The John Swett Unified School District once had ideas for annexing Hercules (from 2000)…

John Swett Schools Drop Plans to Annex Parts of Hercules
Other possible solutions will be tried to make up for enrollment decline
Elizabeth Bell, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 9, 2000

(06-09) 04:00 PST HERCULES — The John Swett Unified School District has backed away from a proposal to annex parts of Hercules as a way of coping with declining enrollment that has hurt school finances and forced layoffs.

The 2,000-student district encompassing Rodeo, Crockett and part of Hercules is trying to find a way to cope with a projected 25 percent drop in enrollment over the next 10 years. The smaller the enrollment, the less money the district gets from the state.

By fall, the district will lay off 15 teachers, staff members and administrators. For the first time in two years, the school board is expecting to pass a budget this summer that will meet state requirements.

The district has discussed several possible solutions, including closing the high school, cutting programs at the high school and increasing enrollment by annexing the remainder of Hercules from the West Contra Costa school district.

Superintendent Michael Roth and school board members discussed that last possibility at a meeting this week and indicated it was not a likely option.

Instead, Roth said, he was investigating various grants that would help maintain a strong program at the high school. He said that with grants the district might be able to set up an “academy” program with a focus on a particular career path such as technology or health careers, in addition to the standard curriculum.

If it pursued annexing Hercules, the district would probably run into opposition from the 34,000-student West Contra Costa Unified School District, said West Contra Costa school board member Glen Price.

“There are resources our district has that serve the people of Hercules and vice versa,” said Price. “At this point, I can’t see any positives for our district (in losing Hercules).”

West Contra Costa is in the final stages of building a combination middle and high school in Hercules, to open in September. It would be hard to let that go, said Price.

To annex Hercules, 25 percent of Hercules residents would have to sign a petition favoring the transfer. Then the issue would go to a vote in the affected communities. Even if that passed, it could be rejected by the state Board of Education on appeal, if the state found either school district would be hurt by the annexation.

“I think very clearly, West Contra Costa could say on a couple of grounds, ‘This is not good for us,’ ” said Roth.

Even if the annexation did take place, Roth said, John Swett probably would have to shoulder a proportional amount of West Contra Costa’s $21 million debt, which could counter any benefit from gaining the additional 2,700 Hercules students.