They tried ending “the line” some years ago and instituted the lottery and found that it did not work. Most of the children admitted through the lottery did not stay at CSAS, and “the line” was reinstated. Does this not scream “there is something wrong with the school system” that parents line up 2 months in advance to get their children into a good school? School Board, please pay attention.

Anne Fricker

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I agree wholeheartedly with the above response. The lottery won't work. For the level of commitment expected (and given) at our schools, a random drawing will not suffice. My understanding is that in the year when the lottery was used to fill spots, many families did not complete their required hours and left the school.

This is a waste.

The line works.

There may need to be some actual rules about about when is appropriate to begin the line, but it works and has worked for years. By giving an actual time frame for when the line may start, this also gives everyone the same opportunity to get there. I believe that if you give a group of parents rules, they will follow them and behave appropriately. We expect this of our children so we should expect the same from ourselves.

I also think that it is wrong for the School Board to pull this at this point in the game. People plan vacations around this. If changes were being thought about, a decision should have been made long ago and posted on school and county websites. As of Monday our website stated that the application process for all grades was first come first serve. This has since been modified.

I think that rules should have been placed on the line before now, but to change them when there are 92 families on a list, giving them hope that their children have a shot, is not okay.

I love our school. I have 5 children who will be educated by the same school my husband was. We love this school. We believe in this school. Please do what's right.

Ann-Marie Fitzsimmons
CSAS Parent and Volunteer

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I also agree that changing the rules midstream in the process is not fair. The parents who are on the list should remain there. I did stand in the line eleven years
ago to gain admittance into CSLA, and I would do it every year for both of my boys if I had to. It shows commitment to the school and to your child’s education.

Going back to the lottery system would overall devalue the quality of the education at CSLA/CSAS in my mind because besides the wonderful teachers and administrators at both
schools, the parents are a large part of what makes both schools great. Parents who had to do nothing more than sign up for a lottery may not be the kind of parents who would be involved as they needed to be to continue the tradition of parental
involvement that has been a part of these two wonderful schools. This is evidenced in the past by some of the lottery parents not fulfilling their 18 hours commitment.

These are schools of choice, and it should be okay to ask more of a commitment from the parents for their children to attend here. I think it is truly sad that parents can’t give
18 hours to their children’s school to keep their spot in the school. My husband and I both work full time jobs, and have never had trouble getting in our required hours.

I have been blessed to have one son complete grades K-8 at CSLA, and is currently attending his first year of high school at CSAS. I also have a 5th grader at CSLA who has also been there since kindergarten. I feel that all children should have the same access to quality education that we enjoy at CSLA and CSAS. Even in the truly crumbling building of CSLA, my children have received an education by teachers who think above
the average and display excellence before my children on a daily basis.

School violence is unheard of, 99% of students at CSAS graduate and millions of dollars are awarded
every year to those graduates. Why isn’t every school run in the same manner? Why would the outcry of the parents of Hamilton County for quality education not be heard at every Hamilton County School Board meeting? All of our students deserve this type of education, but especially the 92 families who planned ahead and went the extra mile to secure this for their children.

Shari Hicks

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I wanted to respond to the parents who have written in on how the lottery system will not work at CSAS and CSLA. My children are not of school age yet, and I am already researching my school options here in town so I don’t really have a dog in this fight…just observing how the magnet schools operate as one school option. I think the flaw with the line, from what I could see on the news story, is that it’s not really fair for one parent or a group of parents to just start forming a line one day out of the blue without any sort of public notice. Again, I am only going by what I see on the news and have no idea how the line works, but…what if ten friends got together and started the line immediately one day? Should you really be number 11 in line just because you didn’t know some people were getting together to form a line? Or what if you had planned a family vacation around the time that ten parents spontaneously start a line and there was no public notice? We have to keep in mind that these are public schools so the public should be fully aware of the procedures to get in line if that’s the school board’s chosen method. Did you see that one poor woman on the news who didn’t even know if she was in line or not because the schools said that the application process had not even begun?

I agree that the parent commitment is probably one of the largest parts of why these schools are so successful and I plan to be an involved parent wherever I decide to send my kids. I am not sure what the best method for application procedures should be given what I read about what happened in the past with the lottery system being unsuccessful, but I am just giving another scenario on how the line may not be the best channel for applications.

Kathy Davis

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Shari states, "These are schools of choice, and it should be okay to ask more of a commitment from the parents for their children to attend here. I think it is truly sad that parents can’t give 18 hours to their children’s school to keep their spot in the school."

I would love for my son to go to CSAS, but it is honestly impossible for me or my family to stand in a line for admittance. Nor is it fair for him to be out of the running because of it. This is a completely thoughtless statement to me, and I really don't appreciate the generalization Mrs. Hicks. You have no idea what prevents others from participating in the infamous "line" and have no business at all calling it "sad." My commitment is to help him learn, keep him clothed, fed, safe and nurture him. That doesn't say anything about my commitment to his education because I will not "camp out."

