Close to Home: A continuity plan for west county schools

Access to quality education is essential for all students in our community. Recently, declining enrollment in west county schools has pushed the West County Union High School District into a nearly unavoidable position of closing a comprehensive, award-winning campus due to financial constraints.

Immediate closure of a rural school would be a disservice for many students who already have commute times in excess of one hour. Combining all students onto a single campus in August of this year would provide less access to in-person instruction as social distancing guidelines and hybrid learning schedules are likely to be in place.

It is essential to consider the unique, traumatic experiences of the students in this area over the past few years — multiple fires, floods and COVID-19. The science is clear that the cumulative effects of toxic stress can be detrimental to children's mental and physical health, and these students have experienced unprecedented levels of community trauma.

The science is also clear that stable relationships are effective in combating the long-term effects of toxic stress. Dislocating students from their community is shortsighted, ill-advised and could ultimately end up costing the community more in downstream effects.

A school closure at this time could adversely affect the mental and physical health of students by uprooting the stable, protective factors that school communities provide. Students shouldn't have to endure any potential unnecessary change if we have the power to prevent it.

Planning is underway to determine the best long-term structure for west county schools. The Sonoma County Office of Education has begun an 18-month study to evaluate the feasibility of combining some or all of the 11 school districts in west county to provide for improved educational programming at a reduced cost to taxpayers.

In order to provide time for data from this study to be incorporated into a comprehensive long-term restructuring plan, the West Sonoma County Union High School District, with broad community input and support, placed Measure A on the March 2 ballot.

Measure A is a three year, $48 per parcel tax in the west county high school district to provide temporary bridge funding to allow the best long-term strategy for quality education in the west county to be developed.

Property owners will not see a net increase to their property tax bill because Measure A would go into effect just as Measure K, which was approved in 2012, expires. Exemptions are available for senior citizens, homeowners on Supplemental Security Income for a disability, and contiguous parcels.

A yes vote on Measure A would provide current west county high school district students with continuity while work is done to create a long-term solution for the future of our schools.

Kellie Noe is a West Sonoma County Union High School District trustee and manages upstream investments for Sonoma County. Bryan Clement is director of Program and Partnerships at Dovetail Learning and a member of Sonoma County ACEs Connection.

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