Tiny Petaluma school faces big challenges

One-room Union Elementary School, looking at a large budget shortfall, has started a fundraising campaign.|

As a dozen students fill the single classroom at Union Elementary School for the start of the schoolhouse’s 121st year in operation, officials at the rural campus are fighting to keep the historic public school open amid mounting financial challenges.

The Red Hill Road school, which narrowly escaped closure last school year after struggling with unusually tiny enrollment numbers, is now grappling with increasing financial pressure. Projections indicate that the K-6 campus will only be able to remain open for two more years with its current budget, which has been suffering after state funding changes.

Though the clock is ticking, the school’s lone teacher and principal, Cynthia Walsh, said she isn’t done trying to save the school that’s served generations of Petaluma students. She’s working with Marin County Office of Education officials and the Union Joint School District’s board members to identify both long and short-term solutions to keep the campus afloat, including a recently-launched GoFundMe campaign.

“We’re not unaware of the challenges we face,” said Walsh, whose own son is attending the school. “It’s challenging, but we’re not ready to give up.”

The financial predicament arose in 2013 after a new state-implemented school district funding formula froze the amount of money Union Elementary School receives each year from the state, regardless of increasing educational costs. The change to the “necessary small schools grant,” which funds schools in remote and isolated areas, was triggered because Union Elementary School – located just over the Marin County line – was determined to be too close to surrounding schools in Petaluma to be considered a necessity.

“If you’re in a remote location and it takes forever for kids to get to next nearest school, then of course we need the school,” said Kate Lane, senior director of business services at Marin County Office of Education. “At one point in time, Union was absolutely necessary – it really was a remote school. At this point in time, students are actually traveling farther to go to Union than they would to go to other schools.”

If the district retained necessary small school status under the new formula, it would have seen large increases that gradually restored a 20 percent cut that had already hit education funding during the recession, but as it stands, the district is getting about $20,000 less this year than it did in 2007-08 before the cuts, Lane said. Though that seems small, the “different is huge for Union,” she said.

Since its funding flat-lined, the district has been dipping into its rapidly dwindling reserves to make ends meet amid rising costs, a temporary solution that’s quickly becoming unsustainable, Lane said.

During the current fiscal year, which began July 1, the district projects $244,659 in total expenditures – with more than half the money used to fund $141,670 in costs associated with salaries and benefits for Walsh and a teacher’s aide, according to budget documents. The district will net a projected $179,189 in revenues from federal, state and local sources, with an anticipated $66,470 transfer from reserves to cover the gap.

Projections show the school’s expenditures inch up each year, while reserve spending will continue to make up the difference for the relatively flat revenue. Fiscal year 2018-19 is expected to end with $39,061 left in total reserves, which falls short of the state required minimum and means the school can’t operate the following year, Lane said.

“We have seen this writing on the wall since the new funding formula came into place ... We love the little school and would love to see them continue to operate, but with the state funding formula as it does exist, absent any change, Union will not stay open,” Lane said.

Walsh said officials have been working through the summer to identify options for sustainable revenue sources including potentially merging with other nearby districts, opening the campus to events or applying for grants, though each proposal takes time to investigate.

To help in the short term, Petaluma resident and Union School board member Bonnie Merrill launched a GoFundMe campaign earlier this month to raise $140,000 – an amount she says will help keep the school operating for at least two years past its currently projected expiration date while the administration explores its options.

“We need to buy a couple of years while we figure it out,” Merrill said.

Lane said the most viable option moving forward will likely be for Union Elementary School to combine with another school or district, such as Lincoln Elementary School, the closest one-room school, though it’s not clear if the historical schoolhouse would remain open. She said boosting enrollment would likely trigger increased costs for teaching, and becoming a charter school would mean deeper funding cuts.

“I wish I had an answer,” Lane said. “It’s a very, very difficult situation.”

In the past century, as Petalumans from nearby ranches or dairy farms have filtered through the classroom, run the 24 laps it takes to complete a mile on the school’s tiny track, and gazed up at the bell tower, the schoolhouse has become entwined in the city’s heritage, solidifying its status as a local landmark.

But, it’s not just the quaint exterior and nostalgia that make the school an asset to the community, Walsh said.

“People drive by and see it from the outside, but what’s happening inside here is pretty magical … if you walked in, you’d see a community of learners, and I don’t think people really understand the quality of education and the opportunity we have to educate these students because of the one-room schoolhouse,” she said.

The school features a thriving music curriculum, art classes, science, technology and math programs as well as technology to aid in learning, though it’s the one-on-one connection that sets the education apart, Walsh said.

For Petaluma resident Robin Frost, whose third grade daughter has been enrolled at the school since kindergarten, the intimate nature of the education was a selling point.

“We love it. It’s been good with the family environment, and she gets the help that she needs. It’s a great fit – I mean I can’t say enough good things,” she said.

Walsh, who has taught at the school for 11 years, said she hopes the school can remain a pillar in the community.“We want to find a path forward that isn’t just for a couple years,” she said. “We’re really reaching and looking for an option that will keep us here for another 100 years.”

To donate, visit gofundme.com/28pf5ks.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.