Next Steps Being Determined in Rancho Cordova School Closures
The FCUSD school board has already handed down their decision to close two Rancho Cordova schools, and the district is now gathering its resources to begin students’ transitions to new schools.
Students currently attending Riverview Elementary will be transitioned to Peter J. Shields Elementary, located at 10434 Georgetown Drive; students attending Cordova Lane Elementary will either be attending Williamson Elementary at 2275 Benita Drive or Rancho Cordova Elementary at 2562 Chassella Way. Cordova Lane students will be split up because its population is “too large to fit into one school,” Public Information officer Stephen Nichols said.
Nichols said the next step will be forming a district transition team. “That team will have parents, teachers and education representatives from the district to determine which programs are going to go where,” he said. Board members also suggested that students be involved in the transition team during their last meeting.
The transition is expected to take six months to complete, Nichols said, and the schools will officially close at the end of the school year in May. “We believe as a school district that this is a very, very important situation,” he said. ”This is important to the families and we know that. It’s important to us as well. At the same time, we want to transition as best as possible these families and these students to their new schools.”
Even with the school closures, the district is looking at a $10 million budget shortfall for the 2010-2011 school year. The district has already started looking at ways to cut costs, and once the school closures are complete, closing the budget gap will become top priority.
“We are looking at things that we can do,” Nichols said. ”Things like athletics, counseling services, library services, electives, class sizes increasing, you name it – everything is on the table.”
The possibility remains that parents could raise enough money to keep their schools open. One parent wrote an impassioned letter to start a fundraising effort. “If our school can raise $300,000 by March 1, we can keep our school open,” the Cordova Lane parent wrote. “We are a high-performing school with unique programs. Our parents are passionate and we are going to work hard to protect our school and community!”
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So, now the district says it will involve parents in closure transition planning. Yeah right! FCUSD has demonstrated numerous times that they don’t care what parents think or will consider any ideas they have. The district will do whatever they want. I hate being so cynical, but FCUSD’s actions over the last few years have not given me much reason to think otherwise.
Parents at Cordova Lane are rallying to raise $300,000 to keep our school open! With the large amount of students we have, we believe it is in the best interest of keeping our kids at their school and not seperating them into 2 or more schools. Whether it is the many of the young families with students just starting out have purchased their first homes so their students could attend Cordova Lane or our seasoned residents who have lived in the neighborhood for decades, we want to protect the value of our community and keep our school open!
This is NOT something we can do alone- we are reaching out to everyone. Any size donation will help. Please check out our website: http://www.savecordovalane.com to learn more about our efforts or email us at savecordovalane.com!
“Be a part of something great”.
Sheryl, they want parents to help with the transition so they don’t have to deal with it, not because they care about our opinions!!