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SANTA FE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Public Session Strikes Common-Values Theme

Posted on: Sunday, 30 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By John Sena, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Apr. 30--Closing small schools in downtown Santa Fe to raise funds to operate a new elementary school on the fast-growing south side has been a hot topic at the district's long-range planning committee meetings.

But at Saturday's daylong public session, the discussions turned toward other options. About 75 committee and community members talked more about solutions that might benefit the whole community as opposed to individual interests.

"One thing that is really clear to me is that there are more common values in what people are thinking," said school board member Marcy Litzenberg. "A big theme was that we look for a way to meet everybody's needs."

Angela Bordegaray, a task-force member and mother of a 3-year-old child, said her ideas about schools in Santa Fe have changed since she began attending meetings a few months ago.

Bordegaray's child is zoned to attend Pinon, one of the largest elementary schools in the district, and Bordegaray was worried about sending her there. She was also an advocate of small schools.

Being on the committee has taught her that small schools are expensive to operate. And, she said, most of the people she talks to say Pinon is a great school, despite its size.

Bordegaray said she is excited about the passion that community members have brought to meetings, although sometimes that has focused on keeping small schools open, which has gotten in the way of progress for the school district as a whole, she believes.

"I don't fault (small-school supporters), but I don't see how this is helping solve the problem," Bordegaray said.

There were several "what-if" scenarios mentioned Saturday, including the possibility of giving families from overcrowded elementary schools the chance to attend schools outside their attendance areas that have extra room.

Another idea was partnering schools of differing demographics, mixing the students up and redistributing them to create more diversity.

Superintendent Leslie Carpenter outlined a plan that would use funds scheduled for renovations at Carlos Gilbert Elementary and Alameda Middle School to convert Alameda into a state-of-the-art K-8 school.

Carlos Gilbert and Alvord elementaries would close, their students would move to the new school, and the properties would be used to generate revenue for the district. Carpenter stressed the idea was just that, and no decisions have been made about any future projects.

Board member Martin Lujan, who represents Carlos Gilbert and Alvord, said the district has other options when it comes to K-8 schools and revenue sources without having to close the two schools. "I'm glad it's a 'what if,' and now we can let the process takes its course," Lujan said. "There's a lot of things that need to be looked at."

The long-range planning committee will make a preliminary presentation to the school board June 12; final recommendations are due Aug. 21.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Santa Fe New Mexican

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Source: The Santa Fe New Mexican

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