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Parents and community urge alternatives to closures; call for budget review and outside analyst
Summary
During public comment, multiple speakers urged boundary adjustments, criticized administrative spending, asked for more transparency and time, and requested an independent budget analyst rather than closing neighborhood schools.
More than a dozen community members addressed the board during public comment, voicing consistent themes: strong community support for small neighborhood schools; requests to equalize boundaries rather than close schools; concerns about walkability and the effects on families; and calls to examine central administration expenses and alternative savings before cutting classrooms.
Speakers included parents and task‑force members. Rachel Beavers, former small‑schools task‑force member, said the community is "aligned in its support of small schools" and urged boundary redesign to equalize enrollment. Christy Lentz urged scrutiny of administrative spending and said central administration costs have grown substantially, asserting the district could find millions in savings without reducing classroom budgets. Amy Friday, a neuropsychologist and former task‑force member speaking by Zoom, emphasized national research that, she said, supports small schools and cited an optimal small‑school size of "300 to 400 students." Several speakers asked the board to hire an external budget analyst before taking closure actions.
Why it matters: public comment showed organized community opposition to closures and detailed alternatives the board may consider — boundary adjustments, program relocations, administrative savings, and independent analysis. That opposition frames the political and practical context in which the board will deliberate ahead of Jan. 27.
