School board votes to close two schools

EAST PALO ALTO >> After spending over two hours debating potential alternatives, Ravenswood City School District trustees ultimately decided to close two elementary schools.

The contentious decision to move forward with plans to merge Willow Oaks Elementary School and Brentwood Academy into the district’s three remaining campuses comes as school officials face historically low enrollment numbers and a massive budget deficit amid changing demographics in the East Palo Alto and west Menlo Park communities.

Though the board initially was divided on whether the vote needed to be made Thursday night, looming deadlines forced it to quickly go through about half a dozen alternatives that could have spared closing Brentwood or Willow Oaks.

The plan which the board ultimately approved — originally proposed by Superintendent Gina Sudaria in December — will see the district merge Willow Oaks with Belle Haven Elementary School and Brentwood with Costaño School by fall, a move that will end the days of walkable schools and put nearly all of the district’s students on buses.

What was most important for Sudaria, she said, wasn’t that the board went with the plan her staff wanted but that it listened to a community that agreed it was the lesser of several evils.

“I’m proud of our district for honoring the process,” Sudaria said after the meeting. “The board wanted to take time and make sure they knew all the scenarios, and ultimately the board honored the voice of the community.”

Sudaria added that she’s looking forward to a smooth transition as the district now faces its toughest challenge: merging the schools and adjusting about 600 students to new environments and routines.

The dozens of parents and students who gathered inside the school district’s cramped board room saw an often divided board debate what the district should focus on saving, whether it was Costaño’s

ample fine arts facilities, Brentwood Academy’s strategic location or the dual immersion program at Los Robles McNair Academy.

Concerned about the long-term impact that closing Brentwood Academy would have on the school district’s ability to recruit nearby preschool students and grow its student body, some school board trustees argued that moving students over to the much farther away Costaño school likely would edge parents into choosing private institutions or other districts instead.

Often pensively pacing around the room and interjecting frequently, trustee Marielena Gaona-Mendoza said she felt constrained by school staffers and did not want to make a rushed decision.

Advocating fervently to keep Brentwood Academy open and invest about $15 million to bring it up to par with other recently renovated facilities, Gaona-Mendoza urged her colleagues to consider what district numbers bear out: Low enrollment numbers are likely to continue, undercutting the district plan’s room for growth.

“It’s nice to be optimistic, but the truth is that we’re declining every year,” Gaona-Mendoza said. “The study they did looks like the growth we want is not going to happen. Our kindergartners are disappearing; for whatever reason, they’re choosing to go somewhere else.”

But for trustee Tamara Sobomehin, the loss of Costaño would have been too much to bear, as it is the only school with a large gym, full stage and multimedia center with room to grow.

“It saddens me because every scenario has something bad about them,” Sobomehin

said.

Among members of the audience — who spent the night having whispered debates attempting to make sense of the board’s actions — the final decision to go with the plan most familiar to school district parents evoked several sighs of relief.

“I know these mergers are hard, but they would have had to speak with the parents if they’d made any other decision,” said Antonia Macias. “I like the way that has worked to keep us all informed, and I am in favor of her plan. It’s in touch with the priorities of the community.”

Jesus Villalobos said she was happy to see that her daughter’s school — Los Robles McNair Academy — was untouched, though two seats away former school board trustee Ruben Abrica sat disappointed over the closure of Willow Oaks.

“This is the displacement of a community,” Abrica said. “The west side has already lost one school and now we’re losing another. Willow Oaks has the largest percentage of students in the area. That’s home base. Putting them in Belle Haven will cause a lot of disruption.”

Board trustee Wilson said she was happy the board listened to the community. Even if she is sad to see Brentwood Academy go, Wilson said she understands the board needed to make a decision.

“What’s most important to understand is that it’s not something we’re doing wrong,” Wilson said, blaming gentrification for the drop in elementary school enrollment rates across the Peninsula. “Everyone is going through this. But our plan now is to concentrate on the sites we have and improve our programming.”

“It’s nice to be optimistic, but the truth is that we’re declining every year. The study they did looks like the growth we want is not going to happen. Our kindergartners are disappearing, for whatever reason they’re choosing to go somewhere else.”

— Trustee Marielena Gaona-Mendoza