When the Natomas Unified School District board of trustees meets tomorrow night a new alternative to closing an elementary school campus will be on the table for discussion.
Interim superintendent Dr. General Davie today announced he will present board members with a plan that would avert elementary school closures by instead closing Leroy F. Greene Middle School. The proposal shifts 6th graders to existing K-5 schools and relocates 7th and 8th graders to Natomas Middle School.
The middle school campus would remain closed while it undergoes much-need repair work. During that time, Davie told THE BUZZ, officials would have time to explore how best to use the campus going forward that would help keep more students in district schools. One option would be to reopen as a smaller high school, he said.
In an interview with THE BUZZ, Davie said feedback from the community played a large part in looking at options other than closing an elementary school. The decision to close one school this year and a second next year was made in an effort to balance the district’s budget.
A Special Board Workshop is set for 6 p.m. tomorrow the Natomas High School in the theater. Pending direction from the Board Workshop, action is set on these issues for 6:30 p.m. on March 10.
Wow Buzz…you are sure up to the minute in your reporting! Great job!!
As a Natomas parent, I am really HOPING that the board will have also listened to the community and seen the coming together of Natomas parents and use this recommendation by Dr. Davie, instead of closing an elementary school.
To be honest, I am breathing a little bit easier right now…even though this is just a recommendation. Probably because of the amount of respect that everyone I have talked to has for Dr. Davie, and how much the board seems to admire his ethics and past and present work history.
Finally, an option that makes sense.
Why does closing a middle school, adding a grade level at each of the elementary schools and having to bus all of those 7-8 graders to their new school seem better than merging two half-empty schools that are less than a mile apart?
what happened to the k-8 plan??? also why don’t they put all the schools on the same schedule? why are some year round, some traditional etc? Go back to the old schedule day after labor day start- get out mid june. you would save a ton of money not having schools use tons of air conditioning.
It makes more sense because Leroy Green needed major construction and needed major program revamping. It has been under the state’s improvement plan for 4 or 5 years now and hasn’t made major growth. Closing it and starting over makes fantastic sense and is done all over the state.
The only reason you have Leroy Green in program improvement is due to one administrator that ran it into the ground. That’s why this decision is just a path of least resistence for the district, not a courageous or fiscally intelligent move whatsoever. Just wait until the next poor manager runs the next school into PI. That school will be the next target. Whatever happened to the K-8 idea? I think the voters should get all that Measure D money back! Fleeced once again.
It doesn’t take 5 years to fix a school because of one administrator. When a school has major systemic problems, sometimes the only way to fix it is to start from scratch.
Perhaps the district should consider not hiring another poor manager who runs the school into the ground…
I was wondering if NUSD owns the building that the district offices are in, or do they lease the space? If a school ends up getting closed, could they move the district offices into the closed school?
Yes, the district owns the building its offices currently occupy.
Leroy Greene is a completely changed school this year, being that it’s much safer than before and has better leadership and all of the great programs it offers to south Natomas students. It’s a shame to do this to those families who deserve better from this district. You’re going to have one middle school for a district of 10,000 students? I don’t think other districts do that.
“Leroy Greene is a completely changed school this year, being that it’s much safer than before” . . . ???
. . . have you seen recent posts by Daniel Hahn:
(53947) 2/19/10 @ 3:07 pm, 2950 W. River Dr (Leroy Green Middle School), Assault w/ a deadly weapon
Two students were walking home from school next to the school, near the park. There are a group of kids the victim’s say are bullying them at school. On this date, they see this group of kids and one of the kids runs up to them and sprays silly string in one of their hair. The 2nd victim tells the suspect to stop, and the suspect pulls out a knife and puts it to the throat of the 2nd victim. The victim states the suspect asks him if he would like to be stabbed. The suspect puts the knife away and leaves the area. Officers don’t locate the suspect on this date. On Monday (2/22/10) officers go to the school and identify the suspect. They locate the 13 yr. old suspect at school and arrest him for assault with a deadly weapon.
I work at Leroy Greene. The above mentioned incident was happening on a much more frequent occasion last year, it’s just that the administrator was hiding it from the public. We were having fights on a daily basis at school, and this year they are rare occurrences. It’s surprising how much people don’t know, or don’t want to know about how things can change with a better principal. Think back to when Natomas Middle needed a new chance to change their image. Nobody closed them down. All we ask is that you do the right thing by our South Natomas students.
Praying for the closure of Leroy Greene!