AUSD to close Rock Creek, move charter to EV Cain

The decision no one wanted to make finally was made Wednesday night – Auburn Union School District Trustees voted to close Rock Creek Elementary School next school year. The board also voted to move Alta Vista Community Charter School, which currently educates 100 students, to the EV Cain Middle School campus. The votes capped a nearly year-long journey the district has been on working toward meeting the obligations of a Fiscal Recovery Plan, which address the district's $3 million budget deficit. The trustees spent more than seven hours Wednesday discussing the options for how to operate their five-campus district on three campuses. "I think a lot of us have lost sleep over this in the past few months," Trustee Sarah Brichler said. "It's not the path of least resistance. It's all agonizing. It's terribly impactful to any and all of our school communities if we have to close a school." In a split 3-2 vote at nearly midnight, the trustees voted to close Rock Creek. The moments following the vote were tense, as emotional parents began yelling at the board as they left the building at EV Cain. "We're still here and you're not listening to us," one parent shouted. During that moment, Trustee Jamie Ross, who voted against the closure, said, "We will be sued." Working toward the decision The trustees discussed at length several options, including: ·&emsp;Closing Auburn Elementary ·&emsp;Closing Rock Creek ·&emsp;Moving Rock Creek onto EV Cain ·&emsp;Moving Auburn Elementary onto EV Cain ·&emsp;Closing EV Cain, TK-8 on all elementary campuses ·&emsp;Closing EV Cain, TK-8 on three sites (Skyridge, EV Cain, Auburn Elementary) ·&emsp;Closing EV Cain, TK-8 on three sites (Skyridge, EV Cain, Rock Creek) ·&emsp;Moving Alta Vista to Skyridge ·&emsp;Moving Alta Vista to EV Cain When asking district staff about the feasibility of those options, district officials continued to emphasize the board is the "what" in the decision, and the district administrators are the "how." "I know I say this a lot, but whatever the decision is, we will make it happen," District Chief Business Officer Heather Leslie said. "Is it going to be pretty? No. But if we need to do it, we can do it and we'll make it happen absolutely." Early in the discussion, Board President Greg Holt stated he felt a necessity to keep operating a program at the EV Cain site. "I feel closing the EV Cain (site) is untenable," he said. "It's our central Auburn location and we need to keep it in the district." Holt said he was initially in favor of the TK-8 transition for the district but changed his mind after learning how difficult it might be to duplicate several advanced class offerings across three school sites. Brichler continued to push for a phase-in model for three TK-8 schools. She said the district could begin running TK-6 on the elementary school sites next school year while phasing out EV Cain one year at a time. Leslie said this delayed financial savings for the district and would most likely result in a negative budget declaration later this year. Reasons cited by Holt and Trustee Jayson Wedge supporting the closure of Rock Creek included traffic safety and campus location. "Living a block or so away from Rock Creek, I've seen an increase in traffic," Wedge said. "That area is getting more congested, and I understand safety concern. As far as safety, Auburn Elementary is the safer place." Wedge also said he was worried the facilities at Rock Creek could not handle all the Auburn Elementary School students, after they heard about insufficient sizes of facilities from public comment over the past few meetings. Ross brought up the issue of students having "access, resource and opportunities." She pointed out that many low-income families living in the Rock Creek neighborhood do not have the opportunity to just drive to another school. "We do need to take into consideration facilities as well as climate, culture, equity and what's possible to access resources and opportunities," she said. "If we close Rock Creek, not all students would have access to that new campus." Bringing back transportation was discussed as well. Trustees said it would take $600,000 to bring back bussing for the district, and some wondered whether there would even be drivers available even if they could afford it. Financially, Leslie said, it didn't make sense to reinstate transportation. "If you decide to fully reinstate transportation, you're just pedaling backwards," she said. Ultimately, Holt stated that since transportation wasn't on the agenda, the board couldn't make a promise of it during that meeting. Several motions were made, including closing EV Cain, Rock Creek and Auburn Elementary. The only one to gain a 3-2 vote, with Brichler and Ross dissenting, was closing Rock Creek. In the final discussion about where to move Alta Vista Community Charter School, trustees came to a consensus to co-locate the TK-5 program on the EV Cain campus. Ross brought up the idea of locating it on the EV Cain campus to provide an elementary option for families with siblings attending the comprehensive middle school. Trustees also agreed they wanted the district administration to look into a TK-8 offering at one of its schools as a way to attract families who don't choose the district currently. Moving ahead Superintendent Amber Lee-Alva sent a letter home to parents on Thursday, sharing news of the closure and next steps for the district. "While the immediate effects of closing a school may be painful, the long-term effects can be beneficial," Lee-Alva said in her letter. "This decision could potentially make our district more efficient, effective, and more robust. From a financial perspective, we have too many buildings and not enough students. We have resilient students, staff and families. Our staff cares deeply about our students and each other. Together we will get through this." Her letter stated that district leadership will host additional consolidation community engagement meetings to ensure the transition is "transparent and seamless." "We realize change can be unsettling, but our commitment to continuing a high quality educational experience for all students will not change," Lee-Alva said. "Moreover, we encourage our community not to let the consolidations distract us from the incredible teaching and learning offered by our teachers and staff members."