Letter of Support

Jimmie W. Rogers
Rogers Realty
5000 Roberts Lake Rd, Ste B
Rohnert Park, Ca
94928

December 10th, 2007
Re: School Closures


Board of Trustees
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District
5860 Labath Avenue
Rohnert Park, Ca. 94928


Dear Rohnert Park Cotati School Board and Superintendent Vrankovich:

I support the original vision of the city of Rohnert Park. I believe that our schools should be at the nucleus of our community, and I support the efforts of those who are trying to preserve that ideal. Closing schools is not supportive to our children or our community.

I feel that closing two additional schools in our district is counteractive to the goals of both our school district and the city of Rohnert Park. Closing schools will result in a community that is fragmented and not invested in itself. Growth in our community is an inevitable reality, but closing schools discourages growth, limiting our capacity for a successful future. Overcrowded schools will lessen the sense of community that our district architecture currently fosters.

Keeping schools open will provide ample opportunities for growth and new programs in the future of the school district. It also sends the message to our community that Rohnert Park is committed to the small town feel that was part of the city’s inception. Keeping schools open shows that we believe in our future success and we are invested in a vision that will make our goals a reality. It gives us room to become the quality district and community that we are capable of being.

While I am aware of the financial concern that the district is facing, I do not believe that closing schools is the answer. Please take the time to look at proactive solutions to the short term problem before making this decision. As both La Fiesta and Gold Ridge are projected to have increased enrollment in 08/09, a delay of one year will not be an undue financial burden on the district. It would give you time to coordinate with parents and community leaders to come up with an alternative solution that can be seen by the community as a positive step toward a better future for the district.

Sincerely,

Jimmie W. Rogers

The Numbers

As I was looking over all of the numbers on the various presentations we have seen I noticed something that just didn't seem right. If the district has a Net Loss of $106,875 for every thirty students that they lose at the elementary school level wouldn't the reverse be the case as well? Meaning that after paying for the teacher and classroom costs they would have $106, 875 for every thirty students to go towards the costs of running the school. The $304,000 or $312,000 as the maintenance money was lowered by 10%, that is required for admin and site costs at each school would be covered by a mere 90 students. Where does the rest of the money go? I did the math, warning these numbers are quite astounding and upsetting.

Current Totals for All Elementary Schools

2924 Total Enrollment = 2801 ADA (ADA is approx. 95.8%)
2801 x 5778.42 = $16,186,354.42

$57,810 = Average Cost Per Classroom (Teacher & Supplies as per presentaion)
x 134 = Total Elementary Classrooms in Use (as per school closure matrix)

$7,746,540 = Total Elementary School Classroom Costs

$304,000 Admin & Site Costs less 10% (as per community forum presentation)
+ $8,000 Additional 10% Maintenance for an operating Elementary School
Total = $312,000 Total Elementary School Site Costs

$312,000 Site Costs
x 8 Current Elementary Schools
Total = $2,496,000 Total Admin and Site Costs for all Elementary Schools

$7,746,540 Total Classroom Costs for All Elementary Schools
+ $2,496,000 Total Site Costs for All Elementary Schools
Total = $10,242,540

$16,185,354.42 Total ADA Revenue at Elementary Level
- $10,242,540.00 Total Average Costs at Elementary Level

Total Excess ADA Revenue = $5,942,814.42

I am sure that some of these costs are actually higher as we do have teachers and administrators that make more than these averages, but that can not possibly be so high as to take up the nearly six million dollars that remains. That leaves an average of $2,032.43 that is given in ADA on a per pupil basis that is not being spent on those pupils.

I ran these same numbers using next years projected enrollment, # of classrooms, and 6 schools. The numbers end up with a difference of $6,208,552.38 and $2,171.58 left over per student. Which means that they will be having an additional excess of $139.15 per student at the Elementary School level.

Jennifer Chesley

Don't Give Up!

