Santa Rosa City Schools to discuss study of full district consolidation

No fewer than nine districts feed into Santa Rosa City Schools, which critics argue creates an unnecessary duplication of resources at the expense of taxpayers and students.

Now, a plan to address the issue is in the works. The Santa Rosa City Schools Board will have a special meeting Wednesday to examine a study on the hypothetical merger of all feeder districts.

The topic is familiar for Santa Rosa residents and school district officials who have contended that unification could save money amid declining enrollment, but more importantly improve student success by standardizing instruction.

In January 2023, school board members weighed three consolidation choices offered by an independent auditing firm and took a surprising step to further study the riskiest, most challenging option: full unification.

On Wednesday, the auditing firm will present that study to trustees, who will discuss the option and may propose steps to move forward with it.

According to a letter addressed to the board from Christy White, Inc., the auditing firm, the study asked a key question: Will unification enhance the instructional opportunity for all students at a similar or reduced cost to the affected districts and/or taxpayers?

“The answer is yes, however, a financial plan would need to be put in place to ensure the new district is fiscally sound upon the unification effective date,” the letter states. “Reduced costs are feasible but will take time to fully implement.”

The findings were based on interviews with district officials and data analysis from at least eleven different sources regarding enrollment, test scores, property taxes and more. Only Santa Rosa City Schools fully participated in the interviews, but Bennett Valley Elementary School and Rincon Valley Union Elementary School districts held conversations.

The study also addresses impacts to the community including identity, discrimination or segregation, student outcomes, programs, property values and cost to the state. Overall it did not point out any major cons.

Aside from savings on administrative overheard, the study explores the potential benefits to programs. One educator interviewed said that one large district would help with the transition from elementary to middle and then high school. It would also improve educational accountability and discipline if issues were addressed prior to middle and high school.

The study also compared other large unified school districts and found that if the plan did move forward, a “giant” Santa Rosa City Schools would not actually be so giant in the state — In size, it would rank about 40th in California.

Even if a petition to unify the districts is approved, the proposal would need to meet state laws and be approved by both a county committee for election and then voters in each district, which could take two to three years or more, according to the firm.

The public portion of the Santa Rosa City Schools special board meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at Santa Rosa High School’s multipurpose room.

The public can attend in-person or watch the meeting via Zoom at www.srcschools.org/Page/4453.

Those who wish to make a public comment must attend in person and present a blue card to the executive assistant, Melanie Martin.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8531 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @alana_minkler.