Sacramento parents say time's too short to create new high school

Parents and teachers who once pushed for a new school to replace the former Sacramento High School are now leading an effort to delay the opening.

They represent two of four parties in a lawsuit that mandated Sacramento City Unified open the "consent decree" high school by this fall. Though still adamant that the district needs a replacement high school, parents and teachers say a yearlong delay could allow time to develop a better educational program and find a more suitable location than a former elementary school.

Sacramento City Unified officials said last week that they're "open" to the idea but that all parties would have to agree on a delay.

Rick Maya, executive director of local operations for St. HOPE – the fourth litigant in the consent decree suit – said St. HOPE is willing to discuss a delay, but only if the district calls for such a discussion.

"At this point, I think it's too premature for us to consider a delay until we sit down with our partner," Maya said.

The consent decree school has been in the works since 2003 – the result of a lawsuit filed by Sacramento City Unified parents and teachers angry over the closure of Sacramento High School that fall. The new school was to replace Sacramento High, which became a charter school run by St. HOPE.

Comprehensive planning for the new school didn't start until the end of 2007, when trustees voted to open the high school at the former Marian Anderson Elementary School.

The school is scheduled to open in about five months, and much planning has yet to be done – prompting the teachers union and parents involved in the original lawsuit to call for a delay.

Kate Lenox, one of the parent litigants, said she wants more time because the school is "still just vague and amorphous at this stage."

Linda Tuttle, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, said the union will agree to a delay as long it's what parents want.

"The question needs to be asked, has somebody started the mechanism to explore that?" she said.

A group of parents in east Sacramento has recently raised questions about the location, quality and potential enrollment of the new high school.

The school will open with just freshmen. So far, roughly 60 families have signed up their children; another dozen or so have said the school is their second choice.

Superintendent Maggie Mejia has said the school will not open unless it has at least 150 students.

"They're rushing on this. They've waited until the 11th hour," said parent Susie Shields, whose children could eventually attend the school. "They need more time to really re-evaluate their decisions."

Shields was not included in the lawsuit but is part of a parent group called Where's My High School? that alleges the east Sacramento area has not had a comprehensive, neighborhood high school since Sacramento High's closure. They say Hiram Johnson – the designated high school for the neighborhood – is too far away and not academically rigorous enough.

Shields and others in the group believe a delay will give the district time to find a location for the new school other than Marian Anderson. Their suggestion: swapping Sacramento Charter High and West Campus High School, then opening the new high school on the former Sacramento High site with West Campus.

Associate Superintendent Susan Miller said a delay would constitute a change in the legal agreement to which all parties must agree. She said lawyers from all sides have been in contact, but she did not know what progress they have made.

As for the district, Miller said officials there remain "open to any suggestion within the legal parameters." Failing to open the school, Miller said, could open the district to a lawsuit.

The district has set aside $8 million of bond money for renovation costs associated with the new school. Preparing the Marian Anderson site would cost $5 million, officials have said.

The district expects to spend an estimated $485,000 in general fund money, Miller said, for things such as supplies, textbooks and a principal's salary.

District officials say the $5 million can't be spent on anything else.

As for the $458,000, the district could be liable for much more than that if it reneges on their commitment, said Deputy Superintendent Tom Barentson.

"We don't want to jeopardize the district," Miller said.

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