A parent asking Jeremy De La Torre questions while another parent raises their hand (Christopher Haraszti / The Puma Prensa)
By Christopher Haraszti, Staff Writer
On the evening of Tuesday, October 20, Jeremey De La Torre, the school board member for District 7, held a town hall meeting at the Rincon Valley Library to answer questions from local students, staff, and the community. An assortment of Maria Carrillo High School and Rincon Valley Middle School staff members attended, including English teacher Natasha Deakins and principal Amy Wiese, along with numerous parents and some former teachers. While the event was seemingly appreciated by most people, little progress was actually made.
The key question on the agenda was about the future of the two schools. De La Torre explained that the board has yet to decide on when to merge the two schools, but based on the Santa Rosa School District’s controversial decision to move to a 7-12 model last year, the schools are still slated to merge at some point in the future.
As he regularly stated throughout the meeting, in order to make any progress on this issue, it will need to become an agendized action item at a school board meeting. However, only Board President Nick Caston is able to add such an item to the agenda, and according to De La Torre, despite his regular spotlighting of the issue, this has not yet happened.
In the meantime, MCHS’s student population remains essentially at capacity, with overcrowded classrooms, and none of the Facilities Master Plan projects, which are meant to increase the school’s capacity, have broken ground. At this point, even if the board were to approve a merger immediately, it would be physically impossible to merge the schools starting next year.
However, despite these small assurances and the alignment in opinion between De La Torre and the attendees, most people were still highly dissatisfied with the district’s conduct. Many expressed how they had been pushed away by the uncertainty surrounding the two schools, highlighting the stress this places on students, parents, and staff alike.
Furthermore, concerns were brought up about the decrease in enrollment at RVMS and increase in enrollment at Spring Lake Middle School, which is outside the district. The general consensus seemed to be that the district has not been approving transfers to RVMS despite high demand, which might be leading to students leaving the district, triggering an even more severe budget crisis. Parents also highlighted how SRCS schools were not promoting themselves and criticized the district for not providing clear information on the new student pathway, potentially contributing more to declining enrollment.
Echoes of agreement filled the room as people expressed how the district had not improved its communication, long term planning, or sensibility. Despite the genuine agreement of De La Torre with the concerns of the community, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the district and MCHS seems no closer to clearing up than it did two years ago.