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In This Issue...
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Driving Impaired: The Costs & Consequences
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Education
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Soquel Schools Discuss Impacts of Enrollment Trends
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Soquel Schools Discuss Impacts of Enrollment Trends
Too Many Students at Main St. Elementary May Force Changes
By Linda Fridy
Superintendent Kathleen Howard is delighted that after years of declining enrollment, her Soquel Union Elementary School District has seen that trend reverse with two years of enrollment growth. The extra students, however, did not move into the neighborhoods with plenty of room in the schools.
The school board debated how to address the shift in student population at its Nov. 4 and Nov. 18 meetings.
"The problem is not whether we have enough room for all our students, but that they are not distributed optimally," Howard said.
The district's newest school, Main Street Elementary, has seen the bulk of the growth. It enrolled 475 students this year, compared to 425 at Soquel Elementary and only 261 at Santa Cruz Gardens.
New Brighton Middle School has 662 students.
Main Street School is only a few blocks away from Soquel Elementary, but it serves the southernmost portion of the district. That area could see continued growth in the next few years after zoning changes.
The county recently rezoned five acres for high-density housing just off Soquel Drive on Cunnison Lane.
Meanwhile, numbers have dropped at Santa Cruz Gardens as the population in those neighborhoods has aged.
"There used to be a lot of kids in Santa Cruz Gardens," said Howard, but as they grew up and left the district, the neighborhood became home to more empty nesters.
The board must now look at ways to redistribute students.
"We spent a lot of time looking at attendance boundaries for schools within the district and options other than adjusting boundaries," said Howard.
Early Possibilities
Redistricting, or shifting school attendance boundaries, is never popular with families since it requires some students to change to new schools.
The board and district staff discussed several options. The two schools in Soquel Village could shift to grade-based attendance, with one serving students in grades kindergarten through second and the other grades third through fifth, Howard said.
Including kindergarten at the proposed preschool site on Jade Street Park would also relieve some pressure on enrollment at the elementary schools, she noted.
The district may also want to create a charter or magnet school at Santa Cruz Gardens to attract additional students.
Santa Cruz Gardens Principal Alicia Escobar has said some parents opt to send their children out of the district to Green Acres in Live Oak.
For families in lower Santa Cruz Gardens without transportation, the relatively level walk to Live Oak is easier than the steep hill with no sidewalks that leads to upper Santa Cruz Gardens and the school site, Howard explained.
The district eliminated bus service for all but certain severely handicapped students years ago during budget cuts.
Shortterm, the district may limit the number of intra-district transfers into Main Street from students who would normally attend one of the other elementary schools.
For this year, 12 students who would normally attend Santa Cruz Gardens go to Main Street, and 76 Soquel students shift to Main Street, according to figures presented by Howard.
In comparison, 19 students from Main Street opted to go to Soquel and four to Santa Cruz gardens.
Overall, Main Street had a net increase of 92 students from within the district.
For transfers between different districts, all three elementary schools lost more students than they gained, with the largest number, 128, leaving Soquel. New Brighton Middle School had a net gain of 10 students.
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