Several possible school closure, merger scenarios on the table

Updated Wednesday at 11:30 a.m, correcting school board member Mary Rodriguez's misidentified title. Rodriguez was a longtime paraeducator, not a teacher.

BARSTOW • The Barstow school district budget committee zeroed in on picking potential school closure or merger scenarios to recommend to the school board, and discussed the top three scenarios put forth by district officials on Tuesday.

Wednesday's meeting, however, added five more scenarios into the mix, and a crowd of 200 showed up to hear the new ideas and voice their opinions.

The foremost scenario from Tuesday's meeting involved closing two elementary schools by the 2009-10 school year, and one elementary and middle school by 2010-11.

The proposal includes closing Thomson Elementary School and combining it with Skyline North Elementary School, and closing Lenwood Elementary School and sending its students to Henderson Elementary School and Hinkley School — both by next fall.

The following year, either Montara or Crestline Elementary School would close and merge with the other, and Hinkley Middle School would shut down and send its seventh- and eighth-graders to Barstow Junior High School.

The first two years of school closures and mergers would allow the district to cut approximately $2.2 million from its budget.

However, several people on Wednesday voiced heavy support for closing Barstow Intermediate School and returning those students to elementary school. Committee members opted not to vote on school closure scenarios on Wednesday and asked district officials to bring back more detailed information for the next meeting.

District officials have set the benchmark of cutting $5 million from next year’s budget in anticipation of dramatic cuts in state funding, as the state trudges through its financial crisis.

The second scenario from Tuesday suggested changing Barstow Intermediate School into a K-5 elementary school. The set-up involves closing Thomson and Lenwood and sending its students to BIS, while turning Henderson into a sixth-grade-only school. The third possibility involves restructuring all elementary schools into three schools: one for kindergarten, one for first and second grade, and one for third and fourth grade.

On Tuesday, school board member Mary Rodriguez addressed the grim necessity of potentially closing schools before the audience, saying she was prepared to make unpopular decisions for the district’s long-term health.

Rodriguez, a longtime paraeducator in the district and newest board member, said her four sons had to switch schools when a series of schools shut down about 30 years ago.

“My kids went to different schools, and it didn’t hurt them,” said Rodriguez, who attended along with the four other board members.

Several parents and teachers — reflecting emotions ranging from sadness to frustration — stood before the committee and district officials, urging them to spare their local schools.

“I’m not surprised that people are concerned about their neighborhood’s schools closing,” said Susan Levine, interim superintendent. “There’s a lot of passion ... I appreciate that,” she said.

But, she said, the district must keep itself financially afloat.

Marilyn Kruse, community representative on the committee, pointed out to audience members that failing to make enough cuts to keep the district afloat could have consequences even worse than shutting down schools. Levine also explained that if the state had to rescue the district, it would likely disband the district’s leadership, scrap current labor union contracts, and put in its own person, an outsider, to call the shots.

“That’s the last thing we want to happen,” said Levine. “It’s better that we make it as a community that let someone from the outside come in.”

The committee’s list, which originally included 14 closure or merger options, has been pared down significantly over the past few budget meetings. It gained five more options Wednesday night.

The committee members also ranked a dozen items, excluding school closures, roughly totaling $5 million, and prioritized other cuts. Though eliminating elementary band programs was voted seven to six to be removed from the list last meeting, the committee kept it on the list, but ranked it as a last item to cut.

District officials said they are considering the student body size, availability of classrooms and space to add portables, and proximity, in addition to a school’s academic standing, when drawing up scenarios.

Both Thomson and Skyline received distinguished school awards from the state in 2008. Montara and Crestline are in their second and fifth year, respectively, of federal Project Improvement status for not meeting standardized testing requirements, and Hinkley is in its fourth year.

Some audience members raised concerns about why elementary schools were bearing the brunt of the changes, instead of also making cuts at Barstow High School. Levine explained, in an interview, that while the district will probably not fill any positions vacated at BHS after the year ends, which effectively cuts staff levels, class sizes are already large enough at the high school.

Main scenarios

On Tuesday's meeting, the budget committee discussed three top school closure or merger scenarios, listed below. At Wednesday's meeting, the group added five more possible scenarios (some were new, some were variations on previous ideas), further expanding the possibilities past the previously discussed top three.

1. Close Thomson Elementary School and combine it with Skyline North Elementary School for next year. Close Lenwood Elementary School and distribute students between Henderson Elementary School and Hinkley School. Close/merge either Montara or Crestline, and close Hinkley Middle School and send seventh and eighth graders to Barstow Junior High School — both in 2010-11.

2. Convert Barstow Intermediate School into K-5, close Lenwood and Thomson and put students in BIS, and turn Henderson into a sixth-grade-only school.

3. Restructure elementary schools into three schools: one for kindergarten, one for first and second grade, and one for third and fourth grade.

Board meeting recap

While budget issues, including possible school closures, loomed large over the school board meeting Tuesday night, the board discussed other agenda items. All five board members were present. The agenda included:

• Boys cross country: They honored the Barstow High School’s state championship winning boys cross country team, giving awards to the seven senior boys and also recognizing retiring coach Jim Duarte.

• Declining enrollment: Student enrollment across the district continues its steady decline and is down 15 students from this time last year.

• Employee insurance: The district finished holding insurance workshops with seven different vendors, and the board will get quotes from the vendors and also negotiate insurance contract changes with the teacher and classified unions in mid-March.

• Management three-day furlough: In light of the massive district budget cuts, the district’s management team, composed of 43 principals, assistant principals, district administrators and classified managers, decided Monday to all take three days of no pay in 2009-10, saving the district $51,000.

• Special ed class: Interim Superintendent Susan Levine said she decided on Friday to take back one severe handicap class from the county to now be run by the district, which was an item up for budget committee consideration, due to the urgent deadline. It saves $100,000.

• Future safety net: The district is gearing up to apply for a $5 million short-term loan as it anticipates having to borrow money in the coming months to pay salaries and bills if state apportionments get delayed, as expected.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4122 or elee@desertdispatch.com