Carrying a wide variety of signs and bullhorns, the group first rallied at the park, then marched around the park twice, and finally marched from the park across the street to in front of the district offices.
At that point, most impressively, new Superintendent James Hammond addressed the crowd. He told them this was a most difficult decision that they would have to make and that they will consider it very carefully. While, it was not exactly what the large crowd wanted to hear, there was an appreciation that the Superintendent was not hiding in his offices.
Some of the concerns raised by community members were also captured in a letter from the school PTA to the school district.
There were expressed concerns about the risk of commuting by students to other portions of town. The increased crowding of junior highs back to what it was before Harper (although I believe part of the plan is to move 9th graders to high school, so the problem of overcrowding might occur on the high school campus). There are fears that once the school closes, it might now re-open again even if budgeting would allow it.
One of the big concerns is that there has been no taskforce or planning for the closure of the school.
Proponents of Emerson site Education Code 17387:
“It is the intent of the Legislature to have the community involved before decisions are made about school closure or the use of surplus space, thus avoiding community conflict and assuring building use that is compatible with the community’s needs and desires.”
Just as the education code requires a 7/11 commission to sell off surplus property, so would it seem to require some sort of task force before closing a school.
A number of DaVinci High students both joined in the protest and had their own brief demonstration asking for their teachers and programs to be saved.
COMMENTARY
A few points of commentary that I want to raise at this point.
I listened throughout to people talking about the fact that the seeds for this district’s fiscal mismanagement were laid in the past and the public did not pay sufficient attention. I agree with that. However, I do not think the public really understands the depths of those problems that should be laid firmly at the feet of past school boards, past administrations, and past policies. At the same time, I also do not think the public truly understands the work that the most recent past school board did to fix many of these problems.
Unfortunately, despite those efforts as outlined on this blog in the series on the former CBO, the school district has not been able to escape this problem.
Discussions I have had with people close to state government emphasize that the expectation that we will have the economic problem alleviated by the Democratic Legislature may be less than expected. It is unlikely that the legislature would impose 10% cuts, but everyone believes that painful cuts will occur.
That puts the onus on local school district. The Davis Schools Foundation was working hard to get additional pledges for donations. The raising of these one-time monies could be vital to helping to lessen the pain of such cuts.
The school board as we suggested last weekend, should consider an emergency ballot measure for temporary funding relief. I discussed this possibility one of the board members on Saturday and it is something that they are considering. The problem is that the public seems so angry right now that they may not be amenable to yet another tax increase.
I spoke to Freddie Oakley and she told me that such a ballot measure if it were mail-in only, would only cost around $50,000.
Some have floated the idea of recall, but frankly that is the last thing this district needs. First, it would be punishing the students in the form of more payments by the school district. It would also distract the district from other means in which to deal with the revenue problem. Finally, for the most part it would punish those not responsible for the bulk of the budget problem. We can all point to decisions by the board we disagree with, but on the whole, the current board has done a decent job given the magnitude of the problem.
Those who wish to punish the kids for the mistakes that some adults have made, might want to reconsider that. If we all join together, we can probably save the schools and programs that we all like.
The final point I would like to make is that while this may be frustrating for all involved–and I remain a strong supporter of keeping Emerson open as well as the Valley Charter School–I was impressed with Superintendent James Hammond. I remember how former Superintendent David Murphy reacted to criticism and protests. There is little doubt in my mind that he would have hid in his offices, as so many government officials would have done, waiting for the protests to end.
But James Hammond had the courage to address the hostile but generally polite crowd and while he could not assuage their concerns, I think he gained their respect in the process. It would have been nice if Board Member Richard Harris had done likewise but at least he and Board President Sheila Allen attended the rally and can report back to their colleagues tomorrow night the community’s concerns.
We all have a stake in the future of Davis schools and we all have to pull together to prevent things like cutbacks in teachers, school programs, and closures of schools.
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
Many good points. Two more that I would like to add:
1. Yes, the community is angry. I think most realize the current crisis and are willing to temporarily set aside the ill will and fundraise for the sake of children and teens. However, there must be some kind of public accounting from the district about what went wrong and how it has been fixed before the community can rally behind a new ongoing tax. So far, all of what I have learned about this situation has come from the Vanguard (thanks!). There have been some guarded statements from the board but what is missing is a complete white paper report (perhaps by an independent commission?) that clearly explains the situation from the district’s point of view. Many people people don’t read this blog and are just in the dark about how this could have happened.
