From: Ross Haber Subject: RE: not so bad(response and some talking points | agree that this is realy not a bad article but | want to respond, 1. Theissue of race is stil out front. {think itis important to emphasize that you hired a consultant who had no horse in this race and the charge was simply to balance the enrollments atthe high school. That was the driving force. The “non-negotiables" were guidelines inthis process and diversity amongst ALL groups was a consideration but not a mandate inthe project. We ‘ot only considered race when considering diversity but also socio-economic status as well as special needs considerations. 2 Mast of the problems we encountered were based on the location of the majority to the disit's ‘populaton, the location of the schools, and the geography of the District. 3. Throughout the process we worked on this at least several days per week. We went through a ‘great deal of “ial and error" and also tested many of the kieas put forth al the public meetings. 4, While some think ofthis as a negative, the final plan does not in any way resemble the fist plan, ich is indicative of the Board's sensitivity to he community at large. 5. Werrecognize that any plan will be an inconvenience to some but the overall plan is aways designed to best meet the educational needs of the students of the District and to this end overcrowding and larger sizes at one school, and a lack of programs at the other due to under enrolment is ‘ol educationally sound. 6 __Tominimize ride times for high school students itis suggested that fewer stops be on each high ‘school route and thal students walk further tothe bus slop. Not onty wil this shorten the ide, Dut it wil increase ‘watkabiily.”_ An argument can be made that students will have to get up cearie to walk longer distances tothe stops, but, and this can be tested, by limiting the number ‘of stops to less than 10 per bus, and puting the stops, where possible, on arterials, the actual fide time an be significantly decreased. From: McGinley, Christopher {mailto:McGinleyC@imsd org} ‘Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 To: ‘Ross Haber’ ‘Subject: FW: not so bad . iM. AM From! [maito com) Sent: Henday, Juaty 12, 2009 812 AM ‘To: McGinley, Christopher ‘Subject: not'so bad {just read this. its what Philly.com is running on their homepage. http/Avww philly com/philly/hp/news update/20090112_Annette_John- Hall_School_proposal_is_testing_L_Merion him! Itreally is not bad at all, is written by a Annette John-Hall, and ends with "But once the dust settles, you have to believe that the kids will be OK, which fs what matters the most. With a top-notch education, ultimately, everyLoay Lspo9764Good luck today. 4a Lmsp09765