Tiffany Roberts's neighborhood school is Park Side Elementary in Sebastopol, but she drives a bit farther every day so her two sons can attend the multi-age program at Pine Crest, a program designed to keep students together year after year.
It was established as a way to stem the flow of declining enrollment in the Sebastopol school district that has seen overall attendance fall from 1,400 to 700 in the past 15 years. District officials three years ago created the distinct elementary programs - the multi-age classrooms at Pine Crest and an International Baccalaureate curriculum at Park Side, while keeping Brook Haven a sixth- through eighth-grade campus.
It wasn't enough to save Pine Crest.
"What I have heard so far is that the school isn't a place, it's the people," said Liz Schott, district superintendent who also serves as Pine Crest's principal. "They are very interested in the people staying together and the program staying together."
It is one of the challenges facing parents and educators who will have a series of meetings during the next three weeks to merge the campuses at the end of the school year. It's an often gut-wrenching scene and one that has played out in other districts in Sonoma County.
The county had about 74,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools eight years ago compared with about 71,000 today.
Districts, struggling under the double hit of less money coming in on a per pupil basis, as well as a dramatic cut in overall funding as the state weathers a deep financial crisis, have turned increasingly to shuttering campuses to cut costs.
Since 2007-2008, state revenue to Sonoma County schools has dropped 18 percent, according to the Sonoma County Office of Education. Factor in cost-of-living adjustments that have historically been included but that have been missing or in the negative in recent years and the loss surges to 25 percent.
In the West Sonoma County high school district, into which Sebastopol is a feeder district, enrollment has fallen 15 percent in roughly the same time period, according to Superintendent Keller McDonald.
"I think it's more of a sign of the times that the schools in Sebastopol shrank to a size that it made it feasible to consolidate from three to two schools," he said. "It's certainly indicative of a trend, more so in west county than the rest of the county."
The closure of Pine Crest will help ease a budget deficit that has reached $500,000 from a budget of $3 million to $3.5 million. Closing Pine Crest is projected to save between $350,000 and $400,000.
Cotati-Rohnert Park has closed three campuses in two years years.
Piner Elementary in Santa Rosa, Bernard Eldredge in Petaluma and Russian River Charter School near Forestville have also closed in same time period.
Ursuline, a private all-girls school with a 130-year history, will shut its doors at the end of the school year.
Sebastopol is currently one of five districts in Sonoma County which are in qualified financial status. That means district officials don't expect to be able to meet their minimum financial requirements over three years.
Three other districts - Cloverdale, Cotati-Rohnert Park and Healdsburg - are in negative status, which means the same thresholds likely won't be met over a two-year period.
Those districts make up what county schools chief Carl Wong termed a "watch list" for any potential additional closures.
Many Pine Crest parents expressed understanding of the financial pressure facing the district. Most termed the decision a "move" rather than a "closure."
"I think they'll manage it well. I have faith," said Stacey Demidow, who said she would prefer to move to Park Side rather than Brook Haven.
Parents like Roberts are anxious to keep the multi-age classroom structure a component of whichever school the Pine Crest students end up attending.
"I've been very pleased with the multi-age," Roberts said of the program that groups kindergarten through second graders, and third through fifth-graders, in the same class for three years. "It can soften older students with responsibility and empathy for younger students."
Fanny Pigeon said when her family moved to Santa Rosa from France two years ago, a cousin who lives locally helped her find Pine Crest and the multi-age program. All three of her children, who entered school speaking only French, have thrived, Pigeon said.
The impending change caught her off guard and makes her a little uneasy.
"They like to be here," she said. "It was a surprise for me and I'm a little disappointed in it."
Tony Pinatelli said he likes the multi-year program because younger students work to impress their older peers. Wherever his first-grade son ends up, Pinatelli hopes the multi-year program stays in place.
"I would like that, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers," he said.
A staff meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, followed by a parent meeting on Dec. 2. A decision by the full school board is expected on Dec. 9.
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