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CLEAR Temp: 62 °F Wind: NW at 6 mph Saturday, June 1, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 1, 2002 Ashland may close school this fall The school board speeds up the selection process, despite concerns about haste By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — With only three weeks to do it, a citizens advisory committee Monday begins the daunting task of choosing one of Ashland’s five elementary schools for possible closure this fall, a move slated to help reduce the district’s projected $1.2 million shortfall. The committee was set to study closure of a school over the coming year because of declining enrollment, but the Ashland School Board Wednesday voted to fast-track the issue, asking for a hit list for its June 25 meeting — in time for the new budget year starting July 1. The school closure committee will hold its first meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the school district office conference room. No public hearing is slated, but the committee is free to schedule one, said board member Kent Provost. The room seats only about 15 members of the public. The district is expecting an additional $1.2 million in cuts for 2002-03 because of the failure of state ballot Measure 13, which would have tapped a school endowment fund, and because of announcements in May of more shortfalls anticipated in state income-tax collections. The cuts come on the heels of $1.9 million slashed from the budget in April. The advisory committee will develop criteria for school closure, such as location and condition of buildings. It may recommend closing and selling or leasing one elementary school or suggest alternatives to avoid closure, said Provost, who will act as facilitator for the committee. Closure of a school would save the district $240,000 to $250,000 a year, he said. Its sale, most likely for demolition and development, would produce an additional undetermined amount — likely enough to more than cover the shortfall. The advisory committee will suggest sale or lease figures. All school board members expressed concern about the district’s ability to close a school and handle the complex job of redistricting and reassigning teachers on such short notice, but the board approved the advisory committee’s mission 4-1, with board Chairwoman Terry Littleton dissenting. "This is a huge deal," said Littleton. "I believe it is virtually impossible to get enough data to make an informed decision in three weeks." The politics of slating a school for closure and adjusting boundary lines are likely to divide the district just when it needs to be unified in the face of state cuts, she added. The potential savings won’t offset the ill will a hasty move will create, she said. Supporters of the motion disagreed. "It’s a lot of work, but it’s doable,’’ said Provost. "I’m really saddened we’re at this point. It’s too bad, and we would avoid it if we could, but it’s the reality.’’ "We’ve been put under the gun by the failure of leadership in the House and Senate,’’ said school board member Chuck Keil. "They’ve forced us to make decisions in a time frame that’s hard to deal with." Members of the advisory committee include site council representatives from each school and the community at large. Briscoe Elementary School’s member, Polly Greist, called the school board’s vote "ill considered and irresponsible’’ chiefly because of the hurried time frame. "The members who voted for this did a disservice to the community,’’ Greist said. "They took the superintendent by surprise and it puts a bad face on the school board to push this through when she (Juli Di Chiro) already said it can’t be done with this swiftness. It has the ring of panic.’’ Greist said widespread rumors place Briscoe and Lincoln elementary schools on top of the hit list, mainly because of structural defects that don’t meet earthquake or fire safety standards. "It’s almost as if the school board jumped ahead and said they’ve already made the decision and they just want us to rubber stamp it,’’ she said. "Why put together a committee if you’re not going to listen to what they say? They said there weren’t going to be any school closures this year, and it destroys the goodwill of the community to go against your word.’’ Advisory committee member Lyle Halprin, representing Lincoln school, said he believes either Briscoe or Lincoln will top the sale list and that the sale price of either would exceed the present shortfall. "I’m not very happy about it and I don’t know how we can make an informed decision in three weeks, but I understand the board needs to make budget decisions by the end of the month,’’ he said. "Let’s not forget we have the option of recommending no closure.’’ Bob Kuenzel, chairman of Ashland Schools Foundation, which does private fund raising for schools, questioned the move. "It’s difficult to believe a thoughtful, objective job can be done in three weeks," he said. Funding of schools at the state level is still "highly fluid,’’ he added, and the best alternative now would be for voters to "focus their wrath" on legislators and the governor so they don’t "hit schools with much worse than the bad they already did." Closure opponent Beth Geismar, a Briscoe parent, called the board’s decision "unfortunate.’’ "It’s hard to picture them being able to give it the consideration it needs in three weeks," she said. A better solution would be to strengthen community schools through policies of affordable housing that allow younger families to stay in Ashland, she said. The advisory committee will use new demographics from the school district in making its decision, Keil said. Present elementary enrollment, he added, is below historical numbers and less than the number of students graduating from high school. "We have excess capacity in elementary schools. As the price of real estate goes up, the numbers of elementary students stands to go down," he said. "Still, selling is not our first choice. If we retain the site, we could reopen it later. If it’s needed in the future, a new school site would be very hard to come by." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] . Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S