"In December 2005, a group of parents of pre-preschool age children rallied fellow residents of their Potrero Hill neighborhood to save Daniel Webster (DW) Elementary School from closure and subsequent merger with Starr King in a remote part of the community. Working in parallel with the school’s administration and population, this dedicated group of parents gathered over 600 signatures opposing the proposed merger. The parents group presented the Board of Education with compelling demographic information detailing the dramatic influx of middle class families in Potrero Hill over the past five years as well as the projected growth in housing and population in the city’s woefully underserved Southeast sector.
They reached out to every member of the Board of Education, developed a website with updated information for the community to access, and caught the attention of the city’s major media outlets (a feature on ABC News; a front page story in the SF Chronicle, as well as coverage on various local radio programs). Their hard work was rewarded in that the Board of Education unanimously voted against the merger."

http://www.prefund.org/the-story-behind-prefund

Candlelight Vigil Tonight

There is a school board meeting at Creekside Middle School tonight, December 11th, at 7:00PM. The Candlelight Vigil will take place at 6:00. Please join us and help us send a message to the school board that we are not giving up! Tell your friends!

Be nice...please

I would like to politely request that people on all sides of this issue kindly refrain from name-calling and insults on this blog. This is an emotional issue, and we all have strong feelings about it. Please continue to post your comments in a respectful manner- different ideas and viewpoints are welcome, but insults are not going to convince anyone of anything. Let's remember that we all care about our children and we all care about our schools, no matter what our opinions on school closures may be. Thank You and Happy Holidays.
--
Jen Stevens

The Real Message

It is a shame that after hours of public comments, media attention and public outcry the message still seems unclear. We don't want a school to close, we don't want ANY school to close. There is a fundamental difference. All of the CRPUSD schools have wonderful teachers, students, parents and programs. I have no doubt that if our children had to change schools they would be welcomed with open arms and adapt as they do at the beginning of every new school year with new teachers and new classmates. As you can see from other information on the blog, there is ample evidence to suggest that smaller school sizes benefit everyone. The issues associated with increasing student populations to 500-600 on a campus impacts everyone in the community including office personnel, teachers, crossing guards, yard supervisors, lunch workers, custodians not to mention people who simply live on a street leading to schools with hundreds of additional cars driving there at least twice a day. This is not just an issue for Gold Ridge and La Fiesta.
In addition, I have attended every meeting on this issue and at no time have I heard any speaker request program cuts. The district raised the premise of cutting sports, music and libraries and the tactic appears to have worked. It has divided a group that should be united. I have heard parents suggest that declining enrollment appears to be a short term problem requiring a short term solution. Closing schools is not a short term solution when the two year cost is close to a million dollars in capital funding to save $600,000 in the general fund. It is a reaction not a solution.
I have heard speakers ask the board not to rush to judgement. I have heard speakers suggest that perhaps the enrollment issue is not as dire as it appears to be. Information from the University Plan EIP suggest more elementary age children than the district is forecasting. The Sonoma County Health Department records show that birth rates have remained not only steady but increased slightly in 2002. Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics show that although there has been a recent decrease in elementary enrollment they anticipate slightly increased rates through 2014. Lower housing prices means more affordability for families. I have heard speakers ask for another year to look at increasing our ADA rates which are based on a thirty year old proposition that no longer fits the times. I have heard speakers ask for time to look at private donations, magnet schools, charter schools and a variety of other options. I have never heard a speaker stand at the podium and ask to cut music, band, sports, libraries or any other enrichment program.
Every parent in the district knew that school closures were an item of consideration for the district office. If the Superintendent's statements that no particular schools had been identified are true, then this was a community concern. Whether Gold Ridge ignored it may be an item of personal opinion. Over the last few years Gold Ridge has enhanced their academic support services, significantly increased test scores, attracts one of the highest numbers of intra-district transfers and had the highest attendance rates in the district last year. In my opinion, this actually added value. Ask any real estate agent how they respond to buyer questions about schools and they will tell you they refer them to the state's STAR testing data. It was disgraceful to hear the leader of our educational organization downplay the achievements of improved test scores. Intra-district transfers is ADA money that comes from outside of our boundaries. And as we all know so well now, ADA is attendance based and the majority of our general fund. High attendance equals more money. What Gold Ridge may be at fault for is not realizing the Superintendent would focus almost exclusively on the structure, the carpet, walls and roof instead of the system within it. If a homeowner didn't adequately maintain their house for 20 years I have no doubt it would be virtually uninhabitable. Perhaps if equal amounts of the capital improvement and deferred maintenance budgets had been allocated over the last 20 years the building would be in the same condition as the community functioning within it.
To end as I began, this issue affects us all. I truly believe the Board of Trustees does not want to close elementary schools and is open to listening to options. I believe that waiting a year, which does not put us in deficit, and exploring all other avenues and verifying all projected numbers will allow everyone to make fully informed decisions. And lastly, because I believe in what we are hoping to accomplish as a community, I will sign my name.
Jodie Palmigiano

