No schools in Hercules are reportedly slated for closure…

West County school district to discuss school closures
By Kimberly S. Wetzel

Facing a budget deficit that makes school closures inevitable, West Contra Costa school board members today will take the first step by approving criteria to determine which campuses to target.

District leaders said they must close as many as five schools in the 2009-10 school year and more in 2010-11 to realize $3 million in savings already written into the district’s multiyear budget outlook. No schools have yet been named.

“I know that when you’re closing elementary schools and merging schools, I know that’s a really hard thing,” said board member Madeline Kronenberg, who’s been contacted by concerned parents. “It’s difficult to see so many people have to go through the emotional turmoil; that’s probably the hardest part of this.”

Closing an elementary will save the district an estimated $300,000 per year in utilities, maintenance and staffing costs; shuttering a middle or high school will save about $800,000. The district must realize $1.5 million in savings through closures next year and an additional $1.5 million the year after. Officials could close five elementary schools, two middle or high schools or any combination to meet the $1.5 million mark. Students and staff would move to other schools.

Superintendent Bruce Harter has recommended that condition, enrollment, academic performance and capacity be considered as criteria. Other considerations should include the possibility of alternative grade configurations such as K-8 schools, geographic equity and overall improved conditions for students, Harter said.

Harter also has recommended that a committee be appointed to help with the decision and that the district hold a series of meetings to solicit public comment. A final closure list will come Feb. 11, and shuttered properties will be sold to pay off the district’s debts stemming from near-bankruptcy in the early 1990s.

Talk of school closures has put some communities on edge. More than 100 people representing Lake, Valley View and Coronado elementaries and Kennedy High decried the planned closures at a meeting last month, and the district has fielded dozens of phone calls and e-mails from people in opposition. A protest rally and march involving Lake Elementary parents and students is planned today.

Adrienne Kimball, co-chairwoman of the newly formed “Save Lake School” committee, said many are concerned that Lake will close because the campus has not been rebuilt under the district’s school bond reconstruction program.

“The parents and community supporting the 503 students at Lake are outraged,” Kimball said.