Sonoma Valley school trustee hopes to move quickly on sweeping changes

Stressing the urgency to reorganize Sonoma Valley Unified School District in the face of declining student enrollment, board Trustee John Kelly has proposed a plan that would consolidate schools as early as the 2023-24 school year and transform some campuses to affordable housing for teachers, staff and families.

“We need to move promptly to ensure families, teachers, staff and our community are aware of the district’s plans,” he said. “Nothing is more disruptive than ineffective instruction. Our district has fiddled in a dilatory fashion for years on this issue, and given the waste our current alignment causes, we cannot let it continue. The sooner we let everyone know our plans, the better. That’s why we need to act now.”

Kelly outlined his proposal in a letter to district officials and a paid advertisement in the March 8 Sonoma Index-Tribune, as well as in a subsequent interview. He cited the district’s steady drop in student enrollment, which has fallen from 5,000 in the 2004-05 academic year to 4,200 in 2010-11, and 3,265 in 2022-23.

This decline has caused the district to explore consolidating schools to save money, with the potential to re-purpose other campuses.

Kelly will present his plan as an agenda item at the March 9 school board meeting. The board has been collaborating with the consulting firm Perkins-Eastman on the district’s Facilities Master Plan, which (along with trustees and district administrators) has been meeting with stakeholders and then making presentations at board meetings. Public input regarding the Facilities Master Plan also is being sought at sonomavalleyfacilitiesmasterplan.org.

Kelly’s plan would close Dunbar, Prestwood and Sassarini elementary, while consolidating K-5 education at El Verano and Flowery by the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. He also suggests consolidating traditional middle school at Adele Harrison, while transforming Altimira and Woodland Star’s campuses into a K-8 dual immersion program.

He says that his brisk recommended timeline can be met through collaboration of the district’s board, staff and teachers.

“It will take a certain amount of physical infrastructure work — construction — to make this happen, of course,” he said. “However, the costs can be borne by the district without the use of bond dollars.

“It is that ability to improve the buildings and provide continued return to the community that can add that extra bit of motivation to move a project like this along.”

In his proposal, Dunbar would become a district-sponsored, nonpublic school for children who learn differently. The district would “reclaim” both K-8 charter schools — Woodland Star and Sonoma Charter — which could relocate to the Dunbar campus.

“As proposed, we will keep all the campuses in the Springs open, which is where most of our students reside,” Kelly said of Flowery, El Verano and Altimira. “Further, bringing our middle and high school students together at the Broadway campus will allow middle school students to access accelerated coursework at the high school simply by walking from one campus to another.”

He suggests for the Sonoma Charter School, Sassarini and Prestwood campuses to be transformed into affordable housing for teachers, staff and families.

“If all three sites are to be reused, Sonoma Valley Unified School District would potentially construct up to 715 units of housing, which would bring the district to ‘net zero’ as an employer, in terms of its impact on local housing,” he said. “This can be done without bond expenditures, and by retaining ownership of all our sites that are re-purposed, this plan can yield long-term financial benefits.

“As the largest employer in the Valley, that would both make a meaningful impact on our housing crisis and serve as an example for other employers and government agencies. Further, increasing the supply of housing in the Valley is one of the best things we can do to help our working and middle-class families, as well as our own teachers and staff.”

Kelly says that his realignment proposal also could allow the district to raise teacher and staff salaries.

“Our district’s financial analysis indicates realigning in this fashion would allow a one-time increase in teacher and staff pay of nearly 9% on top of all other scheduled increases,” he said. “This is a real, concrete step in the right direction for those who deserve it most.”

Kelly articulated a slightly different vision at the board’s Feb. 11 study session, which he revised after feedback from other trustees.

“My proposal may very well be changed, and this agenda item gives trustees an opportunity to discuss other proposals, and choose to act on all, some or even none of those brought forward,” he said.

Kelly said he looks forward to a “robust and vigorous discussion on March 9, which in my opinion should be followed by action.”

The meeting will be held at the district office, 17850 Railroad Ave. in Sonoma, with a closed session beginning at 4 p.m. before open session begins around 5 p.m. The meeting can also be viewed on Zoom using Webinar ID 919 8007 0828.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.