Crown Point, Bayview Terrace focal points of local closure, consolidation plan

Pacific Beach residents and parents are girding for the San Diego Unified School District’s (SDUSD) Realignment/Closure Committee’s recommendations that could send ripples across a Mission Bay Cluster that encompasses the Pacific Beach and Mission Beach area.?Formal approval is not expected by the school board until Dec. 13. However, according to a Powerpoint presentation made by the committee during a meeting of the Mission Bay Cluster group on Sept. 19, one of the committee’s preliminary recommendations includes the elimination of busing districtwide, moving the Crown Point Elementary School program to the Bayview Terrace Elementary School campus and restructuring the Bayview Terrace campus to create a comprehensive elementary that would then open the Crown Point campus to other uses — including outright sale of the property. A second recommendation outlined during the Sept. 19 Powerpoint presentation is to move Pacific Beach Middle School’s (PBMS) international baccalaureate (IB) program to Mission Bay High School and make it a combined IB academy for grades six through 12. One committee member said during the presentation that combining the middle school and high school would take a few years, but that it would also help “stabilize MBHS, as enrollment and transportation may be reduced.” Moving the middle school would open up the PBMS campus for other use as well, including outright sale of that property as well. SDUSD officials believe that consolidating and/or closing schools in 10 of its 16 clusters would help save the budget-pinched school district up to $5 million. The 10 school clusters facing possible realignment/closure are Mission Bay, Crawford, Hoover, Madison, Serra, Clairemont, Patrick Henry, Kearny, Morse, Point Loma and atypical schools. Despite the fluid nature of the school district’s realignment/closure vision — and quite likely representing a moving target for the next month or two — many parents and residents in Pacific Beach are nervous and uncertain over the potential long-term effects to the quality of education locally if these changes are made.?”There are so many pieces to this puzzle and so many changes that are being recommended that I hope we are seeing the big picture. I hope we have the insight to make the best choices possible,” said Amy Monroe, the mother of two school-age children.?Other parents see the move as a good idea if the quality of education can be continued — assuming the recommendations are approved. “Overall, this can be a very exciting time for our neighborhood,” said Jennifer Tandy, a mother of two students in Pacific Beach-area schools who is also the chairwoman-elect for the Mission Bay Cluster Committee. In the past, when SDUSD officials decided to close schools, it was because of small enrollment. But the Realignment/Closure Committee is now using broader criteria that include enrollment, traffic, location and other factors, said local school administrators.?”A big one for this cluster (Mission Bay) and every single cluster is that the district is cutting back on transportation,” said Pacific Beach Middle School Principal Julie Mardels. The potential elimination of busing could also dramatically reduce the attendance at both Mission Bay High School and Pacific Beach Middle School, which would force the two to consolidate to stay open down the line.?”If we were to eliminate transportation to PB Middle and Mission Bay, there would only be about 400 kids who would end up coming here (PBMS),” Mardels said.?The school district transports about 200 students to Pacific Beach Middle School. Overall, there are about 900 students in grades six through 12 that currently attend public school in the Mission Bay Cluster. “We don’t know how many children in the area whose families have selected to go to private schools,” Mardells said.?The committee’s recommendations are not final yet, and there will still be opportunities for public input and discussion. There will a series of meetings between now and December to decide what schools will be consolidated or closed — if any.?The SDUSD Board of Education will hear an update on the issue on Oct. 25, followed by a first reading of recommendations on Nov. 29 and then a tentative board workshop on Dec. 6. A second reading of the recommendations is set for Dec. 13, when board approval is expected.?For more information, visit www.sandi.net/realignment.