{"id":241,"date":"2024-10-14T23:05:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T23:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/?p=241"},"modified":"2024-10-14T23:05:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T23:05:25","slug":"should-we-close-any-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/?p=241","title":{"rendered":"Should\u00a0We\u00a0Close\u00a0Any Schools?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Some\u00a0parents\u00a0have\u00a0asked,\u00a0&#8220;If\u00a0you\u00a0have\u00a0to\u00a0close\u00a0one\u00a0school\u00a0between\u00a0Miller and\u00a0Kennedy,\u00a0which\u00a0one\u00a0would\u00a0you\u00a0close?&#8221;\u00a0I\u00a0conducted\u00a0a\u00a0survey\u00a0for\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/?p=87\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CUSD\u00a0School\u00a0Closure\u00a0Retrospective<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0results\u00a0are\u00a0clear:\u00a0we\u00a0don&#8217;t\u00a0need to\u00a0close\u00a0any\u00a0schools\u00a0in\u00a0CUSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although\u00a0we\u00a0have\u00a0seen\u00a0a\u00a0recent\u00a0drop\u00a0in\u00a0enrollments,\u00a0our\u00a0school\u00a0sizes\u00a0are\u00a0still larger\u00a0than\u00a0those\u00a0in\u00a0neighboring\u00a0districts.\u00a0Several\u00a0key\u00a0points\u00a0emerged\u00a0from the\u00a0survey:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Funding\u00a0Model<\/strong>:\u00a0CUSD&#8217;s\u00a0funding\u00a0model\u00a0has\u00a0shifted\u00a0to\u00a0Basic\u00a0Aid\u00a0from\u00a0LCFF, thanks\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0increase\u00a0in\u00a0property\u00a0taxes.\u00a0This\u00a0means\u00a0our\u00a0revenue\u00a0is\u00a0no longer\u00a0tied\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0number\u00a0of\u00a0enrolled\u00a0students.\u00a0We\u00a0need\u00a0to\u00a0reconsider\u00a0the criteria\u00a0for\u00a0school\u00a0closures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Valuing\u00a0Schools<\/strong>:\u00a0Schools\u00a0are\u00a0the\u00a0most\u00a0important\u00a0assets\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0district. School\u00a0closures\u00a0must\u00a0be\u00a0an\u00a0absolute\u00a0last\u00a0resort.\u00a0If\u00a0there\u00a0is\u00a0financial pressure,\u00a0we\u00a0should\u00a0consider\u00a0other\u00a0options\u00a0first.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decision-Making<\/strong>:\u00a0School closure is a critical decision that would impact our district. We should require a supermajority (4:1 or more) to close any school instead of a simple majority.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transparency<\/strong>:\u00a0The\u00a0standards\u00a0for\u00a0school\u00a0closures\u00a0should\u00a0be\u00a0transparent. Schools\u00a0should\u00a0know\u00a0in\u00a0advance\u00a0if\u00a0they\u00a0might\u00a0be\u00a0closed\u00a0based\u00a0on\u00a0specific criteria.\u00a0They\u00a0should\u00a0also\u00a0design\u00a0excellent\u00a0programs\u00a0to\u00a0attract\u00a0more students\u00a0through\u00a0open\u00a0enrollment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>By\u00a0addressing\u00a0these\u00a0points,\u00a0we\u00a0can\u00a0turn\u00a0the\u00a0potential\u00a0crisis\u00a0of\u00a0school\u00a0closures into\u00a0an\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to\u00a0improve\u00a0education\u00a0quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some\u00a0parents\u00a0have\u00a0asked,\u00a0&#8220;If\u00a0you\u00a0have\u00a0to\u00a0close\u00a0one\u00a0school\u00a0between\u00a0Miller and\u00a0Kennedy,\u00a0which\u00a0one\u00a0would\u00a0you\u00a0close?&#8221;\u00a0I\u00a0conducted\u00a0a\u00a0survey\u00a0for\u00a0the CUSD\u00a0School\u00a0Closure\u00a0Retrospective\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0results\u00a0are\u00a0clear:\u00a0we\u00a0don&#8217;t\u00a0need to\u00a0close\u00a0any\u00a0schools\u00a0in\u00a0CUSD. Although\u00a0we\u00a0have\u00a0seen\u00a0a\u00a0recent\u00a0drop\u00a0in\u00a0enrollments,\u00a0our\u00a0school\u00a0sizes\u00a0are\u00a0still larger\u00a0than\u00a0those\u00a0in\u00a0neighboring\u00a0districts.\u00a0Several\u00a0key\u00a0points\u00a0emerged\u00a0from the\u00a0survey: By\u00a0addressing\u00a0these\u00a0points,\u00a0we\u00a0can\u00a0turn\u00a0the\u00a0potential\u00a0crisis\u00a0of\u00a0school\u00a0closures into\u00a0an\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to\u00a0improve\u00a0education\u00a0quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longforcusd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}