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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Community members discuss budget, possible school closure
by Susan Arroyo, published on January 22, 2009 at 11:42 PM
Storyline: Community meeting
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About 150 worried parents crowded into the Washington Elementary School auditorium Wednesday night to voice their concerns to the school board over the possible closure of their children's school.
The meeting was held by the Sacramento City Unified School District and was open to the community to discuss options for the usage of the school, as funds dry up and the State Legislature looks to make deep cuts into schools.
Superintendent Tom Barrenston and Assistant Superintendent Nancy Purcell addressed the crowd and explained that they were there to gather input and suggestions on not only facility use, but revenue generation.
The meeting started with the grandfather of a student asking about whether or not the school's budget crisis was Gov. Schwarzenegger's fault. He also suggested that the school district could not afford to pay for so many superintendents.
"The budget crisis is due to the fact that there is more unemployment and less taxes," Barrenston said.
Many parents and one of Washington's own teachers were concerned over rumors that 18 months ago a dance company toured the school with the intention of closing down the school. This was denied by Barrenston, who explained that although a dance company did tour the site, it was only to hold an after-school and summer program, which would bring in revenue.
Matt Mitchell, president of the River Park Neighborhood Association, stood up and explained that closing down a school like Washington elementary that was built in the 1950's would destroy community. Mitchell also said he had to worry about his own neighborhood school, Caleb Greenwood, being closed down.
The responses that were given all night mostly consisted of a "Thank you" for the concern and a redirection to the district's website for a better answer. Purcell had a list of vague possible short- and long-term lease/rent opportunities, such as colleges, government agencies and private sector. A parent quickly questioned this information, wondering how the university she attended could afford to rent out space from the district when its administrators, too, announced they had a budget crisis.
Before the meeting was over, unhappy parents started to slowly leave as Purcell reminded everyone that if they didn't get to ask their question, they could fill out a suggestion card.
Parent Vanessa Bautista was not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
"It just seemed like the answers they gave me were very bureaucratic," Bautista said. "I just hope they don't close down the school after open enrollment ends. Then where will my daughter go?"
Bautista lives two blocks from Washington elementary. The school closing will not only affect how far she will have to travel to another school, but her 5-year-old daughter as well.
"She has already made friends here that live close by, and I would like her to build lasting friendships with [them]," Bautista said.
The school district's next meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 26 at Alice Birney Elementary, 6251 14th Street in Sacramento.
Meetings will continue until Feb. 11 and go from 6-8 p.m.
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The point of reporting on this event was to cover what happened and what was said at the event. The point of the story was *not* to breakdown the issue of school closures or budget problems.
From what was written it is clear that there was a tense mood at the event and that there was a fair amount of fear about potential closures.
And to answer your question... A dance company toured the school. The parents of students at that school feared that the reason the dance company was touring the school was as a perspective tenant of the school's buildings.
Some of the sites they are planning to sell are buildings like the Old Marshall School, the Fremont Adult School, the old district administration building at 17th and N, or the continuation school in Southside Park at 8th and V. Some of these buildings are historic landmarks in their own right (the first three of the four mentioned) and might work well as "adaptive reuse" projects, converted to offices or even housing. If the district can sell unneeded properties that are not schools, maybe they can avoid having to close school sites, but it might not be enough to make the difference.