Our fifth set of options considers what alternatives are available with the three schools in Indian Valley.
Greenville Elementary student capacity is 225, a current enrollment of 121, and an annual utility cost of $74,582.
Taylorsville Elementary student capacity is 100, a current enrollment 50, and an annual utility cost of $16,553.
Greenville High student capacity is 405, a current enrollment of 97, and an annual utility cost of $84,035.
Alternative 1 is to consolidate all of these students into a K-12 program at Greenville High and possibly moving and utilizing portable classrooms from Chester.
Alternative 2 is to consolidate Greenville Elementary and Greenville High and retain Taylorsville Elementary.
Alternative 3 is to close Greenville High and bus students to Chester High.
Alternative 4 is to close Greenville High and bus students to Quincy High.
Please share with us your feedback.
Would it be feasible to bus students from Chester to Greenville as it seems that our utility costs are lower than those on the facilities in Chester...
ReplyDelete"Would it be feasible to bus students from Chester to Greenville as it seems that our utility costs are lower than those on the facilities in Chester..."
ReplyDeleteI agree. Greenville gets much less snow then Chester so snow removal costs would be less as well.
and how much would it cost to bus students from Chester to Greenville? Chester already has bus problems because there are students all around Lake Almanor. some kids don't get home until 5:00 already. It would take at least 3-4 busses to transport all the students from Chester.In addition, by adding more students, the utility cost in Greenville would raise considerably.
ReplyDeleteI feel that with regard to the high schools it would be disruptive to the least number of students by closing Greenville High school and dispersing those students to their choice of either Quincy or Chester High School. Several students from the Greenville area are already voluntarily attending Chester High school.
ReplyDeleteWhen considering facility utility costs, one must keep in mind that CHS offers a great aquaculture program which includes a fish lab that adds to the utility costs. Additionally, the utility costs at Greenville are greater per student than that of Chester.
ReplyDeleteAs a Greenville parent, I would put my child into charter immediately, if we were required to bus to either Quincy or Chester! I do no believe it is in the best interest of the children to ride the bus for over an hour every day. Either direction, to Chester or Quincy, you are faced with canyons presenting risks of rock slides, icy roads and fast moving logging trucks. Every year, lives are claimed along these roadways, and I refuse to subject my child to these risks five days a week.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the bus ride is almost an hour now, when are the kids supposed to have time for homework, sports, breakfast and dinner?
How is a bus driver supposed to maintain the course of the vehicle under adverse conditions such as these, while maintaining conrol of unruly K-12 students for such a long time period? Something would be compromised for sure.
Let's focus on what is important here...THE CHILDREN!
Funny how it is okay to close anything in Greenville. It is also okay to bus kids from Indian Valley to where ever, but not okay to bus kids to Indian Valley. Yes there are lots of kids who live around the lake, there are also a lot of kids who live in the outermost areas of Indian Valley or Genesee Valley. They will spend an equally long time on the bus. I don't want my kids on the bus for that long anymore than anyone else. It doesn't seem like much money is to be saved by busing kids, then adding teachers for those extra kids, and the utility costs will go up for the new location. How much money are these ideas really projected to save?
ReplyDeleteThe writing has been on the wall for years. And a group of people from Indian Valley have been meeting about this issue for years with very little attendance from those it will affect. Now, suddenly everyone's infuriated. You should have been "infuriated" several years ago. There is no question a major change will have to happen. There's no question people will be angry. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do about it. The district is running out of money and will have to make drastic decisions. I'm not defending them. They do a wonderful job at screwing things up. But their hands are tied. It's going to come down to a choice between the lesser of several evils. I agree that Greenville's facility is in better shape and more ADA accessible than Chester and will take an influx of students easier. I do have a question about the enrollment reported by the committee: last I heard the enrollment at GHS was closer to 119...how did the committee come up with 97?
ReplyDeleteWhat I am wondering is why the only alternatives being suggested all involve closing facilities? If the goal is to save utility costs why are we not looking at other ways to lower those costs, such as moving to a 4 day school week. That would save 1/5th of the current utilities without closing schools which will severely impact all communities. What other ways can we save money? Other school districts are asking their employees to take furloughs or pay reductions. Have we done this? We need to look at the impact the farthest away from students. The economy in California will one day improve and to abandon buildings now and to later need to replace them with taxpayer dollars doesn't seem fair to our future generations.
