Kenwood community getting smaller

The poster in Bob Bales’ office shows a runner with this quote: “The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.”

This is Bales’ favorite quote because the principal of Kenwood Elementary School said his job is to “set children up for success.”

Bales, 57, has a goatee and he’s clad in an olive shirt and corduroys, a tweed jacket and a colorful tie. He explained that he serves as both the principal and the superintendent of the Kenwood School District because it’s so small.

It consists of just one elementary school that ranges from preschool to sixth grade.

“We’re a niche market,” Bales said. “We’re our own little island sandwiched between Sonoma Valley District and the Rincon Valley School District.”

Some Kenwood residents point to the school as evidence of a dwindling community. The school’s statistics are telling. Before 2000, the school was filled exclusively with Kenwood students; today, just over half of its 152 students are from outside of the district.

Bales can give that statistic a historic perspective since he initiated interdistrict transfers, which took effect during the 2000-01 school year.

“The scarcity of available and affordable housing in Kenwood affected our decision to allow children from outside the district to attend,” Bales said.

The number of students from outside the district has climbed steadily over the years, Bales said, reflecting the housing dilemma.

“There’s no low-income apartment complex or inexpensive housing in Kenwood that I’m aware of,” Bales said. “It limits the opportunity for young people to live here, especially young people who would like to go to their neighborhood school.”

Bales, who lives in Petaluma, said he doesn’t have an opinion on all the planned development along Highway 12. Whatever the case, he’s certain that the interdistrict transfers have not hurt the district. On the contrary, he said they have enriched the population of students with diversity and with parents who are committed to the school.

“It’s a strong statement when you drive your child 20 or 30 minutes each way because you believe that strongly in the educational program that’s offered,” he said.

Without interdistrict transfers, the school would have 75 students instead of 152, and four teachers instead of 10.

“The transfers offer the ability to expand the boundaries of this community,” Bales said.

Peg Melnik