I thought everyone who spoke at last night's district meeting did a great job. I've always been proud to be a Gold Ridge parent, and I'm overwhelmed by the outpouring of support that so many parents and staff have displayed. I'm getting teary-eyed just typing this, just as I did last night when each of you spoke (especially when Connie Holbrook's name was called, and almost every GR teacher and Karen Gomez came to the podium). I got a little choked up while speaking myself -- one reason I had to keep my speech very brief. Thank you to all of you for the hours and hours and days and days you've devoted to the Save Gold Ridge campaign. You're all using your LIFE SKILL of PERSEVERANCE! What great examples you are to your children (not to mention the GR community and beyond). I think we have a chance, especially in light of some of the questions the board members posed at the end of the meeting. I hope that's not too naive. Keep up the good fight!

Claire Mesagno

New Developments will bring more students...

According to the University District Specific Plan (Table 6), that development is projected to generate 435 K-5 students, 221 6-8 students, and 258 High School students, for a total of 950 students. Most of those students will be generated in locations that are already within the CRPUSD school boundary. The rest are currently in the Bellvue or Santa Rosa districts, but according to the Specific Plan, the developer will “coordinate with the City and CRPUSD on the request to have the entire project located in the CRPUSD school boundary.”

According to Dr. Vrancovich, the district can only expect 0.67 students from new developments.

950 students or 0.67 students???? Which is the correct number?

To see the University Specific Plan go to
http://www.rpcity.org/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,138/Itemid,45/

Community Vitality and School Buildings

Research has also confirmed that public schools affect communities and their economic strength (Weiss 2004). Schools influence the reputation, quality of life, and vitality of neighborhoods. Conversely, the quality, vitality, and support of a neighborhood affects local schools. Because school facility improvements mean an influx of capital dollars into a neighborhood, there is great potential to positively impact that community. Evidence increasingly supports the following:
■ School quality has a direct and positive impact on residential property values (Kane et al. 2003);
■ School quality helps determine a localities' quality of life and can affect the ability of an area to attract businesses and workers (Salveson and Renski 2002);
■ Investments in the construction and maintenance of school facilities inject money into local economies through job creation and supply purchases (Economics Center for Education and Research 2003);
■ New or well-maintained school facilities can help revitalize distressed neighborhoods (Local Government Commission 2002);
■ The activities that occur in and around school buildings can help build neighborhood social capital and affect student achievement (Blank et al. 2003).
Page 8 Building Education Success Together -- BEST
http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/GrowthandDisparity.pdf

Inspiration

Ok, here's some inspiration for all that think it can't be done. This group did it!! Read this article from Salt Lake City. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20051110/ai_n15845217/pg_1
Quotes from this article include, "If neighborhood schools close, neighborhoods die." and "The other thing that happened, is, . . . a lot of support (emerged) for neighborhood schools." and during a break just before midnight, board members wondered, "What did we just do?" Cannon said. "We just sacrificed a school for $300,000 (in annual operation cost savings)?"

Clarification to aha moment

I want to clarify that I am in no way suggesting that we close Waldo Rohnert. I am arguing that by closing 2 schools and congesting the others even more so, we are compounding Waldo Rohnerts problem and making failure hard to avoid. The ripple effect from this will cause WR to go into PI, costing the district up to 16million dollars. If we can all rememember the kicker to closing gold ridge was because of a cost of approx 3mil to rennovate the portables. Well, compared to 16mil to bring wr up to par, thats chump change. Our focus is on not closing any of the schools but rather what we can do to keep them all open.

Awesome Parents

Wow! I knew we had awesome parents but now I know we have the best parents ever. Thank you to everyone that has helped out in any way. It is an honor to teach at Gold Ridge. I can't imagine a better community, staff, or school.

Mandy Olivares

ah ha! MOMENT!

