Redwood City school closure plan continues to move ahead

The Redwood City Elementary School District Board of Trustees largely agreed several other pieces of the proposal, which include closing other schools and merging programs, are reasonable steps to closing a $10 million structural deficit.

No final decision was made at the meeting, and the issue will be further discussed later this month. Officials though suggested they were comfortable with merging the Adelante Elementary School Spanish immersion program with Selby Lane Elementary School’s version; expanding the Roosevelt Elementary School enrollment boundaries to consume Hawes Elementary School; and moving Orion Elementary School to John Gill Elementary School.

But in the wake of dozens of school community members sharing fears that closing both Taft and Fair Oaks elementary schools would compound the hardships faced by many neighborhood residents, officials ultimately agreed to compromise.

Instead, officials will look to merge the two schools — likely on the Taft campus, which would shutter Fair Oaks — in an effort to preserve one location relatively accessible for those who struggle with reliable transportation. Officials initially considered closing both, halving the amount of neighborhood schools down to two.

Fears over difficulty of reaching a campus far from their homes were packaged by some with frustrations regarding perceptions that officials were inequitably concentrating the pain of school closures in a community home to mostly Latino families.

“It is unfair, discriminatory and it a hardship for too many,” said Mary Jane Vallejo, a teacher at Hawes Elementary School, which is slated to be closed to make more space for the expansion of Roosevelt Elementary School’s program.

Such a perspective was repeated throughout the meeting which lasted five hours and into the early parts of the next morning, as some shared concerns that many would not be able to get their kids to school if nearby campuses were closed.

“The part of our community facing the most hardship is being inequitably affected by this,” said resident Jonathan Shaw.

Those who felt the board’s initial proposal was unfair noted that many of the schools in the more affluent part of the city were left untouched, raising questions over the board’s inspiration for its recommendations.

Community member Eric Sutton encouraged officials to detail their plans for the overhaul, which could extinguish perceptions that they are working in the favor of one population at the expense of another.

“There is an opportunity to present a districtwide vision rather than padding the wealthy schools,” he said.

For her part, board President Maria Diaz Slocum tried to downplay the concerns of playing favorites.

“I think we need to lift all schools because all students and all families are important. We have to make some decisions that are not going to be popular,” she said. “Some people are not just being inconvenienced — they are going to have a hardship. So how are we going to minimize that hardship?”

Trustee Hilary Paulson though illustrated the interest in attempting to address a portion of the frustrations raised.

“I’m very concerned about closing Fair Oaks and Taft at the same time,” said Paulson. Officials are planning to overhaul the Taft campus through a bond building campaign, but trustees discussed attempting to keep the campus open to students during construction to not exacerbate the hardship feared by residents.

Officials are examining the variety of efforts to trim an estimated $4 million from the budget over the next two years, which in tandem with other initiatives could help take a chunk out of a nearly $10 million deficit.

The source of the district’s funding issue is primarily a dwindling enrollment, draining the budget as much of its funding is allocated from the state according to average daily enrollment.

Officials for years have attempted to apply Band-Aids, leading to limited success and an eventual proposal to transform the budget through school closures and consolidations, giving way to staff cuts and revenue opportunities through renting vacated campuses.

Beyond the recommendations targeting campuses, officials are interested in moving the district office and renting the downtown space for additional income. More discussions remain on the table too, such as whether the district should move away from a model built on kindergarten through eighth-grade schools to one with a larger focus on middle schools.

Officials must also determine the future of North Star Academy, as some feel the award-winning program serving third- through eighth-graders on an accelerated path is receiving special treatment amidst the overhaul.

An initial recommendation suggested a committee of school parents and administrators develop a vision for the site, which draws students from across the district and other neighboring communities.

Critics of that plan though noted no other campus was granted such an opportunity, fueling arguments that the school was receiving outsize consideration while others were directed to close without advance warning. Ultimately, in recognition of those positions, officials agreed the committee should be expanded to consider a wider variety of perspectives.

Reflecting on the larger process, trustees detailed the variety of difficult choices they are facing.

“This is absolutely the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do,” said trustee Alisa MacAvoy.

The Redwood City Elementary School District Board of Trustees is slated to host another discussion 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, at Carrington Hall on the Sequoia High School campus.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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