By Carol Rosen

Declining enrollments and California's deficit have led San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) to consider a plan to consolidate two to four of its 31 elementary schools. But news of the plan has led to rampant rumors about which schools will be closed, with most of the gossip centered on schools in the central part of the city or outside of neighborhoods such as Almaden.

According to school board officials, most rumors target Randol, Schallenberger and Willow Glen elementaries, with some suggesting Allen and Hester elementary schools. None of the suggested gossip centers on Almaden schools, although Randol is just outside of the area. However, school board officials note that no schools have been picked for consolidation as yet and the decision likely won't be made before February.

“There's a process that the district's committee will be following, and anyone who tells parents that the schools already have been picked is doing so with pure conjecture,” says Karen Fuqua, supervisor of public relations for SJUSD.

“Almaden schools are very well populated schools with high attendance, although that may not mean anything. Most of the rumors,” Fuqua adds, “deal with schools in the central portion of the city where schools are smaller [and enrollment has dropped]. But just because a school is small doesn't provide a good reason to close it anymore than being a large [populated] school would.”

Randy Adams, whose son is a second grader at Los Alamitos School was chosen for the committee by the school's principal, Dr. Lisa Gonzales. She asked him if he'd be interested in serving and he agreed.

“What I think we will do first is learn what the issues are so that we can make the best decision possible. Our first meeting is Oct. 29. I plan to go over the materials, orient myself and learn our [the committee's] role and then how to determine the best solution. I've heard that we may look into redrawing boundaries,” Adams says.

Looking at the consolidation subjectively, Adams who is the park manager for Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, notes that he and his wife are happy with Los Alamitos and hope that it will not be one that is consolidated. But he adds, “any parent at any school will give you the same answer.”

The committee that will make consolidation decisions to present to the board is made up of 21 people (see below for names). Among the members are 11 parents from various district schools, four principals, two teachers, three members of the district staff and the deputy superintendent for instruction.

The group met Oct. 29 to review their purpose and the criteria for consolidating schools, in addition to looking over school site enrollment trends. A second meeting will be held Nov. 10 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to review enrollment issues by school site committees and determine school consolidation scenarios to be developed. This is an open meeting that the public is invited to attend.

The consolidation investigation is based on numerical student enrollment triggers. The determination reviews the five-year forecast for kindergarten through fifth enrollment projections. It kicks in when that forecast is projected to decline or to remain at 75 percent of the district's K- through fifth instructional capacity and the two-year trend for K- through fifth enrollment is determined to decline or remain at 75 percent of the district's K- through fifth instructional capacity.

In plain English, that means that triggers indicating declining enrollment already have been hit, and projections are for numbers to go down throughout the next five years. Two years ago, for example, SJUSD elementary school enrollment declined by about 750 students. This year, registration is expected to decline another 350 students with next year's projections indicating a 300-student decline. Such dramatic declines mean less services, books, teachers and facilities are necessary to accommodate the remaining students. While some attrition comes through an exit to private schools, school sources indicate that many families are moving from the area due to the economy.

The upshot is that all 31 schools are not necessary. One parent, who asked to remain nameless, notes that possibly the easiest scenario would be to close Hester as an elementary school and turn it into the campus for the Downtown College Prep charter school. Then the district could combine Corey, which currently only serves Kindergarten through second grades, with Trace, serving third through fifth grades, into one school. That might take care of the problems without disrupting too many students.

But the decision is up to the 21 members of the consolidation advisory task force. They are responsible for developing the recommendations through various criteria and holding a series of about 10 meetings.

The criteria include financial considerations to assess individual sites such as the actual annual costs of operating and maintaining specific schools,

•  projected costs of capital improvements,

•  the physical capability of existing school facilities to accommodate increased staffing based on consolidation,

•  the physical capability of existing school facilities to handle increased student enrollment, and

•  the costs and capabilities of transporting students.

The committee also must ensure student health and safety at specific schools and the availability and impact to programs and community service —such as adult education, after-school and summer recreation and service organizations —at specific schools. For example, they can't close a neighborhood school if that would require students to cross a busy thoroughfare such as Almaden or Capital Expressway.

The group will look at four areas: facilities, demographics, transportation/safety and fiscal needs. There are 10 factors to consider under facilities:

•  capacity, including portables and permanent classrooms,

•  quality and condition of rooms that are not being renovated,

•  technology and utilities capability,

•  physical layout,

•  parking,

•  sports and recreation fields,

•  libraries,

•  multi-purpose rooms,

•  community use and

•  special education programs

Demographic criteria includes the resident population, where students live —not where they attend school, housing trends and impact on the district's Voluntary Integration Plan. The measures to be considered for transportation and safety include the cost of transportation, traffic, bus riders/walkers, drop off areas and community impact. Finally, the task force will examine fiscal factors such as utilities, annual maintenance costs, cost to bring in portables, renovations or expansion of current facilities, alternative uses for facilities and the cost of staffing —administration, clerical and janitorial.