Okay, I think I've stumbled across something rather big! As we all know schools are subject to API scores, and we all know that Gold Ridge passed with flying colors. There is also another test that schools are subject to put in place by the No Child Left Behind Act. This one is called the AYP Test, (Adequate Yearly Performance). I've never heard of this one before and I don't know if any of you have. I've discovered that we do have 4 Title 1 schools in our district which are Waldo Rohnert, La Fiesta, John Reed and Thomas Page. While all schools are subject to this same test, only Title 1 schools are held accountable. If a school does not pass AYP for 2 consecutive years they are then put into a program called "Program Improvement". A school identified for PI must notify its parents and guardians about its PI status and offer certain types of required services during each year that it is a PI school. In the first year parents and guardians are eligible to send their children to a non-PI school and to receive transportation at school district expense. Also, the school must revise its school plan within three months. In the second year all the first year stuff applies as well as providing supplemental services, such as tutoring, available to all eligible students. And it just gets worse financially from there. In order to come out of "PI Status", the school must pass Ayp for 2 consecutive years.

There is just one school in our district that did not pass AYP in 2007 and that is Waldo Rohnert. Where are all those parents who elect to take their kids out of that school going to put them if all of our other schools are at capacity? How much money is it going to cost the school district to get this school back up to standards? The list of financial obligations that goes along with this is endless. It's just unbelievable to think that they would elect to keep a school like this open with PI being almost eminent and to close a perfectly good school with passion and pride and not to mention passing API and AYP scores to boot!

Update for Rebuttal Committee

I was looking over the School Closure Matrix on the District Site when I realized that the School Summary Rankings or score do not match from one slide to the next. The Bar Graph showing the Summary Rankings by site has Gold Ridge listed at 3.53 while the next slide entitled Comparing School Summary Rankings has Gold Ridge listed at 3.62. La Fiesta has a higher number 3.93 on the slide that she used to make her recommendation (bar graph) and a lower number 3.87 on the comparison slide. Could this be evidence that the numbers were altered until they reached the rankings that they were looking for?

Jennifer Chesley

FYI

Just wanted to let everyone know about the committee meeting on Monday December 3. It will be held in room 7 at Gold Ridge at 6:00. As we all know this is a community issue and we welcome everyone with the common goal of saving our neighborhood schools. We want to get together to share information that everyone has gathered and prepare for the board meeting on Tuesday. We hope to see you there.

Press Democrat Article

A celebration marking the beginning of Rohnert Park as a "friendly city" played unintended host to a protest by students, parents and teachers of two schools fearing the announced closure of an elementary school next week. The 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first moving vans in the town's first neighborhood was commemorated by a group of 100 that included many of the town's influential founding leaders.They turned out for speeches and handshakes at the town's Girl Scout Hut at Alicia Park to mark the Thanksgiving 1957 event and weigh in on the current state of the city.But about 80 students, parents and teachers turned out in support of Gold Ridge and La Fiesta elementary schools, which have been identified for possible closure."They are celebrating Rohnert Park and celebrating the concept of Rohnert Park as a 'friendly city,' " said Gold Ridge parent Jodie Palmigiano, motioning to the anniversary gathering. "But the whole concept of Rohnert Park back then, to have communities around a park, a pool and a school, that's not what's happening."When the first residents moved into Rohnert Park track homes in 1957, the community was billed as a country club for the working class. On Friday, the town's earliest members recalled it as a friendly place of neighborhood parks and schools, ripe for economic investment and development.But the vigil outside the celebration was a sign that that vision has not become a reality, former Rohnert Park Mayor Jimmy Rogers said."It was the best place in the world to live then. There were all the parks and amenities we needed. There were schools in every neighborhood. But that's a thing of the past now," Rogers said.Rogers was one of five former Rohnert Park mayors at the celebration who saw the city grow from 4,000 people in 1957 to 43,000 today. They remembered mortgage payments of $115 a month, a fraction of what housing costs today.Industry and commerce have changed too, the former mayors said. Shopping centers have come to town in the past 50 years, golf courses have been built, schools and parks been completed."With all the fine qualities we have in our city now, I still remember a time when you could do all your shopping in one location," former Mayor Armando Flores said. "It was a small-town atmosphere back then."Since then, things have changed, Flores said."We are just really suffering now with the declining business environment. We are hurting a lot and we will have to tighten the belt if we are going to be able to survive," he said.Parents at Gold Ridge and La Fiesta elementary schools attended the celebration to let Rohnert Park leaders know that tightening the school's belt would be yet another step away from the Rohnert Park 'friendly city' ideal, Palmigiano said."This is the elephant in the room," she said. "We moved here in 1999 from Marin and didn't plan to come this far north but we liked the idea of communities built around parks and schools. But the bare bones of it is that that's not what Rohnert Park is anymore."You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071201/NEWS/712010416/1033/NEWS01

