The Miami school district is experiencing a common problem which many thriving cities face, rapid increase in enrollment. Increase in enrollment occurs due to the following reasons; demographics, location and economy (Miami Dade County School District, 2012). In order to adjust and accommodate the unexpected increase in enrollment, the school boundaries for the following year will be revised. The school board has hired experts to redraw the boundaries and notified parents of the changes that will occur next year. This paper addresses the concerns of the stakeholders, the negotiation strategy used by school board, and the ethical/cultural effect of the decision.
Under the revised plan many students will not be able to continue their education at their present school. The decision was unexpected and many parents are outraged by the school board’s decision. The school board received several complaints from parents which voiced their concerns regarding the decision. The parents raised the following concerns:
- Quality of education
- Increased travel time
- Crossing economic and cultural boundaries
- Effect on property values
- Social effects on children
Parents are concerned that the quality of their children’s education will be compromised by the new plan. Parents argue that their children are established in their current schools, with their current classmates, and moving them will be disruptive to their learning. Many parents have chosen the schools their children are currently attending, and purposely purchased homes in the area because they wanted their children to attend the schools in the area. Parents of high school aged children entering their senior years are upset that the students will have to change schools during their senior year possibly affecting scholarships and the academic grade point averages of the students.
The new school boundaries may increase travel time, if school is not located within the residential community where the student lives. Many students have the option of walking to school which allows parents to work and avoid commuting. A hardship may be placed on the student and the parent due to the unplanned change. The rezoning of boundaries will have a social effect on children because of separating students from their social outlet and comfort zone. Exposing students to a more diverse student faculty may expose students to less disciplined students and change or influence the work ethic of new students.
Low income students and families would be greatly impacted by the new boundaries as they would have limited options and be forced to comply with the school districts decision. Students with higher household income have the option of attending private school if unhappy with the boards zoning which low income students do not. Property values may be affected by the rezoning because families seek properties within the desirable school districts to offer their children better education opportunities and prestigious name recognition when applying to college. Buyers seek homes that are located close to quality schools and is a major decision during the home buying, renting, or relocating process. The rezoning could increase property values if the boundaries cross into lower income areas or may decrease wealthier community’s property values due to less prestigious students attending the schools and make it a less desirable neighborhood.

Stakeholders
In this negotiation the education stakeholders includes parents, students, school district, teachers, staff, school officials, and impacted communities. The dictionary defines stakeholders as “a person or group that has an investment share, or interest in something” (“Stakeholder“, n.d., p. 1). The stakeholders in issue regarding new school boundaries the stakeholders are individuals that have an indirect or direct stake in the schools and who stand to gain or lose from the actions. Students are the stakeholders that are most heavily impacted because of they have to adapt to a new environment, new students and teachers. Social problems that students will encounter are fitting in to the new school and the new school social society.
The parents may have to make changes to their work and personal schedules in order accommodate for the decision. The parents will have to evaluate the new school that their child will be going to see if it is a quality leaning institution. If the new school is not to parent’s standards or expectations parents may decide to send their children to private school which would result parents having to pay tuition fees. Teachers may be relocated to different schools to accommodate the teaching need and may impact the teacher’s personal life. The school district will be responsible for dealing with parents’ concerns and complaints regarding the rezoning. Some stakeholders may have more influence on the decision than others and the school board needs to address the various interests of the different stakeholders. The Miami School District is a key stakeholder in this matter. The decision made by the parents for the students will have a wide range of consequences based upon their actions. It is the school districts responsibility to ease the concerns of both parents and students alike and give assurance that quality of life and education will not suffer from the rezoning. The school district will need to invest funds in facilities, transportation, and teachers to accommodate the issues that are expected with such a large change for various stakeholders.

Negotiation Strategy for School District
The school board did not take the right approach by simply informing parents of the decision to rezone or create new school boundaries. The school board should have involved the parents in the decision making process before making a decision that would impact all the students and parents in the district. In the present situation the school board needs open up negotiations with the student’s parents. The parents need to feel that they have a say in their child’s education experience. The school board needs to change the environment of the negotiation from hostile to an environment that both parties have equal say in the outcome.
The Miami district school board should attempt to use the collaborative strategy in this negotiation process. The stakeholders have valid concerns and complaints that the board must hear, examine, and must be prepared to re-evaluate the boundaries, if necessary. The communities stakeholders in return much listen to the board explain their needs to establish new boundaries. To be truly collaborative, both parties involved must separate the people from the problem; separate positions from interests; create options for mutual gain; and look for appropriate criteria or standards ("Collaborative Negotiation Techniques", n.d).
Ultimately, the board must make choices and decisions based on what the federal guidelines outline for schools. If the board approaches the stakeholders in a manner that appears negotiable, understanding, and problem solving in nature, the stakeholders will be more receptive to the board’s arguments and need for the new school boundaries. The stakeholders are not going to come to the table with negotiations in mind, they will approach with demands, and reasons why they feel the boundaries are a bad idea. It will be up to the board to win the stakeholders over in a manner that is calm and informative with an emphasis on collaborating with the community and parents.

Ethics and culture
The school board needs to take into consideration any ethical or cultural issues regarding the rezoning of school boundaries. The school board needs to constantly check that they are conducting business within the school district ethics, the ethics society and what is in the best interest of the community. The school board needs to be careful that they don’t inadvertently discriminate against any group of people. The school board also shouldn’t favor the wealthy families over the families with lower incomes. The decision and negotiation strategy should promote fairness and collaboration ("Collaborative Negotiation Techniques", n.d). The school board needs to do what it can to reduce complaints within the community and some compromises on both parties may be needed.

References
Collaborative Negotiation Techniques. (n.d). Retrieved from http://laverne.edu/students/clubs/assets/collaborative_negotiation_techniques.pdf

Miami Dade County School District. (2012). Geographic Information System . Retrieved from http://its.dadeschools.net/technologyDelivery/GIS/gis.asp