This segment of important information is brought to you by: Maddie Smith, staff writer

The School Consolidation Advisory Committee for Santa Rosa City Schools met on November 18, 2024 to review the criteria for school closure and consolidation. The meeting took place at the District Office on Stony Point Road, where they discussed which information would be the most helpful to include and data regarding school sites and possible uses for them. Their goal was to prepare for their next meeting, on December 16, when they will be narrowing down their list of possible sacrifices for a final decision in January, in order to bring the District out of its 25 million dollar debt. 

The meeting began with a vote to either keep or disregard Criteria 14 through 16 in the Best Practices Guide for Potential School Closure, which the committee has been following to make their decision about which schools will be closed. Criterion 14 relies on data from Dashboard, which includes qualitative data, as well as numbers, including graduation rates, attendance, population diversity, among other factors. Criteria 15 and 16 deal with the quantitative data from schools’ Math and ELA test scores. 

The Committee discussed the relevancy of such data, some claiming that punishing schools with low test scores, which are highly impacted by population demographics, creates bias against those schools. Others – including many parent hecklers – argued that avoiding these numbers is “cherry picking” data. One Hidden Valley Elementary parent expressed their opinion during public comment time, suggesting that “the more the data, the better the decision.” Despite differing opinions, the Committee voted to eliminate the criteria, but after obvious disagreement from parents, decided to reevaluate at next month’s meeting. 

After a brief overview of the decreasing District student population and staff/faculty trends over time, the budget experts spoke about the District’s current financial status. They reviewed recent Budget Time certifications, explaining the difference between the “positive”, “negative”, and “qualified” labels that describe whether or not the District will be able to meet its financial needs. A “positive” means that they are on track, “negative” means they are not, and “qualified” means they may not be able to meet the standards. SRCS has been stuck in a “qualified” state. If a District goes through two interims with this status, they will need to be reevaluated the following year, and if they cannot improve their standing, the Sonoma County Office of Education will have to step in to manage their finances. SRCS is on its way to having this intervention, meaning that their budgeting has been less than satisfactory – evident in its incredible debt. 

The Committee went on to evaluate possible transportation changes and needs from the students in the District. Families who rely on the school bus system may be unable to after a school closure due to restricted routes, leaving them to rely on the city bus or some other means of transportation. One Committee member commented on how much this may change things for certain students, claiming that “there will be scenarios where we’ll be asking kids to spend hours… on the city bus.” 

The Committee then debated the alternative in and out of District schooling options for students at every school in the District. One of the determining factors of closing a school is how many students the District would lose from a school. Certain schools, if closed, would result in many student transfers out of the District because of the alternative option’s proximity to that school. After the closures many students will leave the District – as mentioned by many parents during public comment time – and the District will lose money with those kids. They need to keep as many students, and therefore money, as possible. 

Following this discussion, the Committee opened the floor up to speakers from the community in attendance. Parents and faculty from Hidden Valley Elementary, Maria Carrillo High, Santa Rosa Middle, and more voiced their concerns and opinions, many taking the opportunity to advocate for the protection of their school. 

The meeting ended with a resolve to reevaluate Criteria 14-16 and data points questioned by parents. The Committee will be narrowing down their decision on December 16, in order to provide a final recommendation for closure to the School Board in January.

Thank you, we hope you can help make an influence on this matter through your participation and influence.