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to look, read and post comments on this blog. This blog was created for one sole purpose, to allow the Rohnert Park and Cotati communities to have a place where every voice counts. Every single comment, every single suggestion is important. There will be times when we may not all agree but the important thing about those situations is that we still stick together for the cause. We all want to accomplish one thing, keep the Cotati-Rohnert Park schools open. Please continue to post info, comments, suggestions and anything else that you feel is important to this issue. This is an awesome tool for us to use in our fight for what we feel is right and the best way to reach the whole community at one time. Lastly, I ask that you pass on this blog address to anyone you know that would be interested in what we are doing. Residents of our community are welcome to sign the online petitions even if they do not have children in the school system. I cannot emphasize enough that every voice counts so pass it on and lets be heard!

Another reason not to close schools...

Smaller Schools are Better

If our goal is to do what is right and good for our district, this should be taken into account: existing research overwhelmingly supports the idea that small schools are better than large schools. Most research indicates that a “small” elementary school has no more than 300- 400 students. If schools are closed in our district, several of our schools will no longer be small schools. Even if school closures will reduce some of our debt, the costs in other areas far outweigh any alleged savings.

o Small schools have higher levels of participation in extracurricular activities. Students in smaller schools are more likely to hold positions of importance and feel better about their participation.

o Small schools have quality curriculum that is equal to or similar to that in larger schools. While some larger schools may have slightly more varied curriculum, the difference is small, and it requires a great deal of increase in enrollment to result in a small amount of increase in variety of curriculum. In addition, studies have shown that a very small percentage of students take advantage of the extra classes offered at large schools, and most extra classes are not advanced or distinctive classes, but tend to be additional introductory classes instead.

o Small schools can be operated very efficiently, and when compared to many large schools they are more cost effective. As schools grow, more staff is needed to maintain control. This includes assistant principals, yard duty personnel, security, and other support staff. Costs of utilities and maintenance increase with enrollment growth as well.

o In small schools academic achievement is as good as or better than it is in larger schools. “Achievement measures used in the research include school grades, test scores, honor roll membership, subject-area achievement, and assessment of higher-order thinking skills.”(Cotton 1996).

o In small schools students have a more positive attitude toward school than in large schools. Students have a sense of belonging, and more positive self-regard.

o Negative social behaviors, such as truancy, aggressive behavior and vandalism, are less common in smaller schools.

o Small schools have better attendance rates than larger schools.

o Small schools have much lower dropout rates than larger schools.

o Small schools have better interpersonal relations between students, and between staff and students.

o Small schools have higher rates of parent involvement. There is better communication and there are better relationships between parents and staff and between parents and administration.

o Small schools have a narrower achievement gap between poor children and more affluent children.

o In small schools students are more likely to go on to college, and are as prepared or more prepared for college success, as students in larger schools.

o Smaller schools can focus on the needs of the students rather than the organizational challenges of a large school. There is a feeling of community, almost like family, at a small school. Every student is known by the staff and administration, and the students know each other and look out for each other as well.

o Teachers benefit from working in smaller schools as well. There is more collaboration and cooperative learning, and more flexibility in scheduling in a small school. Teachers are familiar with each other and can share knowledge and experience with each other. They are familiar with the administration and have easy access to support and guidance.

o Smaller schools are a better deal for the district in the long run. They offer many benefits that will help our district reach its goal of being a “benchmark organization,” as is claimed on the web site.

Sources:

School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance By Kathleen Cotton. May 1996. http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/c020.html

The Answer is Smaller Schools. By Stacy Mitchell. Feb, 2002. http://mackinac.org/pubs/mer/article.aspx?ID=4074

Smaller, Safer, Saner: Successful Schools. By Joe Nathan and Karen Febey. 2001. http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/saneschools.pdf

Response from Carl Wong

Good Morning Kelly Thomas & Phil Pamatmat,
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the difficult decision being addressed by the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District and Superintendent Vrankovick. Sonoma County has a total of 40 individual school districts serving over 71,200 K-12 students at 177 local school sites. For the past 4 years, over half of the districts, including Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified, have experienced a decline in their student enrollment. Since school finance is dependent upon revenues generated by student enrollment/attendance, local school boards and superintendents have had to make strategic decisions regarding the cost of operating multiple school sites.You are probably aware of on-going countywide discussion on the need forexploring some type of school district re-organization, consolidation and/or unification.The County Superintendent of Schools and the County Board of Education has no legal purview over the authority of local governing boards regarding budget and operational decisions. This matter resides with the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District Board of Education and Office of Superintendent Vrankovick.
Sincerely,Carl Wong, Ed. D.

