School closure may be unavoidable

<p>Closing down a school is perhaps the most difficult decision a school district official will ever have to face. A school's closure can have a traumatic effect on students, families, teachers, staff and neighborhoods.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Some school districts in Sonoma County have reluctantly decided to close schools in order to deal with seemingly perpetual cuts in funding from Sacramento. Petaluma school districts haven't had to make that drastic move — yet.</p><p>But during the next few weeks, the Old Adobe Union School District is going to be looking very closely at shutting down one of its five eastside elementary schools.</p><p>While no decision has yet been made, the district has few other options to deal with a looming $1.6 million budget shortfall over the next three years. Closing either Old Adobe or Bernard Eldredge, the two schools with the smallest enrollment, would save the district $390,000 a year. </p><p>The Old Adobe district has been hit hard by a double financial whammy. Besides the across-the-board state funding cutbacks, the district has also lost revenue due to steadily declining enrollment. Since 2002, enrollment has dwindled from 1,976 students to 1,750. </p><p>The Petaluma City Schools district, on the other hand, is experiencing growth in the student population at elementary schools after several years of decline. And while PCS needs to cut approximately $2.7 million out of its 2010-2011 budget, it is not looking at closing any of its schools to achieve those budget reductions.</p><p>The state's fiscal crisis has devastated public education in California, which recently ranked a dismal 46th in the nation in terms of school spending per pupil, and is rapidly working its way to the very bottom. Local school districts, like others throughout the state, have little choice but to look at cutting days from school calendars, increasing class sizes, reducing hours of teacher aides and eliminating vital programs.</p><p>Sadly, it doesn't look as though things are going to improve any time soon, considering we're saddled with a wildly dysfunctional state government, an overly bureaucratic state school system and an anemic state treasury.</p><p>Parents are understandably upset about the possible closure of a school that their children attend, as evidenced by the protests outside the Old Adobe district office earlier this week.</p><p>We urge them to channel their energy into helping school officials find workable solutions to a problem that has no easy answers. Attend school board meetings — such as the Old Adobe trustees' meeting tonight — and offer informed suggestions and input. As always, parents and other community members should do everything possible to support local schools by volunteering, donating money or participating in fund-raisers.</p><p>And write to your representatives in Sacramento — Assemblyman Jared Huffman and State Sen. Mark Leno — and tell them to restore funding to public education and make cuts elsewhere. The state prison system might be a good place to start.</p><p>A quality public education is a right for every child in our state and our community. And despite the enormous fiscal challenges, the Old Adobe School District is charged with ensuring that right for the students enrolled at its schools. </p><p>Unfortunately, it may have to find a way to reach that goal with one less school.</p>