Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Closure And Consolidation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents and alumni urge board to restore Carissa Plains as K–8; request formal agenda consideration
Summary
Community members asked the Atascadero Unified School District board to place a proposal on a future agenda to restore Carissa Plains as a K–8 site and to stop long student commutes; speakers said the change would affect a small number of students and not increase district costs.
At public comment the board heard pleas from Carissa Plains community members urging the board to return Carissa Plains to K–8 status and stop lengthy daily bus commutes for local students.
Adrienne Twissleman, parent and spokesperson for the Carissa Plains PTF, recounted historical promises from the 1965 unification record that rural schools would be retained as attendance centers to avoid long transport distances. Twissleman asked that “the proposal to restore Carissa Plains as a K through 8 school be placed on the next board agenda as an action item for formal consideration and vote, not merely as an informational update.”
Patty Hermosillo, who said her grandson will be the only sixth grader at Carissa Plains next year, told the board that Carissa Plains currently enrolls about 19 students and that maintaining local K–6 or K–8 would not cost the district additional money because courseware and staff are already paid for. She reported one student will be sixth grade next year and said the current arrangement forces more than a 100‑mile round‑trip commute for families.
Speakers requested board consideration to allow Carissa Plains to remain K–8 or K–6 and referenced community ties and local support. The board did not take immediate action on the request during the meeting; speakers explicitly asked the board to place the matter on a future action agenda for formal consideration and vote.
