We understand the financial realities that school districts across the country and Bay Area are facing due to declining enrollment. We are aware of other Bay Area communities and districts that are dealing with those same realities as us right now. However, the way the district has collaborated with members of these other Bay Area communities in finding solutions to these issues is as different as night and day to how our district has tackled this issue.
Take, for example, Berryessa Union School District—a K-8 school district in San Jose—that voted in December to close 3 of its 10 elementary schools. The Berryessa board took 8 months to make its decision. In April 2024, the district school board officially formed a School Consolidation Advisory Committee, which held 9 public meetings over the course of 6 months. This committee then published its formal recommendations in a report to the board in November, with the final decision coming one month later in December.
Now, consider how the Pacifica SD board has tackled this issue. It did not officially form a School Consolidation Advisory Committee. In fact, no public meetings were conducted to discuss options for school consolidation, and parents were hardly engaged at all. In Pacifica, a committee met in private to form its recommendations and then unveiled them to the board on Saturday, January 11. Less than two weeks later, on 1/22/25, the board will vote on these recommendations.
Drew Schmenner
Concerned Ocean Shore Parent
This post was also published in Coastside News as a letter to the editor on January 21, 2025.
0 Comments