EDITOR: If the purpose of closing Doyle Park Elementary School is to make way for profitable charter schools, then a phasing-in of the closure should be considered.
Rather than closing the entire school at once, incoming kindergartners could be registered at sites proposed in the district's study document, thus allowing for remodeling portions of Doyle Park into an online learning center while readying the neighboring schools for the additional students they will acquire.
There would be sufficient space for the French-American school to begin its life with additional space to grow as the Doyle Park closure becomes complete. Thus the district could prepare for the transfer of students and staff while simultaneously earning revenue, negating the necessity of attempting to educate students in hastily remodeled storage spaces.
If, however, Santa Rosa wishes to retain its safe neighborhood school focus, consideration should be given to re-drawing the boundaries of Doyle Park, Brook Hill and Burbank schools with attention paid to avoiding the necessity of having young learners cross busy streets to get to school. If the board wishes to curtail out-of-district transfers, requiring dangerous street crossings by elementary students to attend classes in remodeled storage spaces will do just the opposite.
WENDY PETERS
Rohnert Park
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