Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Closures topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Santa Rosa board hears large turnout opposing proposed school closures; district to publish boundary map
Summary
At a Jan. 22 meeting, district staff reported results from consolidation town halls and launched an online survey; dozens of parents, students and community members urged trustees to keep neighborhood high schools open.
Santa Rosa City Schools staff updated the board on Jan. 22 about the district’s school‑closure and consolidation process and said public input will continue as the advisory committee completes its recommendations.
Associate Superintendent Lisa August told trustees the district held four town‑hall dialogue events the prior week, with attendance ranging from roughly 150 to nearly 400 people, and scheduled a final event the next evening at Santa Rosa High School. August said the district posted video and slide materials online and released a ParentSquare survey explaining proposed scenarios; responses received by Friday morning will be included in a summary for the school consolidation and closure advisory committee.
"Responses received by Friday morning will be included in the summary information provided to the school consolidation and closure advisory committee at their meeting on Monday," August said. She said a boundary‑mapping tool will be published to allow the public to test scenarios; the committee was expected to meet Jan. 27 with a special Feb. 3 date held if needed.
Public comment on the item ran for 90 minutes and focused heavily on proposed closures or consolidations affecting high schools across the district. Students, parents, teachers and alumni urged trustees to keep their neighborhood high schools open — including Santa Rosa High School, LC Allen High School, Elsie Allen High School, Montgomery High School and Pioneer High School. Speakers described programs they said would be lost, including Career Technical Education pathways, FFA, band and dual‑enrollment partnerships with local colleges.
Senior students from Santa Rosa High School described the school’s ArtQuest visual and performing arts program, marching band, and college‑credit opportunities; student speakers warned that closing a large high school could displace hundreds of students. Speakers from LC Allen cited the school’s University Center with Sonoma State University, scholarship investments and CTE programs.
School board trustees reiterated that the advisory committee is finalizing recommendations and that no closures were being implemented at the Jan. 22 meeting. Superintendent Dr. Daisy Morales said staff would post town‑hall materials and create a map showing proposed boundary changes once the committee had finalized rankings.
The district’s consolidation process began with the advisory committee’s December work and town halls scheduled in January. The district said the committee would finalize recommendations and submit them to the board; staff emphasized that additional public input would be captured by the survey and boundary tool before recommendations are delivered.
Trustees did not vote on closures at the Jan. 22 meeting. Several speakers asked the board to consider alternatives — for example, the 7‑to‑12 model that would reorganize grade bands to preserve high schools while achieving budget reductions — and urged the district to present more options before any final vote.
