Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents urge ABC Unified to preserve neighborhood programs, propose community‑school and marketing alternatives
Summary
Community speakers urged the board to save Ferguson and Sters schools, expand dual‑immersion and IB offerings, pursue community‑school models and joint grants, and increase marketing of popular programs rather than proceed with closures.
Community members filled the meeting to press the board for alternatives to consolidation. Dozens of public commenters — parents, teachers and local advocates — urged the board to preserve neighborhood schools and invest in programmatic strategies to boost enrollment.
Multiple speakers asked the district to promote dual‑immersion programs and consider combining program models (for example, IB plus dual‑immersion) to make specific campuses more attractive to families. Carla B. Santa Cruz urged cross‑district advertising and stronger communications to reach families in neighboring districts that are full. "We could be unique," she said, citing existing Mandarin and Spanish immersion programs across the district.
Sandy Marcato Navarez and other former staff proposed converting Ferguson into a community school that would maintain its dual‑immersion and literacy work while adding wraparound services to support families. Several speakers pointed to fundraising and local foundations (for example, a Star Wars/"Sters" foundation raising regular donations) and to possible city partnerships to renovate facilities. District staff confirmed exploratory discussions with the city about a joint‑use field renovation at Ferguson estimated at roughly $3.4 million but described that work as preliminary.
Parents from Sters/"Star Wars" Elementary and other schools urged the board to exempt their sites from closure consideration because current kindergarten cohorts are strong and the school has growing enrollment in immersion tracks. Multiple parents said they have already taken outreach steps and proposed summer virtual academy and other revenue options to retain families.
The board did not vote on any closures. Members asked staff to return with targeted analyses on: how to market dual‑immersion programs; whether grants and site funding can or should follow program moves; the feasibility and costs of converting a site to an IB or community‑school model; and a plan to clarify communications so staff do not tell families closures are already decided.
