Local cluster braces for upheaval as 2 elementaries targeted

The San Diego Unified School District’s (SDUSD) equation for solving its budget shortfall doesn’t add up for some Point Loma cluster parents and educators. On the brink of bankruptcy with a $60 million to $100 million deficit, the district is proposing to close 10 schools citywide — with Point Loma taking 20 percent of the hit — and realigning others to save $5 million, or $500,000 per school. For Point Loma, that emerging plan means an increased enrollment at every school in the cluster except the high school. Cabrillo and Dana elementary schools would be shuttered if the recommendations move forward. The unique 5-6 grade configuration at Dana Middle School would be eliminated. The K-6 Mandarin language-immersion magnet program at Barnard would be moved to Dana, where it would evolve into a K-8 Pacific Rim language academy. Most changes would be in place by the first bell of the 2012-13 school year, according to district officials. “The district is making business decisions and we’re the only cluster where every single school is impacted by the recommendation (except the high school),” said Darrell Klueber, a teacher at Silver Gate Elementary School. “Why are we the most impacted? We’re getting better every year,” he said. “Why mess that up?” Klueber asked his questions during a meeting of an ad hoc cluster committee formed by The Point Loma Cluster Schools Foundation (PLCSF) to address the district’s proposal. The committee’s 25 members had many other questions — and no answers. What will become of the music program at Dana? What will happen to Proposition S money? Is the district’s promise of choice priority to students at closed schools possible given the limited seats at remaining schools? How will the changes impact traffic in Point Loma? Why is it all happening so fast? Also of concern is focusing on the business of education while monumental change takes place. “We have to keep up an image so parents, students and staff don’t freak out,” said Nestor Suarez, principal at Cabrillo. A town hall meeting will be held with district officials from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 in the Point Loma High School Performing Arts Center. The school board will make a final decision on school closures in December. Here’s how the district’s plan would impact Point Loma’s 6,383 students: 1. Close Cabrillo Elementary (K-4 with 202 students) in July 2012. 2. Close Barnard Chinese Mandarin Magnet (K-6 grade structure with 267 students) in July 2012 and relocate the school and its program to Dana. Transition Dana to Pacific Rim language academy. 3. Eliminate the 5-6 middle school grade structure at Dana (a 5-6 with an enrollment of 776 students) over a two-year period. 4. Expand elementary schools from a K-4 structure to that of K-5 at Dewey, Loma Portal, Ocean Beach, Silver Gate and Sunset View. 5. Expand Correia Junior High School from (a 7-8 grade structure with 839 students) to a 6-8 structure. 6. Consider sale/other of surplus property/schools (Barnard and Cabrillo). Clusters identified by the district for possible individual school closures are Clairemont, Crawford, Henry, Hoover, Kearny, Madison, Mission Bay, Morse, Point Loma, Serra and atypical schools. “We did look at every single cluster, and some areas had school closures in the past and it wasn’t possible to close schools there,” said Gilbert Gutierrez, Point Loma area superintendent, who was on the SDUSD committee of 22 that developed the district’s plan. The district also believes it can save more money by reallocating Proposition S funds from the closed schools to those that remain open. Prop. S is a $2.1 billion bond program voters passed in 2008 to renovate classrooms. “Prop. S funds that can be reallocated to other schools (within the same cluster) for special or additional projects (about $2 million to $8 million per school),” according to a written proposal from the district. “This makes the financial benefit to the district much greater than the initial $5 million. Could be $35 million or more.” The district’s plan “could mean certain clusters become their own school districts,” said Matt Spathas, president of the PLCSF. Spathas is also a former member of the district’s Prop. S Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. During his time on the committee, he helped implement the district’s technology initiative known as “i21,” which brought promethean boards and laptops into classrooms. Just three years ago, John DeBeck, a school board member who represented schools in all of San Diego’s beach areas for 20 years before losing his seat last November to Scott Barnett, proposed splitting the cluster off from the district and creating a Coastal School District. “I anticipated a lot of what is happening and was trying to give Point Loma folks a chance to control their destiny,” DeBeck said. “The Point Loma community leaders were not interested, and decided a cluster foundation was all they needed. Inaction has left them powerless. So now, others are deciding their fate. “The sham meeting (on Oct. 24) is not going to change the decisions,” he said. “Their representative doesn’t have the background to understand the history and needs of the Point Loma community.” Spathas said there are a lot of alternatives for Point Loma if the district splits into smaller groups. “This is just me talking, not the cluster,” Spathas said. “Point Loma would be a moderate-size school district. The downside is you would lose diversity.” One way to look at a difficult problem is to change the equation.