Twin Rivers votes against closing 5 schools, will restructure grade levels at others

Twin Rivers Unified School District voted against closing five schools, after about a year of consideration and review.

The district was considering closing four elementary schools and a middle school in the district that serves North Sacramento, including the Natomas neighborhoods, as well as northern Sacramento County including North Highlands and Rio Linda.

But the school board voted 6-1 against the initial proposal with Michelle Rivas, president of the district board of trustees, being the sole member to vote in favor of the plan.

The district reviewed options to close and consolidate several schools as it grapples with declining enrollment and a $3.8 million budget deficit, which amounts to 1 percent of the district’s budget.

The district, which serves more than 23,000 students, has 46 K-12 schools with 15 grade configurations, which district officials say contributes to underenrolled schools and staffing inefficiencies.

Based on recommendations from the Student Housing Committee, formed in March 2019 to review district policies, the district still plans to move to a structure that reconfigure eight schools into four grade configurations:

▪ Grades K-6 (700 students) and K-8 (900 students) for elementary.

▪ Grades 7-8 (1,000 students) for intermediate.

▪ Grades 9-12 (2,000 students) for secondary.

Twin Rivers schools currently has an average of 534 students per school, compared to Sacramento City Unified at 620 per school and Elk Grove Unified at 959 students per school.

But parents and community members said those are not reasons to close neighborhood schools. School closures would mean larger class sizes, teacher layoffs, and busing students away from their neighborhood schools.

Sasha Vogt, a parent at Martin Luther King Jr. Tech Academy, which was on the chopping block, called the school the pride and joy of the community.

“The schools slated for closure happened to be among the most vulnerable in our community, the most isolated and the most marginalized in our community,” said Vogt, who is also running for a seat on the school board. “And they really were the heartbeat of those communities. They provide breakfast, lunch, and sometimes after school snack or dinner for our kids. They are gathering places for our parents, many of our families don’t have access to internet. (These schools) are a great resource for our community. They serve as a safety net and they are part of who our children were.”

Nearly 90 percent of students enrolled at Twin Rivers Unified come from low-income families, and are eligible for free or reduced lunch, according to California School Dashboard, which provides comprehensive reports on schools in the state. More than a quarter are English learners and 6 percent of the district’s students are in foster youth.

“The district can afford to keep all of our schools open,” said Rebecca LeDoux in a statement. LeDoux is a sixth-grade teacher at Foothill Ranch Middle School and President of Twin Rivers United Educators. “The District has fabricated a budget crisis, while they keep almost $50 million in its reserves.” The District surprised the community when it drastically changed budget projections in its latest budget, now claiming a $5.7 million deficit.

Hundreds rallied outside of Tuesday’s school board meeting, calling for the Twin Rivers Unified school board to vote against the closures.

First-grade teacher Sarah Cavalari – who teaches at Babcock Elementary, one of the schools that was up for closure – said one of her main concerns about the proposal was over transportation, and disrupting students’ routines, particularly those students with special needs.

“I worry mostly about my students,” Cavalari said in a released statement. “We work really hard to establish positive relationships with our students. I am fearful that it would negatively impact them socially, emotionally, and thus, academically.”

The district said with the budget deficit still looming, officials will need to look into other solutions to close the gap.