Four Redwood City schools will close and programs are to be merged as campuses are consolidated under a list of draft recommendations from Redwood City Elementary School District officials seeking to mend a fractured budget.
The proposal to close John Gill, Adelante, Fair Oaks and Hawes elementary schools will go before officials and community members during a discussion Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Fox Theatre.
The proposed closures are part of a larger effort also including program consolidations, school redesigns and campus overhauls intended to save the district $4 million, according to a district report.
Superintendent John Baker characterized the transformation as a challenging yet necessary step to fix structural financial issues which have been a constant source of hardship.
“As difficult as this work has been, we also see it as an opportunity to rethink how we educate our students and how we meet the needs of our community,” Baker said in the report.
Under the plan, which will be discussed at the upcoming meeting in advance of a decision mandated by the county Office of Education next month, some of the four schools tagged for shuttering will cease operations at the end of the school year.
Should the plan ultimately be adopted as recommended, the popular parent participation program at Orion Elementary School would be moved to the John Gill Elementary School campus, where enrollment could expand to accommodate demand.
Orion’s program draws heavily on collaboration with parents, who are expected to participate in school activities, leadership and other services, to develop a desirable school community, according to the report which shows a lengthy waitlist to enroll due to limited capacity.
The Orion program could expand with a move to the John Gill campus, which is slated to be updated as part of a bond rebuilding plan. Meanwhile, John Gill experienced dwindling enrollment due to the popularity of competing private schools with nearby families, said the report.
With a move expected to save about $723,000, moving Orion to John Gill could also help the with student recruitment as officials attempt to stem the enrollment struggles plaguing the district. The district suffers from dropping enrollment for a number of reasons and its funding formula means it gets money from the state based on average daily attendance.
Enrollment woes are most severe in the area surrounding Fair Oaks, Hoover, Garfield and Taft elementary schools, where officials are looking to close campuses and redesign existing schools.
Under a plan to rebuild Taft Elementary School, officials are planning to close the existing campus for in the 2019-20 school year for construction and reopen it one year later with a new identity and direction.
Officials are hopeful to establish a modern, innovative direction for the school to make it a recruitment asset for the district. In the interim while it is closed, officials expect to save about $830,000 annually.
Meanwhile, Fair Oaks Elementary School is slated to be closed permanently, in an effort to save $568,000, resurrecting the vision first floated last year but ultimately abandoned following an enrollment surge. Advocates for the school had feared such a decision was coming, claiming officials only temporarily backed off the initial proposal to establish a longer runway for the shuttering.
Some members of the Adelante Elementary School community were also critical of the proposal to blend the Spanish immersion program with a similar version hosted at the Selby Lane Elementary School campus.
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But as officials are formally recommending the consolidation, under an effort to save $910,000 by vacating the Adelante campus, some members of the school community are less critical of the proposal.
Emily Lowe said many Adelante parents are willing to accept that compromise is required in an effort to fix the budget dysfunction with which officials have long grappled.
“I’ve gotten used to the idea, I think it makes a lot of sense, if it is on an immersion-only campus, and if [Redwood City Elementary School District] provides the support to consolidate the two schools correctly,” she said in an email, noting the variety of amenities and services likely required for an effective merge.
She also detailed the divergent opinions on the matter among those in the school community.
“Many don’t want to move. Many fear moving will cause too much upheaval for our sense of community to be maintained. Not to mention some don’t want to drive further or have to do double dropoffs with their middle school students,” she said. “However, there are many like myself, who think, if [Redwood City Elementary School District] can do it correctly, it will be OK and might even work out better.”
In a final recommended school closure, officials are planning to allow the popular Roosevelt Elementary School to absorb the Hawes Elementary School enrollment zone, leaving the latter campus vacant after the end of the school year.
The project-based learning model at Roosevelt is already a draw for many families, including those at Hawes currently, and the school has space to nearly double its enrollment. Such a move could save $560,000, according to the report.
With revenue generated by renting the downtown district office, which could draw $1.6 million annually and saving an expected $430,000 in staff cuts, the district identified additional budget improvements over the coming years. If implemented, the district could buy time from county officials who may otherwise intervene and attempt to solve the financial woes.
Beyond the recommendations, officials plan to continue studying the fate of North Star Academy, as well as a proposed transition from a kindergarten through eighth-grade model to one more prominently featuring middle schools. Officials also need to study ways to use the campuses potentially vacated through the action plan, while identifying new enrollment boundaries, among other efforts.
Nodding to the variety of difficult decisions facing officials, Baker expressed his confidence the district will ultimately improve operations through the overhaul.
“We believe that ‘right-sizing’ the district will also make us stronger,” he said.
The Redwood City Elementary School District Board of Trustees meets 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 105
Note to readers: this article has been amended to identify the additional revenue generation opportunities for the district.
(1) comment
"With a move expected to save about $723,000, moving Orion to John Gill could also help the with student recruitment as officials attempt to stem the enrollment struggles plaguing the district. The district suffers from dropping enrollment for a number of reasons and its funding formula means it gets money from the state based on average daily attendance."
The district should do the opposite! Declining enrollment is a blessing in disguise. The district should lease closed facilities to private schools.
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