2. Two of the options under consideration would bring 9th graders to the high school. Okay. That might be good in the long run. However, one of those options would put Da Vinci at Valley Oak. If this was part of the ‘grand scheme” all along, why wasn’t North Davis closed instead of Valley Oak? Not that I want NDE closed, especially at this short notice. But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS? Wouldn’t the “Facilities Task Force” decision have been different if plans for Da Vinci had been in the mix?
Many good points. Two more that I would like to add:
1. Yes, the community is angry. I think most realize the current crisis and are willing to temporarily set aside the ill will and fundraise for the sake of children and teens. However, there must be some kind of public accounting from the district about what went wrong and how it has been fixed before the community can rally behind a new ongoing tax. So far, all of what I have learned about this situation has come from the Vanguard (thanks!). There have been some guarded statements from the board but what is missing is a complete white paper report (perhaps by an independent commission?) that clearly explains the situation from the district’s point of view. Many people people don’t read this blog and are just in the dark about how this could have happened.
2. Two of the options under consideration would bring 9th graders to the high school. Okay. That might be good in the long run. However, one of those options would put Da Vinci at Valley Oak. If this was part of the ‘grand scheme” all along, why wasn’t North Davis closed instead of Valley Oak? Not that I want NDE closed, especially at this short notice. But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS? Wouldn’t the “Facilities Task Force” decision have been different if plans for Da Vinci had been in the mix?
Many good points. Two more that I would like to add:
1. Yes, the community is angry. I think most realize the current crisis and are willing to temporarily set aside the ill will and fundraise for the sake of children and teens. However, there must be some kind of public accounting from the district about what went wrong and how it has been fixed before the community can rally behind a new ongoing tax. So far, all of what I have learned about this situation has come from the Vanguard (thanks!). There have been some guarded statements from the board but what is missing is a complete white paper report (perhaps by an independent commission?) that clearly explains the situation from the district’s point of view. Many people people don’t read this blog and are just in the dark about how this could have happened.
2. Two of the options under consideration would bring 9th graders to the high school. Okay. That might be good in the long run. However, one of those options would put Da Vinci at Valley Oak. If this was part of the ‘grand scheme” all along, why wasn’t North Davis closed instead of Valley Oak? Not that I want NDE closed, especially at this short notice. But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS? Wouldn’t the “Facilities Task Force” decision have been different if plans for Da Vinci had been in the mix?
Many good points. Two more that I would like to add:
1. Yes, the community is angry. I think most realize the current crisis and are willing to temporarily set aside the ill will and fundraise for the sake of children and teens. However, there must be some kind of public accounting from the district about what went wrong and how it has been fixed before the community can rally behind a new ongoing tax. So far, all of what I have learned about this situation has come from the Vanguard (thanks!). There have been some guarded statements from the board but what is missing is a complete white paper report (perhaps by an independent commission?) that clearly explains the situation from the district’s point of view. Many people people don’t read this blog and are just in the dark about how this could have happened.
2. Two of the options under consideration would bring 9th graders to the high school. Okay. That might be good in the long run. However, one of those options would put Da Vinci at Valley Oak. If this was part of the ‘grand scheme” all along, why wasn’t North Davis closed instead of Valley Oak? Not that I want NDE closed, especially at this short notice. But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS? Wouldn’t the “Facilities Task Force” decision have been different if plans for Da Vinci had been in the mix?
Wouldn’t the Task Force’s recommendations been different if they had focused on anything but closing Valley Oak?
Wouldn’t the Task Force’s recommendations been different if they had focused on anything but closing Valley Oak?
Wouldn’t the Task Force’s recommendations been different if they had focused on anything but closing Valley Oak?
Wouldn’t the Task Force’s recommendations been different if they had focused on anything but closing Valley Oak?
I LOVE how the man in the picture of Superintendent Hammond is holding a sign that reads, “Keep teens in there Hood!” The subtle blend of colloquialism and misspelling is classic!
Goes to show we might need to spend a little more on education after all…
I LOVE how the man in the picture of Superintendent Hammond is holding a sign that reads, “Keep teens in there Hood!” The subtle blend of colloquialism and misspelling is classic!
Goes to show we might need to spend a little more on education after all…
I LOVE how the man in the picture of Superintendent Hammond is holding a sign that reads, “Keep teens in there Hood!” The subtle blend of colloquialism and misspelling is classic!