I would like to think volunteering time to the assist in the classroom would make much more of a difference than time on the sidewalk. That's where I would rather put time in. Thank goodness these rules are finally changing, hopefully they will be successful this time. Whether you feel it has worked or not in the past, months of standing in a line is truly ridiculous even for those with all the time in the world.

Carrie McGaffic
Red Bank

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While I agree that ending the line now is inappropriate and unfair, I feel even more strongly that the line itself was always inappropriate. How could one think that a line of any sort based upon "first come, first served" is a prudent method of deciding which children are graced with access to these two fine schools? The list, as it stands today, had my daughter at #38; surely she would be admitted to one of these two schools. However, if we must lose our place and take our lot in a lottery so that everyone may be treated equally, so be it. We have the luxury of having a stay-at-home mom - who works much harder than I credit her with doing - in our household. If anyone has read Mr. Adler's The Paideia Proposal, they must understand that its basis is equality regardless of income or other social advantage. Surely there is a more just way to keep these schools competitive than to require working parents to queue up during a recession.

Bryan Herrit

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We, the prospective parents for the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences/Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts Kindergarten Class of 2011, are asking for your support. For the past several years parents who wanted their children to attend these publicly funded schools were told that applications would be taken on a "first come, first served basis." In years past, the result of this policy has been parents lining up and camping out for the opportunity to turn their child's application in order to reserve a spot for kindergarten.

On August 28, a line to turn in applications was started by a prospective parent. Within 48 hours, parents of 97 children had signed the list to turn in their applications. On August 30, Dr. Scales, Superintendent of Schools, announced that the line was not valid and that the application acceptance policy for the 2011 year would be changed. We believe that his ruling on the acceptance policies for these schools was made after the application process had already begun for the 2011 year, in which the parents had only followed the polices described to them. We were repeatedly told that this was the application process and followed the policy, therefore feel his decision should not affect the line that was in place for the 2011 school year. We believe that the established line should be recognized and allowed to continue. The names on the list should be honored, and any policy changes school administration wish to make should be fully communicated and come into effect during the 2012 school year.

I am a former teacher, working for the HCDE. I have been fully committed to making sure my son, James, had the opportunity to attend CSAS since he was born. I am passionate about the school's Paideia philosophy and the diverse community the school provides. I am not a "soccer mom." I am a very hard working mother, who is committed to making sure my child has a positive education experience. My job requires a considerable amount of travel, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have a wonderful support system of friends and family who I rely on to support me on a daily basis. These friends and family members, as well as my employer, would indeed be there to support me through the CSAS admission process. I am willing to make the necessary sacrifices and arrangements, in order to provide the school with the required service hours- a critical component of the success of this great school. James is #57 on the list that began last week. This does not guarantee him anything at this point, but I feel very strongly that the 97 people on that list that demonstrated their commitment, time and effort, sometimes driving down in the middle of the night to be part of "the line" process, has got to stand for something. Please consider those of us that have made sacrifices and have done our homework to be part of the CSAS family. These family members will undoubtedly continue to be dedicated leaders to these schools so for many years to come.

Jennie Sumrell

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As a parent and volunteer at CSAS, I would like to first clarify that Ms. Hicks' comment regarding the 18 hour commitment was in reference to required parent volunteer hours and was not referencing a committment to stand in line to reserve a spot at either school. I believe that this commitment is what concerns most of us parents at these schools. I cannot speak for CSLA, but CSAS has an operating budget for the school year that is very close to (if not less than) the retirement pay that Janice Boydston will receive through the new retirement offering that our school board members will now receive. That is not enough to operate a school, especially one as old as CSAS or CSLA.

This is why we rely so heavily on our parents' commitment to completing those volunteer hours. Our parents raise money for our school, they provide labor and equipment to improve our school grounds and they make our school what it is. As mentioned before, when the school was on a lottery system, many of the parents did not complete the required volunteer hours and the students had to leave the school.

The current application process ensures that parents are committed before their children begin attending the school, although I agree that it might be more fair to everyone if there were some regulations in place. The bottom line is that without committed parents, our school will not be as successful.

I agree that starting a line a couple of months before applications can be turned in is excessive. However, there has not been a "camp out" requirement in a few years, just scheduled check ins which make it a little easier. I agree with Anne-Marie that if we create rules regarding timeframes on when a line can be started, it would be more fair for everyone, but it is unfair to the parents who have already signed in to make a change mid-process.

People who have never "stood in line" don't realize that the "line" is more than just holding a spot for your child to attend one of these great schools. It creates a community of parents who all have the same goal. By the time these children start kindergarten, their parents already know one another, the kids already know one another, and both kids and parents have committed to their school. These are people who know that the school is not the building or the technology, but the people inside the building. The "line" fosters life long relationships for a group of people committed to being life long learners.

Jennifer Clem
CSAS Parent & Volunteer