Santa Rosa School Board to discuss Doyle Park closure

<p>The Santa Rosa School Board is holding its first public discussion Wednesday night on shutting down Doyle Park Elementary School by the end of the school year.</p><p>A five-page report to the board makes a case for closing the school because of declining enrollment and poor academic performance.</p><p>The school has been the focus of closure discussions in the past. But a precipitous drop in enrollment in the past six years has dramatically reduced the amount of revenue the school gets from the state. From 2004 to 2011, the number of students dropped from 368 to 230.</p><p>In the district report, officials said that the school loses $181,180 a year — more than any other elementary school in the district.</p><p>They also pointed out that the school's API test scores have declined 18 points since 1999, while every other elementary school in the district has seen an improvement during that period.</p><p>The potential closure has rattled nerves and saddened Doyle's teachers, students and parents.</p><p>“It kind of goes back and forth,” said Bob Grove, a 5th grade teacher who has taught at Doyle for 32 years. “You think maybe we're going to be all right. Maybe we'll survive this....But it might just be that it's a done deal.”</p><p>Grove said that API test scores alone do not tell the whole story, noting that the school's first test results a decade ago were among the highest in the district. But the school since then has undergone shifts in demographic composition.</p><p>During the 1999-2000 school year, there were 177 white students attending Doyle Park. Last year, the number of white students had dropped to 39. In contrast, the number of Latino students had increased from 126 to 168. </p><p>Santa Rosa school board member Bill Carle said that Doyle Park is among a handful of elementary schools that have more kids residing in the school's attendance area than the total number of kids who actually attend.</p><p>Parents who choose to take their kids to a school other than their neighborhood school is a factor in driving down test scores, Carle said. </p><p>Under the federal No Child Left Behind policy, if a school falls under sanctions for failing to meet academic goals, the district must alert parents that they can enroll their kids elsewhere.</p><p>“That's what happens with “No Child Left Behind,” when that letter goes out,' he said.</p><p>Carle stressed that the board is only talking about the proposal and that no action will be taken.</p><p> A town hall meeting to discuss the closure is scheduled for Monday at Herbert Slater Middle School.</p>