Do we have the right to go to our local school?

[caretaker]

What is the name of your state (AR)?
We relocated to a rapidly growing area last year just days before the school year started for my 1st grader. We were informed the school near us was full and she would be sent to another school, but every effort would be made to get her into her zoned school for 2nd grade. Their solution was to bus her to the first school and have her change buses to the “overflow” school. As parents, we weren’t comfortable with the bus situation so we drive here to and from daily. We could live with anything for one school year. Recently we were told that she would continue at her current school. After conversations with both school and district representatives about their inability to keep up with the growth, we realized she may never get into her local school. This has been a hard year for my social able daughter. It has been difficult to make friends locally because most of the kids are involved in activities at their school. It’s just as hard to make friends at the school she attends since most of the students don’t live near us.
The school district officials claim that they have been able to accurately project the districts growth, but the taxpayers do not want to pay for another school, so the only solutions that have are to buy portables and bus children to different.
My question(s):
1-Since this has been a growing problem that the school board has known for some time, is there anything that can encourage them to address the situation and come up with a long term plan instead of these inadequate band-aid solutions?
2-Can anyone think of something I can do to address my own personal situation with my daughter?

 

[Perky]

What is the name of your state (AR)?
We relocated to a rapidly growing area last year just days before the school year started for my 1st grader. We were informed the school near us was full and she would be sent to another school, but every effort would be made to get her into her zoned school for 2nd grade. Their solution was to bus her to the first school and have her change buses to the “overflow” school. As parents, we weren’t comfortable with the bus situation so we drive here to and from daily. We could live with anything for one school year. Recently we were told that she would continue at her current school. After conversations with both school and district representatives about their inability to keep up with the growth, we realized she may never get into her local school. This has been a hard year for my social able daughter. It has been difficult to make friends locally because most of the kids are involved in activities at their school. It’s just as hard to make friends at the school she attends since most of the students don’t live near us.
The school district officials claim that they have been able to accurately project the districts growth, but the taxpayers do not want to pay for another school, so the only solutions that have are to buy portables and bus children to different.
My question(s):
1-Since this has been a growing problem that the school board has known for some time, is there anything that can encourage them to address the situation and come up with a long term plan instead of these inadequate band-aid solutions?
2-Can anyone think of something I can do to address my own personal situation with my daughter?

There are things that you can do, but none of them guarantees that the district will be able to accommodate your daughter.

You can become an activist in your community to promote the need for more schools. That would mean campaigning in your community for higher taxes in order to build new schools.

You can petition the school board to change school attendance boundaries if enough children are not able to attend their home school, or if class sizes are disproportionate among the district's schools.

In the meantime, perhaps there's a Brownie troop at the home school that your daughter can join next year. If you have a local park district, there may be camps or classes that your daughter can attend. If the home school has before or after school care, maybe you can enroll her in that. Consider any other activity that neighborhood children participate in (soccer, baseball, cheerleading, etc.)

 

[CourtClerk]

As someone who NEVER went to my local school, if your child cannot make friends at the school she is going to, that has nothing to do with her location. My child also does not go to his "home school." He's got a TON of friends at school. On the weekends, he plays with the neighborhood kids. Are you telling me that your daughter sits on the playground at recess and lunch with no friends to play with at all because she doesn't live in the neighborhood? There isn't ONE child in her class she speaks to/plays with?