Sonoma County Office of Education finishes six‑month partnership with Santa Rosa City Schools, urges focused fiscal action

Santa Rosa City Schools and the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) wrapped a six‑month partnership on Sept. 24 that produced a set of focused recommendations intended to help the district stabilize its budget and operations.

The SCOE review — carried out at the board’s request through an ad hoc committee — looked at six areas: fiscal oversight, demographic/enrollment analysis, junior‑/senior‑high reconfiguration support, school safety, special education, and communications. Dr. Amy Carter, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, and Dr. Vince Matthews, a state administrator with experience at large urban districts, presented the partnership’s findings and next steps.

Why it matters: SCOE and state advisers said the district is at a point where swift and sustained board action is needed to avoid escalation to state oversight. Dr. Carter told the trustees the county has statutory responsibility to act if local decisions leave the district insolvent and praised the district leadership for recent changes in transparency and “a culture of engagement.” Dr. Matthews, who has worked in San Francisco, Oakland and Inglewood, told the board that districts that avoid receivership do so by setting urgent goals, producing clear recommendations and then iterating through board–staff scrutiny.

Key findings and near‑term tasks - Fiscal monitoring: SCOE said the district must continue urgent budget work already under way and use the next committee meetings to test options. Dr. Carter noted the county’s role is to support local decision‑making and, if needed, take statutory steps to protect solvency. - Enrollment and demographics: SCOE supported updated, county‑level demographic work and an enrollment study now under contract with MGT; district staff said first‑week counts were “very close” to projections and highlighted that attendance (average daily attendance) is a major revenue lever. - Junior/senior reconfiguration: SCOE recommended continued support for newly configured junior–senior programs (Montgomery and Santa Rosa high schools) and several implementation steps to strengthen coherence across those campuses. - Safety and student supports: SCOE encouraged continued investment in training, behavior‑intervention matrices and partnerships with community providers; district staff described pilots of a discipline matrix and expanded wellness resources. - Special education: SCOE and SELPA supported the district’s work to transition students returned from out‑of‑district placements and to form a special‑education task force to redesign long‑term supports. - Communications: SCOE urged a steady, inside‑out communications strategy so staff are informed first; the district said it is expanding internal and external communication channels and will share materials for principals to use.

District response and next steps Superintendent August thanked SCOE and said the district will continue the work, especially on enrollment forecasting and the facility master plan. The board directed staff to use SCOE’s recommendations at upcoming committee meetings and to pursue the demographic study with MGT. Dr. Carter and Dr. Matthews emphasized that the work is intended to build local capacity and urged the board to keep pressing on “urgent needs, focused action, clear goals.”

Ending: Trustees and SCOE leaders said the partnership will continue in a monitoring role; SCOE recommended the board move quickly to enact the fiscal and programmatic decisions the report identifies as necessary to preserve local control and support students.