Council Member David Sander Voices Concerns to Board over School Closures

On Nov. 19 at 6 p.m., the FCUSD board will vote on the closure of Cordova Lane and Riverview Elementaries at Cordova High School; the location of the meeting has changed in anticipation of a large crowd. The Rancho Cordova City Council has hitherto remained observers in the debate because the school district’s decisions are out of the Council’s jurisdiction.

Council Member David Sander sent a letter to the FCUSD board, urging them to delay their decision until they have a more complete understanding of their situation. The contents of letter were sent in an email from Save Cordova Lane, an organization of parents who are campaigning to keep their school open.

Board Members:

I’m writing to share some concerns about the elementary school closure proposal that you will be hearing and deciding on Thursday evening.

As you know, it is THE major goal of Rancho Cordova to improve the quality of life in our community, making up for years of decline before our incorporation as an independent city.

Your proposal to close two of our elementary schools obviously does not assist us in seeking this goal of improving our community. Closed school are by their very nature a blight on a community. There has been a good deal of speculation that a closed school could be used for some other purpose, and I agree that it may be possible — eventually. It is extremely unlikely however the City of Rancho Cordova or the Park District will find the resources necessary to do so. These will be empty campuses, damaging our neighborhoods and our property values and our morale and image.

I have many concerns about these proposed closures, and I’d like to address a few of the to you in writing:

Process Concerns

My biggest concern about this proposal is the process I’ve observed to date. Within a very short period of time, less than one month, my community has been asked to accept the closure of two elementary schools. We have been given no real alternatives which make this proposal sound more like an ultimatum than a community and school district decision. Meetings have been held at the same time as City Council meetings — and while public participation has been robust the public has not had much time to assess and make recommendations on this proposal.

I don’t see any reason for this rush to decision. Surely, last year such a study could have been made if the case is so strong for closure. Or the year before that. Why now, and why require a board decision in such a short period of time? This feels like a rush to judgement – or a deliberate attempt to limit public review of the decision. Either way, not a good process. Our community hasn’t had time to reflect on it, understand it, or balance it with any other priorities. If there was a deadline – why wait so long to talk about this?

False Choice?

I can understand your fiscal position – you have very significant cuts to make — but I haven’t, and my community hasn’t seen an analysis of what your other options are. What we see is a choice of choosing one neighborhood disaster or a different neighborhood disaster — it feels like a false choice.

We need to know what the real alternatives are. School athletics have also been held out as an option for cuts, along with class size increases, limits on electives, etc. – but none directly offered as an alternative to these closures. If the decision is not to close schools, then what’s the next option? What can parents and school staff do to increase efficiency and stretch existing dollars? Asking us to choose our poison without demonstrating that it is absolutely necessary is presenting my community with a false choice.

Big Picture

Rancho Cordovans also need a picture of the situation larger than just our end of the district. Many of my constituents are now saying something to the effect of – “Great – they close two Rancho Cordova Schools, and therefore don’t have to make similar cuts in Folsom!”. We need an answer to these sorts of points. Is any of the closed-school equipment (paid for by Rancho Cordova taxpayers only) going to be shipped to Folsom? Where are the commensurate cuts occurring only on the Folsom end of the District?

If school closures are the best means of balancing the budget – why only propose closing two? Wouldn’t four save twice as much money and therefore be better? We need to see the big picture situation and the full options to answer these questions. Why wasn’t this studied in previous years when real alternatives could have been discussed? It would be far easier to have this discussion if we knew that a charter or magnet school would be coming to our community as a result of the closure – that could be a net benefit rather than this proposed pure loss.

Metrics

Why close the large higher scoring schools and move the students to smaller lower performing schools? We seem to be punishing success and rewarding relative failure with these choices. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put the lowest scoring schools higher on the hit list? Why are test scores and ratings not under consideration? These metrics are a very big deal for us in Rancho Cordova where our school test scores are a major source of problems for our real-estate values and economic development. We know the District is capable of producing higher scores, and we’re patiently waiting for them — but closing the higher-scoring schools is a step in the wrong direction.

Recommendation

My recommendation for School Board Members is that you delay your decision until such time as you have real alternatives and a real choice in front of you. Wait until you can answer the questions posed here, and until you have scrubbed the budget in total and have a complete plan. Wait until you can be sure of the big picture, and our community has time to understand your situation and to work with you for better solutions.

A rushed decision taken now is likely to be a very poor decision. None of us can afford that.

Sincerely,

David M. Sander, Ph.D.

Councilman, City of Rancho Cordova