School board votes to shutter second campus
Caught off guard by restructuring plan, Santa Rosa parents seek counsel
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

The Pleasant Valley school board has voted to close two campuses and restructure and consolidate school programs in an attempt to raise $1.5 million to pay for an 8 percent raise for teachers next year.

Trustees voted 41 on Thursday to close Los Primeros Structured School, move the program to the Los Senderos Open School site and open enrollment to neighborhood children. The board voted unanimously March 15 to close Los Altos in the fall.

Suzanne Kitchens posted the only no vote on Los Primeros, saying she was unsure of the long-term consequences.

"I have no idea where we're going with this topic anymore," Kitchens said. "At this point, I'm no longer feeling comfortable with what it is I'm voting on."

Pleasant Valley teachers' salaries fall far below the county average and raising their pay requires closing three schools, district officials have said.

Staff members and an advisory committee earlier this month recommended closing Camarillo Heights Elementary, Los Altos and Los Primeros based on the age and condition of the facilities.

The board's move on Thursday stunned some Los Primeros parents, who wanted to see all students continue to apply to the school through a lottery system.

Deanna Sonnenberg, whose 9-year-old son has attended Los Primeros since kindergarten, said "there's a certain amount of buyin" from parents who specifically chose the alternative program rather than sending their children to a school simply because it's in their neighborhood.

Sonnenberg and other parents, concerned that the structured program will begin to change once enrollment is opened to neighborhood students, questioned Assistant Superintendent Barbara Davis and trustee Patty Lerner after the board meeting.

Davis told them that when similar situations were approached in the past, alternative programs weren't altered. Davis and the parents plan to meet in coming weeks to discuss the matter further.

Lerner said the district will draw attendance boundaries to maintain balance between the number of neighborhood students and those selected through the lottery.

"The neighborhood kids won't outnumber 'choice' kids in there," Lerner said.

The school board also decided Thursday to remove grades six and seven from Santa Rosa Technology Magnet School and turn Rancho Rosal Elementary into a kindergartenthrough-fifth-grade magnet school with an open philosophy.

Prior to talk of closing schools, the district was expected to add eighth-graders to Los Senderos and Santa Rosa campuses in the fall.

The board's move caught Santa Rosa parents off guard, especially since the agenda posted 24 hours before the meeting included a staff recommendation that the school expand to eighth grade.

Crystal Ray, who has two children at the school and is president of the parent teacher organization, said she's surprised that the district would take away the high-achieving middle school grades.

"The district has provided strong support to schools up until now," the 30-year resident said.

The Santa Rosa community has sought legal advice.

The board's action also troubled Los Senderos parents, concerned that the integrity of the open program would be weakened since Rancho Rosal pupils will have priority enrollment over displaced Los Senderos students.

"It's obviously extremely disappointing- it's not a compromise but a complete abandonment of a 30yearold program," said parent Chris Parkerpresident of the Los Senderos steering committee.

"Our families are a lower priority," Parker said. The steering committee made up of parents and faculty sets the school policy and the focus of the schools' programs.