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SANTA FE SCHOOLS: 'What Ifs?' Help District Think Outside the Box in Budget Shortfall

Posted on: Sunday, 14 May 2006, 15:04 CDT

By Anne Constable, The Santa Fe New Mexican

May 14--What if Santa Fe Public Schools closed Alameda Middle School, relocated Carlos Gilbert Elementary School to the Alameda campus and created a new state-of-the-art, K-8 school? What if the district merged Alvord Elementary School with Gonzales Elementary School and allowed Gonzales to grow into a K-8 school?

What if the school district added sixth, seventh and eighth grades to Ramirez Thomas Elementary School instead of using the $10 million in capital-outlay funds to build a new elementary school in Rancho Viejo that it can't afford to operate?

Radical alternatives, perhaps. But what if the community and the board of education had the courage to consider them?

The Santa Fe School District is at a watershed. A multimillion budget shortfall looms. And before the summer is over, a strategicplanning task force that has been meeting since last December, is scheduled to issue its final recommendations that will help shape the public schools for the next few decades.

Superintendent Leslie Carpenter says it is time to think about out-of-the-box options and ask: What if ... ?

"What do you do when you can't pay your bills? We are in financial trouble and there are wonderful models out there that I wish we could explore as a community," she said.

Some of Carpenter's "what ifs?" are based on the K-8 model that is gaining support across the United States. New York City, Cincinnati and Philadelphia are all phasing out traditional middle schools in favor of K-8 configurations in hopes the change will curb truancy, violence and substance abuse, reduce the dropout rate and improve academic performance.

Last year, a study group presented a report to the board recommending the district begin K-8 in at least two elementary schools. That concept is being discussed by the strategic-planning task force. "I believe many parents view middle school as a scary time for their children," Carpenter said.

Of the 1,046 sixth graders in Santa Fe's system, 300 to 400 will leave in the fall to attend seventh grade in a private or public charter school. But they would stay if they had the option, Carpenter believes. "I would love to see if we could give that a try," she said.

Many parents in the district would go along with the idea. Both Eldorado and Gonzales elementary schools have volunteered to try out the model.

But when the "what if?" means moving or closing schools, parents feel threatened and defensive.

Consolidating schools could provide the funds to pay for the bigger gyms, additional sports facilities and specialized curriculum that seventh- and eighthgraders need, Carpenter suggested. And selling or leasing these properties -- as well as vacant lands owned by the district near Santa Fe High School and other locations -- could create a revenue stream for the schools much like the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is attempting to do for Santo Nino Regional Catholic School by developing land downtown.

So what if the district moved Carlos Gilbert Elementary School, now landlocked between the county courthouse and Paseo de Peralta, lock, stock and barrel, to the campus of Alameda Middle School and created a pre-K-8 campus?

The district would use the $5 million set aside for renovations at Carlos Gilbert and the $4 million available for improvements to Alameda. Alameda students would be distributed to other middle schools and Carlos Gilbert would add a seventh grade the next year and an eighth grade the following year, eventually reaching an enrollment of about 550.

The plan would moot questions about whether the Carlos Gilbert building meets state adequacy standards (elementary schools are supposed to have 8 acres; Carlos Gilbert has 2) and address Alameda's declining enrollment. Between 1997-1998 and 2005-2006, the school population dropped from 484 to 343. And the exodus is continuing: Eighty-three students have already been granted transfer requests for the coming year.

Some Carlos Gilbert parents said they would like to hear more about this idea. But they still see a role for a downtown school and point out their students test at the top for Santa Fe schools even though more than 40 percent of them receive free or reduced-price lunches. The school is convenient for parents who work downtown, and the continued presence of children in the city center helps preserve Santa Fe's character, they argue.

"I think a lot of people would be concerned that Carlos Gilbert is not going to be the same school (if it moved to the Alameda campus)," said parent Phil Murray. As opposed to some schools that are seriously under capacity, "Carlos Gilbert is full and working well," he said.

Some Alvord parents are also skeptical about the idea of merging Alvord (enrollment: 144) on Paseo de Peralta across from Warehouse 21 and Gonzales (enrollment: 357) elementary schools into a new K-8 campus.

The merger would free up money to hire five to six more teachers at Gonzales, located on Alameda near St. Francis Drive, and allow the district to sell or lease the Alvord campus, creating revenues for the district, Carpenter said.

But Maury Brooks, an Alvord parent, said he's not crazy about the idea or the implication the district would sell Alvord's property. "A lot of (Santa Fe's) charm is having an elementary school in downtown areas," he said. "We need to preserve that."

Carpenter's "what if?" once included Tesuque Elementary School (enrollment: 142) which is getting a $5 million makeover. If Tesuque students were reassigned to Gonzales, the buildings could be used as a community center and the money could be spent on middle-school amenities at Gonzales. That's not on the table, anymore because Tesuque parents objected vehemently and the project was too far along to switch gears, Carpenter said.

Brooks said he has a number of ideas about how to reconfigure schools that he says could address the problem of excess capacity on the north and middle ends of Santa Fe and a space crunch on the south end, without closing schools.

Among his ideas are to make Alvord a K-4 school or even an arts magnet school for grades five through eight, increase its enrollment, reconfigure other elementary schools and open a third high school on the Alameda campus.

But like many small-school parents, he believes "small schools are viable. I just think we're not maximizing our resources. We need to improve all the schools and work with the community to make it happen."

"We need to maintain the small schools to the extent possible," said Carpenter (who was once the principal at Acequia Madre), "but we also need to have the courageous conversation about how small schools are impacting the district's budget and how we can't make ends meet."

"Santa Fe Public Schools would be foolish to eliminate schools and programs that are working. But we have to look at how we might do things that are more economically feasible," she added.

Among Carpenter's other "what ifs?" is one that addresses the fact that the district has $10 million in capital-outlay funds and 10 acres, donated by the developer of Rancho Viejo, for a new south-side elementary school. But it doesn't currently have the funds to operate a new school.

So what if the district used the $10 million to build a gym, classrooms and gathering spaces for middle-school students at the Ramirez Thomas site on Rufina Street? The three-year-old Ramirez Thomas (enrollment: 593) already has one portable and four more will be added before the start of the next school year. Thinking outside the box is necessary if the district is to find solutions to its ongoing budget shortfall and community concerns about middle schools that most people can support, Carpenter said. Solutions are urgently needed because the district is spending more than it makes. After making adjustments in the budget for next year, the difference between expenses ($82 million) and income ($78.1 million) is nearly $4 million, which the district will have to make up by once again tapping its reserve fund. But whatever the district's decisions about closing or consolidating schools, it must reduce the feeling of uncertainty, she conceded. "We need to make sure that the plan stands for the next 10 years."

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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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