ReplyDeleteWhen these proposals were investigated, did they include cost estimates for busing students to Quincy and/or Chester ( or from Chester to Greenville)? It is imperative that all the "hidden" additional costs to the supposedly "cost saving" alternatives have been documented. At the cost of gasoline today ( and most likely to continue to increase) it seems that we would just be trading the utility costs for transportation costs. Additionally, how much longer will the State continue to fund transportation costs. How much ADA would be lost when students opt out of school altogether?
ReplyDeleteIf I am understanding the various "alternatives", it doesn't appear that consolidating the two elementary schools onto one campus ( either GES OR TES) is being considered. Why? Could you consider TES as a K-5 school and consolidate all valley 6th graders to the high school campus?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how were the capacities for each facility arrived at? 100 students at TES would mean class sizes of 33-34-33
I think it's interesting that our school district use to be one of the richest districts in the nation but because of the decline of timber sales, we have dipped to an all time low in many regards. But what I find most interesting statewide, is: As the State placed more "administrative" staff on board to "educate" our children, our education has become worse and the only threats I ever see are the closing of facilities and laying off of teachers...When are we going to start eliminating the fat on top and allow the teachers, staff and Principals to educate our children? We don't need a district office or the staff in it.
ReplyDeleteAs usual these studies and analysis' have been set up to project just what the district want it to show. Nothing more and nothing less. The information presented here likens to trying to complete a picture puzzle with about 1/2 of the pieces missing. There are many many factors to consider other than utility costs per facility per year. Come on people, get real. Shuffling kids equals shuffling teachers. How many teachers want to commute from one end of the county to the other? How costly is that to the teacher. The good ones, who are readily employable, will find other jobs and the mediocre ones will stay. I believe alot of parents will remove their children from the public school system, and I don't blame them. It is easy to talk about bussing kids from Greenville to Chester but the reality of that commute is frightening during the winter months. I have done it and it is a horrible trip during inclement weather. If I were a school bus driver I surely would not want the responsibility of that route. It seems the district is going through an "excersise" under the umbrella of this "committee" to take the focus and heat of the decisions being made off themselves and spread the blame around under the guise of public involvement in finding solutions. I am skeptical..Sorry
ReplyDeleteMr. Harris, Please wait until we are in the throws of a really severe snow storm this Winter. Then jump in the driver's seat of one of the buses and make the trip from Greenville to Chester. I will bet that you have soiled yourself before you ever get to Canyon Dam. And no, I won't be allowing my child to take that trip!
ReplyDeleteClearly there needs to be consolidation. Some sort of K-12 in Indian Valley. The numbers look interesting--primarily because of the 'missing ' numbers of homeschooled children, private schooled children, and children now going to FRC as high school students. I see the time has come for a meeting where we invite homeschooling and private schooling parents to help us address the very real reasons why Indian Valley numbers are so low. Is there a way to get homeschooling and private schooling parents interested in public school? What is keeping them out? What needs to be brokered to get them back or get them on board? Until the district address why so many have gone elsewhere then nothing is really being addressed.
ReplyDeleteAs for the high schools. Why can't Greenville High School become a magnet school for the county for Natural Resources, Science, and Traditional Agriculture? That seems to be what we are best at here. Greenville students interested in such programs could stay in Greenville. Students from other parts of the county could bus in for those programs. We'd have to loose the Greenville uber alles mentality but otherwise that could be a win for Greenville and the whole county. What if Quincy High became the AP and Fine Arts /College Prep magnet ? Chester becomes the Vocational Ed Magnet and Portola becomes the Technology one? In that way all students interests in the county are covered and it's still a win for each community to promote whatever it is they might be best at.
Ultimate efficiency dictates the abolition of the district. There is no justifiable advantage in having 4 geographically separate communities forced to work in some faux unified effort. Control of and responsibility for running each school, and consolidations necessary in each community should be determined by each local community. Private schools run their operations under these constraints. When will government entities learn this lesson?
ReplyDelete