School has low student demand

Sacramento City trustees may delay or scrap new mandated campus as just 12 kids register.

By Kim Minugh - kminugh@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, May 15, 2008
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3

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Sacramento City Unified trustees will discuss tonight whether to delay the opening of a new high school – or just abandon it altogether.

Citing insufficient student interest, district administrators will recommend that the school not open this fall, as is required in the legal settlement mandating the school's creation.

Only 12 students have registered for the consent-decree school. Superintendent Maggie Mejia has said the school will not open with fewer than 150.

Associate Superintendent Susan Miller said there just aren't enough kids to support its opening.

"When we look at our enrollment of 12 students, that's not viable to open in September," she said. "The board still needs to discuss whether that's a postponement" or a death knell for the school.

The district has spent about $26,000 in planning the school, Miller said. The first phase of construction – expected to cost $491,000 – is on hold until trustees give the green light.

Hiring a principal and other operational costs would total an additional $485,000, Miller said.

The consent-decree school stems from a legal settlement in a lawsuit filed over the 2003 closure of Sacramento High School and its conversion into a charter school. The teachers union and a group of parents argued the closure was illegal, and that a new school was needed to replace the old Sacramento High.

Students living in the former Sacramento High attendance area are directed to Hiram Johnson High School.

In December, trustees voted to place the new school at the former site of Marian Anderson Elementary. Parents have said since then that the lackluster location, as well as a lack of concrete academic plans for the school, have contributed to low enrollment.

Linda Tuttle, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, said she supports a delay in the school's opening, but not a complete abandonment.

She cited a vocal group of east Sacramento parents who have expressed a desire for a new high school, but have said current plans for the school are inadequate.

Tuttle acknowledged those parents were not involved in the lawsuit, but said they share the same goals as the original litigants.

"The premise is still exactly the same," she said. "They want a community high school."

About the writer:

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

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School has low student demand

Sacramento City trustees may delay or scrap new mandated campus as just 12 kids register.

By Kim Minugh - kminugh@sacbee.com

About the writer:

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