SPUSD board hears consultant
proposal on boundary realignment
March 20, 2015
By Brian D. Wilson
Santa Paula News
The Governing Board of the Santa Paula Unified School District has heard a proposal from a consulting firm on projected school enrollments and possible school boundary realignment.
Tony Ferruzzo, Senior Consultant with DECISIONINSITE made a lengthy presentation to the board. Among the proposals covered:
School Capacities - Provide support to SPUSD staff to:
1. Adjust individual school capacity totals to show how many students each school can reasonably accommodate.
2. Adjust individual school capacity totals that take into consideration special classroom usage to support Special Day Class students, music programs, school libraries, and other programs where necessary and approved by the district staff.
Realign Elementary School Boundaries - Provide support to SPUSD staff to:
1. Alleviate the capacity issue that keeps a school from enrolling all students residing in each school’s attendance area
2. Create an attendance area for the East Area 1 Elementary School opening in 2017 or 2018.
3. Serve all SPUSD schools for several years, taking into consideration future growth in some communities
4. Create two K-8 elementary schools on each side of the district by opening East Area 1 ES as a K-8 and transitioning Glen City ES into a K-8
5. Minimize the impact on children and families by phasing into the new boundaries for all schools by grade level to the degree possible
6. Allow for open seats to be available at Webster ES for students attending Program Improvement schools to have an opportunity to transfer to a non-PI school.
7. Reduce the need for busing students
8. Support district-wide class size goals
Ferruzzo said that the K-5 student projected enrollment is relatively stable and growing. He noted that McKevett and Grace Thille Schools serve to large an area for the number of seats available. He added that Bedell School will not have enough open seats without the opening of the new elementary school in 2017 or 2018. And, Ferruzzo said the K-5 boundaries will need to be realigned to balance enrollment when the East Area 1 elementary school opens.
A Boundary Advisory Committee is suggested to help come up with new school boundaries. It was proposed that the committee be made up of representatives of parent groups, the teacher’s union, classified staff, elementary principals, district office staff and others.
This was just an informational item before the board and action is expected on the issue sometime soon.
