GreatSchools.net: Board Closes Some Schools, Spares Many

1.19.06
By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

The School Board voted to close three schools, relocate five and merge two into existing programs, but spared the majority of the 26 institutions that had been proposed for consolidation.

The board's actions included relocating Newcomer High School, currently in Pacific Heights, to the current site of Edison Charter Academy in the Mission; merging John Swett into John Muir and JBBP West into Rosa Parks; and closing Enola D. Maxwell Middle, Luther Burbank Middle and Cabrillo Elementary schools as of the coming school year.

The board's complete actions were as follows:

Closed

• Enola Maxwell Middle School
• Luther Burbank Middle School
• Cabrillo Elementary

Merged

• John Swett into John Muir
• JBBP West into Rosa Parks

Relocated

• Newcomer High School, to 3531 22nd Street (current site of Edison Charter Academy)
• Edison Charter Academy, to a site as yet to be determined
• International Student Academy to current Enola Maxwell site
• Downtown High School to 689 Vermont Street, current ISA site
• Aim High to 325 LaGrande Ave., current Luther Burbank site

Spared any change

• New Traditions Elementary
• Grattan Elementary
• Daniel Webster Elementary
• Starr King Elementary
• Willie Brown Elementary
• Gloria R. Davis Elementary
• County Community programs
• Peabody Elementary School
• Jose Ortega Elementary
• Sheridan Elementary
• McKinley Elementary
• Malcolm X Elementary

The meeting was packed with frustrated, tense parents and community members. Angry outbursts and booing from the audience brought the meeting to a halt on several occasions. Board decisions to remove schools from the list met with whoops of joy; decisions to close or merge schools were greeted with shouts, jeers and tears.

Board members estimated the actions it took tonight would save SFUSD around $2 million annually. Additionally, City College has offered the district a one-time payment of $4 million for the long-term lease on the space currently occupied by Downtown High School, which will move to the site of International Student Academy. City College has also offered $700,000 a year for use of the current Newcomer site while it renovates its John Adams campus.

The district expects to lose $5 million in revenue next year due to declining enrollment, which fell 1,000 this year. It's total budget shortfall is projected to be as high as $12 million, not accounting for any savings to be had from decisions the board made Thursday night.

Students in closed schools will be given top priority in next week's Round 1 enrollment process, while students in merged schools will be given second-highest priority. All affected students will be considered before those in the general population.

The Board rejected by six to two a proposal to halt the consolidation process and take an advance of Proposition H funds from the City. Board of Supervisors representative Ross Mirkarimi proposed advancing the district up to $5.3 million in Proposition H funds contingent on the district developing a long-range plan to reverse declining enrollment and engage in a "more well-measured approach" to closing schools that would solicit extensive community input. Mirkarimi called the proposal before the board Thursday a "rush job (that) excludes communities wholesale."

Board Members Eric Mar and Mark Sanchez supporting halting the process, which they said would disproportionately impact African- Americans and residents of the Western Addition and Bayview-Hunters Point. Other members, however, said that halting the process now would only mean a greater number of consolidations next year. They also said using Prop. H funds – intended largely for arts, libraries, sports and music programs – could hurt the district's credibility with voters at a time when it is hoping to launch bond measures and a parcel tax. Commissioner Dan Kelly observed that the board was already under intense pressure to use some of the discretionary funds available under Prop. 39 for salary increases. The teacher's union, currently in negotiations with the district for a new contract, has asked for a 12 percent increase, and has said it will consider a strike if it receives less than 4 percent. Teachers have not received cost-of-living raises in three years.

Public testimony before the meeting indicated strong opposition to the process the board used to develop its candidates for consolidation. Speakers said the process had taken place over too short a time, with too little community input and with too great an impact on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. "One minute to stand before you and state your case is not community input," one speaker commented.

As it made its decision, the board then considered each proposed merger, closure or relocation individually. The final resolution represented a compromise in which few if any board members had supported every aspect of the proposal.

The closest vote, by four to three, was whether to move Newcomer from Pacific Heights to the Mission, to the current site of Edison Charter Academy. Families at both Newcomer and Edison have voiced strong opposition to the move. However, the district stands to gain $700,000 a year in lease revenues from City College, funds which were already being considered in the district's budget projections, according to Commissioner Jill Wynns. Eddie Chin, Eric Mar and Mark Sanchez voted against the relocation.

About the decision to move JBBP West to Rosa Parks, supporters spoke of the need of JBBP to have a larger facility and the advantage of locating it close to Japantown. Opponents – Sarah Lipson and Eric Mar – said they were concerned about possible segregation within the school and the district's ability to successfully integrate disparate programs.

The decision to merge John Swett into John Muir was strongly opposed by Sanchez, who said that John Swett was at 81 percent capacity if one didn't count the bungalows which are used not as classroom but art workshop space. "Closing John Swett and moving it to a school that is struggling mightily is not the answer," Sanchez said. Mar and Lipson also voted not to merge the schools. Supporters said the merger could create a program that would incorporate the best each school had to offer.

The decision not to make any changes at Daniel Webster and Starr King came partly as a result of an extensive and well-organized drive by Potrero Hill residents, many of them white, middle class families with small children who have pledged to enroll in their neighborhood schools. The effort involved a well-organized campaign including T-shirt sales, development of Web sites and e-mail lists, glossy fliers and extensive presentations to the Board.

A motion by Norman Yee to merge Jose Ortega and Sheridan elementaries was not seconded; instead, the board voted unanimously to retain both schools in what is seen as an under-served part of the city with a growing number of working-class families. Board members expressed the need to enrich programs at the schools if they are to remain off the merger list next year. They asked staff and members of the schools to explore options including creating a K-8 program, adding a pre-K, and adding language and arts programs.

The decision not to merge Willie Brown and Gloria R. Davis was made largely based on the schools' status as Dream Schools. "These two schools are part of a reform effort that's been very controversial and I think we have to give them the opportunity to have this year and next to develop without the disruption of relocation," Dan Kelly said.

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