VOLNEY
DUNAVAN - DUNAVAN@NETPTC.NET
VOLNEY DUNAVAN
Joe Smith of Oakhurst asks the members of the Madera County Committee
on School District Organization to be “reasonable and fair” in their
decision about the composition of the board of trustees for the
proposed district.
MADERA — In a unanimous vote, the Madera County Committee on School
District Organization has agreed to recommend to the State of California
Board of Education the joining together of Yosemite Joint Union
High School District and Coarsegold Union Elementary School District.
And thus begins a process that could result in an election on the
issue sometime in 2006 or 2007.
Two issues are contentious regarding the recommendation which was
based on a feasibility study prepared for the Committee by Geri
Kendall Cox, Director of Business and Administrative Services for
Madera County’s Office of Education.
Foremost was representation on the Board of Trustees for the newly
formed district. Second was the choice to “opt out” of the unification
plan by several of the “feeder” school districts in Eastern Madera
County.
The members of the Madera County Committee chose to recommend a
seven-member board for the new district. One member would come from
each of the original five Yosemite High School feeder districts,
and the remaining two, from Coarsegold which has been cited as the
fastest growing area in Eastern Madera County.
A
brief history
When the Yosemite Joint Union High School District was formed in
1974, there were five relatively small elementary school districts
“feeding” students to the high school district: Bass Lake, Wasuma,
Coarsegold, Oakhurst and Raymond-Knowles. Over time, Wasuma and
Bass Lake merged with Oakhurst to form the Bass Lake Joint Union
Elementary School District. This Bass Lake District, the Coarsegold
Union Elementary School District and the Raymond-Knowles Union Elementary
School District are the three in existence at this time.
In the fall of 2000, Coarsegold found itself in financial straits
due to unexpected funding shortfalls, administrative illnesses and
vacancies, and unanticipated liabilities. The trustees of Yosemite
offered to work with both Coarsegold and the Madera Office of Education
to help develop and implement a recovery plan.
In the 2001 business plan, Coarsegold was offered the option of
contracting with Yosemite for part time administrative services
as an alternative to recruiting and maintaining full time staff
positions. This was agreed to and the contract was set for three
years. In the following year the trustees of both the districts
began to explore the possibility of unifying, thereby eliminating
duplication of resources and efforts. Public hearings were held
in September of this year [see SIERRA STAR September 3, 2003 “School
unification public hearings”] and at that point a feasibility study
was authorized.
The
question as to whether the proposal would result in an equitable
division of property and facilities does not apply since the recommendation
is not to disband an existing district but rather to merge two districts.
Additionally, Yosemite and Coarsegold would benefit from collective
resources and the ability to apply for grants that are not possible
without the unification.
To all the subsections, it was felt the proposed merger would satisfy
requirements and not create prohibited situations. And then came
the final subsection: Exceptional Circumstances.
The
nitty-gritty
The state code provides that the county committee can take into
consideration any exceptional circumstances or other appropriate
criteria as it considers a petition for district reorganization.
The Madera County Committee requested information allowing it to
make a recommendation on whether or not Raymond-Knowles and/or Bass
Lake should be left out of the proposed unification. Further, the
committee asked about leveling salary schedules if that might provide
additional funds for enhancing educational opportunities for children
in the new district. And finally, staff was requested to provide
various scenarios for the composition of the board (should there
be 5 or 7 members) and also the process for their election (by trustee
area or at large).
The feasibility study indicates that the proposed unification would
not adversely affect either the Raymond-Knowles and/or the Bass
Lake districts, and their census is not needed to have adequate
enrollment in the proposed new district. Indeed, the study indicates
that with a growth rate of only 2 percent per year, the proposed
unified district could be at 2,500 students by the 2006-2007 school
year. And since students from Coarsegold already advance to Yosemite
for high school, there should be no additional facilities required.
According to the study, “when there is a unification of districts
with different Revenue Limits (RL), a new “blended” Revenue Limit
is calculated.” Yosemite’s RL is approximately $900 higher than
the RL for Coarsegold. The “blended” RL would be $5,453 which, after
equalization of salaries and benefits for staff that would become
employees of the new district, would leave $10.94 for each a.d.a.
or average daily attendance. There is also additional funding available
for small schools, but if the reorganized district has in excess
of 2,500 students, it would not be eligible for the additional funding.
Most divisive is the issue of representation on the board of trustees
for the new district. Yosemite and Coarsegold proposed a seven-member
board with three trustees from the Bass Lake district territory,
three from the Coarsegold area and one from the Raymond-Knowles
district.
Joe Smith of Oakhurst was one of the two public members given time
to comment during the proceedings. He urged that the trustee composition
be selected by taxpayer base, in an attempt to be both reasonable
and fair. Mr. Smith was not able to remain for the voting as he
wanted to attend his child’s performance during a band concert in
Oakhurst.
The board considered a five-member trustee board for the new district.
That would provide one for each present “feeder” district and two
at large. The feeling was that this would disenfranchise the Raymond-Knowles
district. There was talk of the need for the voter and the parent
to be able to connect with someone in his or her own area.
The final decision was that there be a trustee from each of the
original “feeder” districts (Bass Lake, Wasuma, Coarsegold, Oakhurst
and Raymond-Knowles) with two additional trustees from Coarsegold.
This would create a seven-person board. It was also decided to recommend
to the state that Bass Lake and Raymond-Knowles be allowed to opt
out of the unification.
“That is not going to sit well,” said Mr. Smith in a late evening
phone interview. “Coarsegold has been handed the keys to the high
school.” Mr. Smith says that the action ignores the wishes of over
1,000 taxpayers who were fighting for fair representation in the
soon-to-be-formed school district.
The state is presently operating at a 12- to 18- month backlog.
The staff at the Department of Education will do an analysis of
the proposal and set public hearings for Sacramento. If the proposal
is approved, notice would be sent to Dr. Sally Frazier, the Madera
County Superintendent, to call for an election for the issue to
come before the voters.
In a separate action during the annual organizational meeting which
was held prior to the organization meeting, Sara Wilkins was elected
President of the Madera County Board of Education and Grant Sturm
was elected its Vice President. Mr. Sturm represents Area 1 which
covers portions of Golden Valley Unified, Chawanakee Unified, Bass
Lake, and Yosemite Union High School Districts. Ms. Wilkins represents
portions of Raymond, Bass Lake, Yosemite Union High and Coarsegold
School Districts. She is also President of the California County
Boards of Education for 2003.
Interestingly, the feasibility study refers in several places to
the proposed Minarets High School that the Chawanakee Unified School
District is hoping to build at the intersection of Hwy. 41 and North
Fork Road [200]. It acknowledges that in fact, Yosemite Lakes Park
might well identify more with a Minarets high school than with Yosemite
and opines that as many as 200 students could be attracted to the
proposed new school. A school bond measure will appear on the March
2004 ballot, to provide needed funds for the new school.
Chawanakee has until June of 2008 to build the school and have it
up and running. If that is not accomplished, it will lapse as a
district and most likely would be merged with Yosemite. Suffice
to say, one might consider that to be the perfect time for the Madera
County Committee on School District Organization to decide to take
a look at Eastern Madera County in its entirety.
As a final note, in the lobby of the Madera County Office of Education
hang two plaques. One is titled “Mock trial championship teams”
and shows Madera High School winning in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Every
year since then, including 2003, the winning school is Yosemite
High School. And the second plaque lists the Academic Decathlon
Championship Team: 1995 through and including 2003 is Yosemite High
School. No one is questioning the education of the Yosemite students,
only how their board of trustees will be selected.
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