We’re soliciting your questions in the event the Pinellas School Board approves its new student assignment plan Tuesday.

Are there any aspects of the plan that remain unclear to you? Do you struggle with the rationale for some decisions? Your thoughts could help shape our coverage.

The board will meet in a workshop from 1:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the issue of how to assign students to magnet and fundamental schools. If board members agree to take a final vote on the plan, a special meeting has been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. If they approve it, the plan, which calls for a return to neighborhood schools, would be implemented starting with the 2008-09 school year.

The magnet and fundamental issue in a snap: A majority of the board has said it wants those schools to give neighborhood kids a leg up during the admissions process so those kids aren’t denied a school close to home. Magnets and fundamentals normally draw from across the county or a large area of the county. Other board members say the district should stick to a countywide application for those schools to give them the best chance at retaining racial diversity.

Feel free to weigh in here or at schoolplan@sptimes.com

- Thomas C. Tobin, Times staff writer