Goes to show we might need to spend a little more on education after all…
I LOVE how the man in the picture of Superintendent Hammond is holding a sign that reads, “Keep teens in there Hood!” The subtle blend of colloquialism and misspelling is classic!
Goes to show we might need to spend a little more on education after all…
anon wrote: “But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS?”
It’s been planned from the start that da Vinci would eventually be several miles from DHS — on the west side of the UCD campus. You mention some of the benefits of the current proximity to the DHS. My limited understanding is that the current situation also presents programatic difficulties for da Vinci. As best I can tell, the long-term goal is still for da Vinci to end up on or adjacent to (West Village?) the UCD campus.
RE: “public accounting from the district”
I’ve found the budget material on the DJUSD web site to be somewhat helpful. There are several links from the home page, in particular http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/
District/budget/
SchoolFinanceAndDJUSDBudget.htm
anon wrote: “But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS?”
It’s been planned from the start that da Vinci would eventually be several miles from DHS — on the west side of the UCD campus. You mention some of the benefits of the current proximity to the DHS. My limited understanding is that the current situation also presents programatic difficulties for da Vinci. As best I can tell, the long-term goal is still for da Vinci to end up on or adjacent to (West Village?) the UCD campus.
RE: “public accounting from the district”
I’ve found the budget material on the DJUSD web site to be somewhat helpful. There are several links from the home page, in particular http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/
District/budget/
SchoolFinanceAndDJUSDBudget.htm
anon wrote: “But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS?”
It’s been planned from the start that da Vinci would eventually be several miles from DHS — on the west side of the UCD campus. You mention some of the benefits of the current proximity to the DHS. My limited understanding is that the current situation also presents programatic difficulties for da Vinci. As best I can tell, the long-term goal is still for da Vinci to end up on or adjacent to (West Village?) the UCD campus.
RE: “public accounting from the district”
I’ve found the budget material on the DJUSD web site to be somewhat helpful. There are several links from the home page, in particular http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/
District/budget/
SchoolFinanceAndDJUSDBudget.htm
anon wrote: “But how does it make sense to put Da Vinci students a couple of miles away from the high school, when these students take electives, use the library, and participate in extracurriculars at DHS?”
It’s been planned from the start that da Vinci would eventually be several miles from DHS — on the west side of the UCD campus. You mention some of the benefits of the current proximity to the DHS. My limited understanding is that the current situation also presents programatic difficulties for da Vinci. As best I can tell, the long-term goal is still for da Vinci to end up on or adjacent to (West Village?) the UCD campus.
RE: “public accounting from the district”
I’ve found the budget material on the DJUSD web site to be somewhat helpful. There are several links from the home page, in particular http://www.djusd.k12.ca.us/
District/budget/
SchoolFinanceAndDJUSDBudget.htm
Maybe my observations are over the top, but please hear me out.
I notice that the most numerous and vocal constituencies during this budget cutting mess have been music, Da Vinci, and Emerson JH.
All three have strong, community building components to them. Music by its nature requires a collaborative community to succeed. Da Vinci is a school that has collaborative projects imbedded in its curriculum; a collaborative community component is necessary to succeed. Emerson JH has been touted for its peer helping program and for its school-sponsored student activities program. One explanation that has been offered for why Emerson JH has the district’s highest JH API score in spite of having its native GATE population siphoned off to other JH campuses is that the site administration and staff have created a collaborative community environment that makes more students feel welcome.
So if you are a family that has been affected by one or more of these three cuts, you begin to feel that community and connection are rather low values for the board and district when deciding on school cuts.
What is really too bad is that these are programs that most affect teens, who really need to have some positive structured community building programs in their lives.
What happens if you don’t have an array of established programs that build positive community connections for teens? The teens will go off and form those community groups by themselves. And one common name for such community groups that young people go off and join? Gangs.
We worry about threats of bullying, racism and teen disaffection. We are staring at the makings of future problems right now.
It was the district staff who initiated the proposed list of cuts. Much of the district staff is new and may not be fully aware of how this school district and community works. It would be nice to see some acknowledgement that student community and positive connections are important values in our schools.
Maybe my observations are over the top, but please hear me out.
I notice that the most numerous and vocal constituencies during this budget cutting mess have been music, Da Vinci, and Emerson JH.