You're Invited!!

What: 5oth Anniversary of Rohnert Park
Where: Santa Alicia Park
When: Friday, November 30 @ 5pm

You're all invited! Tell your family, friends and neighbors. This is a community event celebrating Rohnert Park. Let's make this a fun and friendly rally reminding the community why we all chose to raise our families in the Friendly City of Rohnert Park.

Banner Making

Thank you everyone for coming out last night to make banners. We had a great turnout and got a lot of banners made. Thank you to the PTA who supplied cookies, juice and supplies. We can't wait to see everyone at Santa Alicia Park this evening at 5pm to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rohnert Park and to show the community that we care about our schools and neighborhoods.

Response from the Governor

Thank you for your email about our public schools. I appreciate
hearing from my fellow Californians on the quality of education
we’re
providing for our children.
I have visited schools all over our state, and I’ve been able to see
firsthand the terrific work being done by our students and teachers.
To support those efforts, my proposed 2007-08 May Revision budget
fully
funds Proposition 98 at $57.6 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion
over
last year. This money will bring per pupil spending up to $11,562 –
an all-time high for the state.
As Governor, I remain committed to ensuring that all students have
access to the resources they need to succeed in California’s public
schools. To achieve that goal, my budget includes a number of
education
initiatives, including $12 million to create the EnCorps Teachers
Program
to add 2,000 experienced retirees to California’s teaching corps.
It
also includes $50 million to continue the Low-Performing School
Enrichment Block Grant for a third year. To support Career Technical
Education (CTE), my revised budget includes $125 million to expand and
improve
CTE throughout the state.
In this budget and through state initiatives, we are hard at work
addressing some particularly pressing needs that include teacher
shortages,
access to information about particular schools, Career Technical
Education, low-performing schools, school safety, preparing students
to
graduate from high school and improving student health.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write. I value the comments of
people who appreciate the important role education plays in
California.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Candlelight Vigil

Let me start by saying I am not trying to shoot down any ones ideas or say that they are bad but let me explain to you why I think that the vigil is not a good idea. In discussions with parents at the school and friends that have nothing to do with our school, I have found that the majority of people associate candlelight vigils with mourning or death. In our situation it would be looked at like we are declaring defeat. A candlelight vigil is to recognize a passing or the end of something. I am personally not ready to proclaim this "the end". We still have research to do and a lot of "door to door" work for petitions to get signed. I want to exhaust ALL of the possibilities before I give up, before we give up. I understand the thought behind the suggestion of the vigil but I am afraid that it would be looked at in the wrong way by outsiders. There is talk of calling the papers to let them know that it is happening. I feel like we would be sending the wrong message to the public. Instead of holding a vigil, why don't we spend our energy in more useful demonstrations. Why don't we take our posters and signs to the board meeting an hour prior to start and rally there? It just seems more positive and not so much like we are giving in. I did not post this so I could receive hateful comments because I am sure that some people will disagree. Just leave your thoughts with a simple, "Yes I think the vigil is a good idea.", or "No, I think we should use our energy elsewhere." Thank you for taking the time to hear me out and posting your thoughts.

Addl info for rebuttal committee

Here is some info I pulled from the handouts the district gave us. The number of K-5 kids living within 1 mile of a school is 6720 and the number of k-5 students attending a CRPUSD school is 2924. We are only pulling in 43.5% of available students. Why are we not focused on reaching the 56.5% of the kids that are leaving the district?

In addition, in terms of additional ADA from outside of CRPUSD Gold Ridge has 27 interdistrict transfers which comes to $156,017.30 (half the savings of closing the school) which may be lost. La Fiest has 12 which is $69,341.04.

I am still running the numbers but another factor to add in is the cost of 8 portables (approximately $840,000 one time cost) as well as $7,200 annual leasing for 2 years ($115,200) so we are spending approximately $955,200 to save $600,00 over the next two years not to mention the deferred maintenance costs at Evergreen and Hahn.

