The Santa Rosa City School Board and its School Consolidation and Closure Advisory Committee (SCAC) moved forward with a public engagement schedule Jan. 8 while receiving sustained public comment from students, staff and community members urging the board not to close neighborhood high schools.

Superintendent Dr. Mina Morales and SCAC lead Lisa August briefed the board on a series of “town hall dialogues” set across several days in late January and a SCAC workshop scheduled for Jan. 27 to draft recommendations. The timeline presented calls for a possible additional SCAC meeting Feb. 3, a special board presentation and public hearing on Feb. 5, and an action meeting scheduled for Feb. 19.

The administration said the town halls will use gallery-walk stations and “dot” exercises to solicit community input on scenario options already collected by the committee. August said SCAC members will be asked to rank schools under multiple scenarios to ensure the committee can respond to different possibilities the board may consider.

Hundreds of speakers — including alumni, teachers, counselors, parents and students — testified during the public-comment periods. A large contingent of students and alumni from Pioneer High School urged the board to preserve the campus, citing unique programs including the Early College Magnet (ECM), STEM certificate programs, a campus planetarium/observatory and the GRACE credit-recovery program. Pioneer students and staff described ECM as a pathway that lets students take college classes free of charge and win college credits that can accelerate graduation.

Several speakers described personal stories tied to LC Allen, Santa Rosa High, Maria Carrillo and other sites; representatives from alumni groups, teachers and counseling staff emphasized the community, extracurricular and college-access programs that would be lost with closures. Pioneer counselor Sydney Miller highlighted “Freshman First Day,” a team-building program the school runs to acclimate incoming 9th graders.

Committee members and district staff said they will prepare pre-scripted communications and aim to deliver transfer and placement information rapidly after board action so families know options and timelines. Staff said they are prepared to shorten some usual notification windows — citing a goal of communicating transfer/placement information within weeks rather than months after a board decision.

Board members reiterated the need for community engagement in the town halls and said trustees will attend selected events, noting Brown Act limits on trustee attendance (no more than three trustees may attend a single town hall to avoid forming a quorum). Trustees asked for clearer public timelines and for the district to post town-hall dates and materials to the district website; staff said the site and ParentSquare notifications would be updated.

Ending

The consolidation process will proceed under the SCAC timeline, with town halls in late January, SCAC recommendation drafting Jan. 27, potential finalization Feb. 3 and board action Feb. 19. Officials promised expedited communications following any board action; community speakers said the schedule underscores an urgent need for clear, accessible information and argued for alternatives to school closures that preserve unique campus programs.