Parents Join Efforts to Save Cordova Lane Elementary From Closure

Parents of children attending Cordova Lane Elementary gathered Monday night to discuss their options in fighting the potential closure of the school for the 2010-2011 school year. Parents at the meeting discussed reasons why the school should be kept open as well as strategies they could offer to the FCUSD board to both save money and keep the school in operation.

The Folsom Cordova Unified School District announced a plan to close two elementary schools, Cordova Lane and Riverview, two weeks ago, citing a budget shortfall of $20 million as the reason for closure. Parents challenge the move, saying the $600,000 savings from closing the schools won’t solve their $20 million budget problem.

Vice Mayor Ken Cooley and Councilmember Robert McGarvey attended the meeting, and Cooley said he was bothered by the lack of notice the district gave for their decision to close the schools. “I sort of feel this got sprung on us late,” Cooley said. “You just think back a year ago, the school district needed Rancho Cordova’s support for a new bond measure and they trafficked on a lot of community goodwill.”

Kathryn Dettner, a leader of the Save Our Schools committee, said programs such as the Spanish Magnet Program and the drama program at Cordova Lane are reasons enough to keep the school open. “They need the teachers they have in that drama program,” she said. “What guarantee do they have that they’re going to put all three of those ladies over there? None.”

Committee leader Kristy Elder also questioned the district’s statement during the Oct. 19 forum that class sizes would stay the same if the two schools closed. “That’s not possible,” she said. “Not to mention, all the teachers we have here aren’t guaranteed to go with their students.”

“They’re going to close down schools, and then they’re going to be overcrowded at the other schools,” parent Dallas Bennett said. “They’re going to have a mess.”

The attendees also challenged the district’s assertion that large kitchens are an important factor for closing the two schools. “There are two schools that have bigger kitchens that make the lunches and them bring them,” Elder said, adding that those two schools are used to provide lunches for all the other schools in the area. A woman in attendance noted the district has been providing lunches in that manner for the past 40 years.

The group also mulled over possible solutions to he district’s budget crisis, such as grant writing, fundraising and even setting school thermostats one degree higher to lower their electricity bill. The group is currently looking for members of the community who have experience in grant writing to help keep Cordova Lane open.

The next public forum on the school closures will be held Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at Mills Middle School, and the committee is urging attendees to wear “cougar red” to the forum. The Save Our Schools committee can be reached at savecordovalane@yahoo.com.