All three have strong, community building components to them. Music by its nature requires a collaborative community to succeed. Da Vinci is a school that has collaborative projects imbedded in its curriculum; a collaborative community component is necessary to succeed. Emerson JH has been touted for its peer helping program and for its school-sponsored student activities program. One explanation that has been offered for why Emerson JH has the district’s highest JH API score in spite of having its native GATE population siphoned off to other JH campuses is that the site administration and staff have created a collaborative community environment that makes more students feel welcome.
So if you are a family that has been affected by one or more of these three cuts, you begin to feel that community and connection are rather low values for the board and district when deciding on school cuts.
What is really too bad is that these are programs that most affect teens, who really need to have some positive structured community building programs in their lives.
What happens if you don’t have an array of established programs that build positive community connections for teens? The teens will go off and form those community groups by themselves. And one common name for such community groups that young people go off and join? Gangs.
We worry about threats of bullying, racism and teen disaffection. We are staring at the makings of future problems right now.
It was the district staff who initiated the proposed list of cuts. Much of the district staff is new and may not be fully aware of how this school district and community works. It would be nice to see some acknowledgement that student community and positive connections are important values in our schools.
Maybe my observations are over the top, but please hear me out.
I notice that the most numerous and vocal constituencies during this budget cutting mess have been music, Da Vinci, and Emerson JH.
All three have strong, community building components to them. Music by its nature requires a collaborative community to succeed. Da Vinci is a school that has collaborative projects imbedded in its curriculum; a collaborative community component is necessary to succeed. Emerson JH has been touted for its peer helping program and for its school-sponsored student activities program. One explanation that has been offered for why Emerson JH has the district’s highest JH API score in spite of having its native GATE population siphoned off to other JH campuses is that the site administration and staff have created a collaborative community environment that makes more students feel welcome.
So if you are a family that has been affected by one or more of these three cuts, you begin to feel that community and connection are rather low values for the board and district when deciding on school cuts.
What is really too bad is that these are programs that most affect teens, who really need to have some positive structured community building programs in their lives.
What happens if you don’t have an array of established programs that build positive community connections for teens? The teens will go off and form those community groups by themselves. And one common name for such community groups that young people go off and join? Gangs.
We worry about threats of bullying, racism and teen disaffection. We are staring at the makings of future problems right now.
It was the district staff who initiated the proposed list of cuts. Much of the district staff is new and may not be fully aware of how this school district and community works. It would be nice to see some acknowledgement that student community and positive connections are important values in our schools.
Maybe my observations are over the top, but please hear me out.
I notice that the most numerous and vocal constituencies during this budget cutting mess have been music, Da Vinci, and Emerson JH.
All three have strong, community building components to them. Music by its nature requires a collaborative community to succeed. Da Vinci is a school that has collaborative projects imbedded in its curriculum; a collaborative community component is necessary to succeed. Emerson JH has been touted for its peer helping program and for its school-sponsored student activities program. One explanation that has been offered for why Emerson JH has the district’s highest JH API score in spite of having its native GATE population siphoned off to other JH campuses is that the site administration and staff have created a collaborative community environment that makes more students feel welcome.
So if you are a family that has been affected by one or more of these three cuts, you begin to feel that community and connection are rather low values for the board and district when deciding on school cuts.
What is really too bad is that these are programs that most affect teens, who really need to have some positive structured community building programs in their lives.
What happens if you don’t have an array of established programs that build positive community connections for teens? The teens will go off and form those community groups by themselves. And one common name for such community groups that young people go off and join? Gangs.
We worry about threats of bullying, racism and teen disaffection. We are staring at the makings of future problems right now.
It was the district staff who initiated the proposed list of cuts. Much of the district staff is new and may not be fully aware of how this school district and community works. It would be nice to see some acknowledgement that student community and positive connections are important values in our schools.
Where was this group of protesters when closure of Valley Oak was being discussed? How much sympathy do they expect to garner in light of having been completely silent when another neighborhood school was being closed? Is the difference the wealth or race of the surrounding neighborhood?
Where was this group of protesters when closure of Valley Oak was being discussed? How much sympathy do they expect to garner in light of having been completely silent when another neighborhood school was being closed? Is the difference the wealth or race of the surrounding neighborhood?
Where was this group of protesters when closure of Valley Oak was being discussed? How much sympathy do they expect to garner in light of having been completely silent when another neighborhood school was being closed? Is the difference the wealth or race of the surrounding neighborhood?
Where was this group of protesters when closure of Valley Oak was being discussed? How much sympathy do they expect to garner in light of having been completely silent when another neighborhood school was being closed? Is the difference the wealth or race of the surrounding neighborhood?
