Board reverses decision to close, move schools
Los Altos still to close, others given reprieve
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Reversing an earlier decision, the Pleasant Valley School Board last week voted not to reconfigure school grades and move programs, proposals that had set off widespread parent protests and public rallies.

In an attempt to free up $1.5 million to give faculty and staff members a raise and add educational programs for students, the board voted in March to close Los Altos Middle School and remove the sixth and seventh grades from Santa Rosa Technology Magnet School.

The board also decided to close Los Senderos Open School and move the Los Primeros Structured School program to its campus, and to designate Rancho Rosal Elementary an open magnet school.

But at the April 19 board meeting, four of the five trustees decided instead to keep the schools and their programs unchanged, even opting to add an eighth-grade at Santa Rosa. The board decided to wait for trustee Patty Lerner to return from vacation before reexamining the issue of school closure and reorganization.

The board will nevertheless close Los Altos Middle School in the fall.

Board President Ron Speakman said that despite the controversy sparked by the board's earlier decisions, he has not heard anyone in the community dispute the need to "fairly compensate" the teachers.

"To a large extent that's why we're here," Speakman said. "As a community, we're in agreement."

Many of the teachers in the packed City Council chambers wore yellow shirts imprinted "Keep Teachers a Priority" and reacted to the surprise move with apprehension.

"We're very uneasy," said Ann McNamee, a four-year teacher at Santa Rosa.

Some 30 Santa Rosa parents organized into a committee not long after the board's decision in May to reconfigure the school. They hired a lawyer to investigate whether the district violated the law by not giving advance notice that the school could be restructured, and as a result, the district put the matter on the April 19 board agenda.

The parents showed the board statistics they had compiled that proved the district could lose as much as $850,000 next year if it eliminated the middle school grades. The group said a survey of Santa Rosa parents revealed that about 162 students would leave the district if the grades were removed, including 70 students who transfer to the school from outside the district.

In addition, the district could spend as much as $1 million to make changes to the Las Colinas Middle School campus to accommodate those students who stay in Pleasant Valley, the parents said.

"We were off the target," Speakman said of the findings.

Asked after the board meeting whether the outcome might have been different for Los Altos if parents there had hired a lawyer, Santa Rosa parent Rick Hazeltine said no.

"The numbers weren't there for them," Hazeltine said. "We knew we had to have the numbers . . . or we weren't going anywhere."

Also during last week's standing-room-only meeting, trustees heard from about a dozen Los Senderos parents urging approval of a charter school application for the Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education.

Wearing black Tshirts imprinted with the school name, the parents said that 350 students have indicated they plan to attend the school which they hope to see open in the fall.

"At some point a charter school will come to Camarillo," said City Councilmember Kevin Kildee, whose two children attend Los Senderos. "Progressive forms of education are a fact of life and can be very good for the city."

The district tentatively scheduled a study session on charter schools for 6 p.m. April 30 at city hall.

The board said it will pursue an offer by Camarillo city officials to find other revenue sources to fund teachers' raises.

"We're more than willing to help; we're more than willing to discuss," Mayor Jan McDonald told the board, adding, "We can't promise that we can pay your bills."