The Sacramento City USD Board voted to close seven schools, including Washington Elementary. This is a sad day for students and their communities. There is a good chance that the decision will be overturned in the courts, as the district proudly refused to consider the effects of the closure on low income and high minority communities, but nevertheless, this will take up yet more community energy and time, energy and time that could have been devoted to improving schools. What kind of feeling does this leave the communities with, when the district and the board work against the interests of the community?
Tag: Sacramento City Unified School District
Washington School meeting tonight
The meeting on the closure of Washington Elementary School in midtown Sacramento is this evening (Wednesday, February 13) from 6:00 to 9:00PM, at the school. Though all of the eleven schools proposed to be closed are important, I’m highlighting this one because it is my neighborhood school – I live in midtown. If this school closes, there will be no schools left in midtown.
The Sacramento Press had an article yesterday (Use your voice – input needed on Washington Elementary School closure, 2013-02-12).
I posted earlier on school closures.
The district’s website has information on closures. While I believe the district’s approach of basing closure solely on “economic criteria” – meaning excess capacity – is seriously flawed, nevertheless, here is the capacity report on Washington. If the portable classrooms (X, Y, Z) with a capacity of 132 were removed, the overall capacity would then be 574 rather than 706. The school would then be 39% of capacity rather than the district’s number of 31%. Still very low. I suspect that a similar analysis of the other schools to be closed would show a similar bias against schools where the district added portables and is now counting these against the school, no matter what condition or life expectancy they have.
The Sacramento Bee has also had a number of articles: Video: Kindergartener asks board not to close his school; Why sacrifice high-performing neighborhood schools?; Large crowd lobbies against planned Sacramento City school closures; True to their school; SCUSD’s Community Meeting at Mark Hopkins Elementary School; Sacramento school closings will hurt neighborhoods; Jonathan Raymond pads pay of his chief of staff, closes schools; Sacramento schools will hold meetings on closures; Education blog tracks school closures, more; Editorial: Time to match city schools with enrollment; Parents question Sacramento City district school closure plans at emotional meeting; Sacramento school closures meeting; Joseph Bonnheim Elementary serves English learners; Consider community fabric with school closures; Sacramento City Unified considers closing 11 elementary schools; Report Card: Sac City Unified identifies schools considered for closure; 11 elementary schools could be shuttered in Sacramento City Unified district; Under-enrolled Sacramento district may close multiple city schools; School closures, enrollment losses are top concerns in Sacramento City Unified Area 3 race
School closures
Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is considering the closure of 10 elementary schools which are well below capacity due to declining enrollment, in order to save money on facilities and staff. While I certainly sympathize with the need to reduce costs in the face of declining enrollment, I think that SCUSD is failing to consider several factors in making this decision. Let me say that many school districts are facing the same challenge; SCUSD is just the current example, and I am not trying to pick on them. I live within SCUSD but work in another school district; I do not have children, but have been an education professional for much of the last 39 years.
There have been a number of articles in the local media about the closures, but the SacBee article on Sunday, January 27 provides a level of detail and addresses several of the challenges.
Why is this a transportation issue? Closure of these schools will eliminate 10 neighborhood schools, which children can by and large now walk or bicycle to. True, many of the students don’t, but they could. In most cases they will not be able to walk and bike to their new school, due to increased distance and the need to cross busy arterial streets. The change will therefore greatly increase the rate of parents driving their children to school at the remaining schools. More congestion and air pollution, and less safety for the students who do walk and bike. I will clearly state two premises:
- Right-sized neighborhood schools have a strong social value that must be weighed along with other considerations.
- All children should be able to walk and bike to school, at least at the elementary level.
Getting Around Sacramento 