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West Sacramento parents say Elkhorn renovation plans trimmed common spaces without community input
Summary
Parents of Elkhorn Village Elementary urged Washington Unified leaders to reopen community engagement after concept plans reduced the school’s multipurpose space, cafeteria and other common areas, a group of speakers told the board Feb. 13.
Several parents from Elkhorn Village Elementary told the Washington Unified School District board on Feb. 13 they were surprised and disappointed to learn the facility modernization plans have reduced key common spaces that community members identified as priorities during early planning.
Lisa Meneses, a parent, said she participated in a 2019 community session that informed the 2020 facility master plan, including concerns about insufficient multipurpose space, a small library and lack of a gym. “We are the community that uses the spaces on a daily basis,” Meneses said, asking the district to “please partner with our community.”
Betsy Cellino, another parent, said the publicly posted concept designs seemed to shrink the cafeteria, reduce permanent classrooms and cut multipurpose spaces, despite expected housing growth in the school’s attendance area. “Fewer permanent classrooms, fewer multipurpose spaces for clubs, arts, sports — those are important considerations,” she said, and requested at least two in‑person community meetings with facilitated discussion and interpretation services if needed.
Dr. Molly Kerzer, speaking as a parent, described the cafeteria as “objectively small,” saying fire code capacity is 160 — about two grade levels — and that assemblies frequently leave parents waiting outside. She said Elkhorn’s current multi‑use room (MUR) serves as a gym, library overflow and event space, and that plans to convert part of the MUR into classrooms will leave the site with less large‑group capacity than needed.
Speakers asked the board to create a formal plan for wider outreach and clearer transparency about how parent input will be weighed when final designs are selected. Board members said they would take the comments under advisement and asked staff to report on steps to expand community engagement.
Ending
Parents asked for early, facilitated engagement so their everyday experience using school spaces can inform final design choices. The board asked staff to follow up with timelines for additional meetings and transparency about how community input will affect final plans.
