How to close a school How to close a school (January 16, 2004)

District committee selects criteria for unpopular task

By Dan Stapleton

Despite hearing a favorable budget proposal from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, the Mountain View-Whisman School District moved forward with the option to close one of its seven elementary schools.

A task force of district parents and teachers met with the district's administrators on Monday to narrow its criteria in selecting the school to potentially close.

They decided in favor of using factors such as academic performance, ethnic makeup and groundwater and air pollution in determining what makes a school worth keeping.

Repeated state budget reductions and the failure of Measure E last June have forced harsh cuts in programs and services. A school closure could save the district more than $350,000, but the savings could be consumed by the cost of busing students to another school.

"Say that right now, 300 kids walk or ride their bikes to school A. If we close school A, we have to bus an extra 200 kids to school B, and having to bring in extra buses and drivers can eat the savings," said Superintendent Jim Negri.

Closing a school for only a few years could also cause savings to disappear due to costs associated with reopening it if enrollment rebounds quickly.

Several parents attended the meeting to voice concerns about their children's schools potentially being closed, bringing to attention the issue of community involvement and parent volunteers.

Negri said he considers closing a school to be a last resort. "I hope that this committee gets its work done, and then we never have to use any of its recommendations," he said. "I believe in small schools, and closing a school is a disruptive activity for the students learning."

Before making a decision on whether to close a school, Negri hopes to pass a $1.6 million parcel tax measure in March, which may provide enough funding to keep all the schools open. But even that might not be enough to keep all nine of the district's schools running without sacrificing major programs.

The task force will continue to meet until it makes its official recommendations to Negri in March.

E-mail Dan Stapleton at intern@mv-voice.com

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