Trying to equate Valley Oak with Emerson is a distraction from the real issue of Emerson closing. It isn’t Emerson families fault for Valley Oak closing. Nor are the two comparable given that there are only 3 Jr. High schools.
While not knowing the overall framework of the budget or facilities enough to give alternate solutions, I can tell you the impacts will be real.
Each child will have to navigate the busiest parts of Davis on bike to reach Holmes. Parents will instead opt to drive, which will be 3 to 4 miles each way. This means up to 16 miles of driving each day, 80 miles a week, and 2960 each year. Over 3 years, each parent will add 8880 miles of driving to their vehicle. With 300 students, this is 2.6 million miles driven over their 3-year term at Holmes. When Davis is trying to be a ‘green’ city and Richard Harris ran on a ‘green schools’ platform, this idea of adding that many vehicle trips and that many miles and that much carbon to our atmosphere is unconscionable.
Trying to equate Valley Oak with Emerson is a distraction from the real issue of Emerson closing. It isn’t Emerson families fault for Valley Oak closing. Nor are the two comparable given that there are only 3 Jr. High schools.
While not knowing the overall framework of the budget or facilities enough to give alternate solutions, I can tell you the impacts will be real.
Each child will have to navigate the busiest parts of Davis on bike to reach Holmes. Parents will instead opt to drive, which will be 3 to 4 miles each way. This means up to 16 miles of driving each day, 80 miles a week, and 2960 each year. Over 3 years, each parent will add 8880 miles of driving to their vehicle. With 300 students, this is 2.6 million miles driven over their 3-year term at Holmes. When Davis is trying to be a ‘green’ city and Richard Harris ran on a ‘green schools’ platform, this idea of adding that many vehicle trips and that many miles and that much carbon to our atmosphere is unconscionable.
Trying to equate Valley Oak with Emerson is a distraction from the real issue of Emerson closing. It isn’t Emerson families fault for Valley Oak closing. Nor are the two comparable given that there are only 3 Jr. High schools.
While not knowing the overall framework of the budget or facilities enough to give alternate solutions, I can tell you the impacts will be real.
Each child will have to navigate the busiest parts of Davis on bike to reach Holmes. Parents will instead opt to drive, which will be 3 to 4 miles each way. This means up to 16 miles of driving each day, 80 miles a week, and 2960 each year. Over 3 years, each parent will add 8880 miles of driving to their vehicle. With 300 students, this is 2.6 million miles driven over their 3-year term at Holmes. When Davis is trying to be a ‘green’ city and Richard Harris ran on a ‘green schools’ platform, this idea of adding that many vehicle trips and that many miles and that much carbon to our atmosphere is unconscionable.
Trying to equate Valley Oak with Emerson is a distraction from the real issue of Emerson closing. It isn’t Emerson families fault for Valley Oak closing. Nor are the two comparable given that there are only 3 Jr. High schools.
While not knowing the overall framework of the budget or facilities enough to give alternate solutions, I can tell you the impacts will be real.
Each child will have to navigate the busiest parts of Davis on bike to reach Holmes. Parents will instead opt to drive, which will be 3 to 4 miles each way. This means up to 16 miles of driving each day, 80 miles a week, and 2960 each year. Over 3 years, each parent will add 8880 miles of driving to their vehicle. With 300 students, this is 2.6 million miles driven over their 3-year term at Holmes. When Davis is trying to be a ‘green’ city and Richard Harris ran on a ‘green schools’ platform, this idea of adding that many vehicle trips and that many miles and that much carbon to our atmosphere is unconscionable.
“Robin said…
Where was this group of protesters when closure of Valley Oak was being discussed? How much sympathy do they expect to garner in light of having been completely silent when another neighborhood school was being closed? Is the difference the wealth or race of the surrounding neighborhood?”
You raise a good point, and I don’t know if my response fully answers it.
What I see as troubling is that w/ the decision to close Valley Oak, the district went through what felt like excruciating discussion and deliberation over roughly two years. With Emerson, the idea and decision have all come up in a month or less. It has all the appearance and reality of a very rushed decision that hasn’t been thought out very well. Some of the points that were so carefully made to justify closing VO (rightly or wrongly) seem to be completely ignored for EJH. For instance, distance to travel to the school.
I think you could even have some EJH families conceding to close the school if there were a better sense of due process and community dialog that went on w/ VO.