Archive for March, 2012

The Ferndale School Board has picked Mountain View as the elementary school to close at the end of the 2012-13 school year to save money.

That was the board’s consensus Thursday, March 29, after hearing from supporters of Skyline and Mountain View — the two elementary schools that were on the table for closure.

The consensus isn’t a final vote. That is set for April 26, after a public hearing sometime in April about the plan to close Mountain View.

Hugh Foulke was the lone school board member to say on Thursday that he was leaning toward Skyline for closure.

Ferndale School District officials said tight budgets, declining enrollment and how to best use aging buildings without increasing costs make closing a school necessary.

“What’s clear is you guys love your schools,” said Lee Anne Riddle, school board president, after hearing from some of the estimated 55 people in the audience.

“Half of you are going to walk away sad, and I’m so sorry,” Riddle added.

In making their initial decision on Thursday, school board members talked about trying to separate emotion from a decision that they struggled with, one that came down to economics.

“You can only do so much with the dollars we have. Unlike the federal government, we can’t keep writing checks,” said board member Kevin Erickson.

In the end, board members said that the figures they had showed that closing Mountain View would save the most money.

Closing a school will allow the school district to take the savings and redistribute it among the remaining schools, school officials have said.

In February and after more than a year of study, the district’s Facility Advisory Committee recommended that Mountain View be closed.

Mountain View topped the list compiled by the volunteer committee, which provided a numerical ranking based on criteria of location, cost, building condition and/or limitations, safety, and effectiveness in supporting learning, as well as community input.

In response, Mountain View parents raised a host of concerns about the volunteer committee’s recommendation — ranging from the impact of moving special needs students from a program highly regarded for its approach to such students, to the ranking itself, the information used to arrive at the ranking, and estimated cost savings.

They raised those concerns again on Thursday, and also advocated for the number of students living within walking distance of Mountain View who often have to get themselves to school because their parents work.

“What makes Mountain View’s location unique is the concentrated number of students right around the grounds in the many local apartments,” said Mountain View supporter Sara Fassett. “If they ended up having to walk farther or be bused, there is a higher chance they would occasionally not make it at all if they were late or missed their bus.”

As they have previously, district officials on Thursday stressed that closing an elementary school won’t affect just that school’s students.

All families in the Ferndale School District will be affected because attendance boundaries will be redrawn and sixth-graders will be moved to middle schools — for the 2013-14 school year — as part of the decision to close an elementary school

District officials have said that closing an elementary school could save at least $350,000 a year in utilities, salaries and benefits (although no teacher will be laid off because of the closure), maintenance and transportation.

And an independent assessment of the district showed that $90 million over the next 10 years is needed to get old school buildings up to current learning standards.