Lastly, if the plan is still to have a rebuttal letter written and left at the podium for people to read in 3 minute increments does anyone know when it will be available for people to say. I know I would like a chance to read through it once before Tuesday. Thanks Jodie Palmigiano.

Contact Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey

I have been in contact with some of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey's offices to see if we can get them involved as well. I was told to contact Anita Franzi who is the congresswoman's field representative. I have left messages, but so far have not heard back.

If anyone else is interested, here is the information to contact her as well...I figure the more of us that are calling the more serious they realize that we are:

Anita Franzi
Field Representative for Congresswoman Woolsey
(415) 507-9554

- Leisa

Candlelight vigil

A candelight vigil is great idea. It would be great if we get could people outside of our community to partcipate perhaps business owners or property owners near the affected sites. It could help communicate it is a community based issue not just one of parents with school age children. Maybe fliers door to door inviting them to join us? Jodie Palmigiano

Keep up the great work!

This site is just one more example why I love what I do. I am touched by all the hard work, time, and effort that the parents have expressed since the "recommendation" to close two schools in Rohnert Park. You all inspire me and I am constantly moved by your dedication to your children, their education, and all those who support it. Keep writing those letters :)
Heidi

Banner Making

Please join us Thursday, November 29, from 6-8 pm in the MU at Gold Ridge for banner making. Paper, juice, and water will be provided. Please bring art supplies and cookies to share. We will be making banners and posters to put up around town. See you there!

Candlelight Vigils Tues.

Last year a school in Mountainview was spared with help from a stunning turnout at a candlelight vigil. I am sure that the Gold Ridge community can make quite an impression if we turn out in full force.


Tuesday December 4, 2007
Candlelight Vigil at Creekside 1 hour prior to the School Board Meeting.
We want to be out there when the board arrives.

RP Anniversary Celebration

There is a community celebration taking place at Alicia
Park on Friday November 30th from 4 to 7 celebrating the 50th
Anniversary of the opening of Rohnert Park's first neighborhood. It
might be a great place for people to go and spread the message about the
impending school closures. Here we are celebrating our community for its
great "Master Plan" and the vision of Paul Golis where "the school would
be the nucleus of a cohesive community" when all the while, two of our
elementary schools are on the chopping block. Seems like a contradiction
to me and a slap in the face to the founders of our city. Kind of puts a
damper on the celebration! It would be nice if we could get a booth or
maybe do a picket to inform people about what is going on. -Tobi Honey.

Small Schools Project

"This report will show that there are many economic arguments in support
of small schools, and that it is fiscally responsible to spend
school construction dollars on small school facilities. Many people know intuitively that small schools work best for children and teachers, but now
there is research to prove it. Unfortunately, many communities have already lost their good, small schools because they could not argue successfully against
educators and policy-makers determined to implement “economies of scale” through consolidation."

http://www.smallschoolsproject.org/PDFS/dollars_sense.pdf

Sample Letters

If you have written any letters to school board members, city council members, etc., please post them here. It may be helpful for some people to read through them and get ideas and inspiration for their own letters. If you do use someone else's letter for ideas, be sure to alter or personalize it a bit. Get those letters out soon. The more the better. Anyone can write letters, they don't just have to be from Gold Ridge Parents. School closures will have a negative effect on the whole district, not just the schools that close. You can even have your kids write letters if they want to!
Click on "comments" to see sample letters.

Great Job

Thanks for taking the time to set the blog up!


Todd Hart

Upcoming Dates

Nov 27th-Rohnert Park City Council Meeting, City Hall, 6PM

Dec 4th- School Board Meeting- Public Hearing, Creekside 7PM

Dec 11th- School Board Meeting-Final recommendation for discussion, Creekside 7PM

Jan 15th- School Board Meeting-Action by board, Creekside 7PM

http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/c020.html

check this link for research we can quote in regards to school size and student performance.

Here are some addresses for us to send letters. Please encourage everyone that you know to send some sort of correspondence regarding school closure to the school board!

Board of Trustees Cotati-Rohnert Park School District
5860 Labath Avenue
Rohnert Park, Ca. 94928
email: school_closure@crpusd.org

Rohnert Park City Council
6750 Commerce Blvd.
Rohnert Park, Ca. 94928

Dr.Carl Wong, Superintendent of Schools
Sonoma County Office of Education
5340 Skylane Blvd.
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95403
email: cwong@scoe.org

Remember, every voice counts!
Jamie Mitchell