Gilroy
– The school district is considering shifting about 75 students
who currently attend El Roble Elementary School to Eliot Elementary
School for the 2005-06 school year.
Gilroy – The school district is considering shifting about 75 students who currently attend El Roble Elementary School to Eliot Elementary School for the 2005-06 school year.
The students live in an apartment complex at 500 I.O.O.F. Ave., near South Valley Middle School. They currently are bused to El Roble at 930 Third St., and with the change next year, they’ll be able to walk to Eliot, a little more than a half-mile.
The idea is to fill up the new Eliot school, which is being built at its same location at 470 Seventh St. The new school, slated to open in the fall, will have capacity for 600 students, 200 more than the old Eliot.
Meanwhile, the area around El Roble is growing, and the district is anticipating the accompanying jump in enrollment at El Roble. The school currently houses about 625 students.
“Something we’ve observed in the last two years in that area is that there’s a growth because of turnover of housing, and a lot of young families with children are moving in,” said Juanita Contin, the district’s coordinator of parent involvement and enrollment.
Additionally, it is expected that more students will move near El Roble next year as work progresses on a new housing development on the southeast corner of First Street and Wren Avenue. About 130 homes are planned.
Contin met last month with parents of students who will be affected by the possible change to discuss their concerns. Among the questions raised was the issue of safety. To get to Eliot, students would need to cross Sixth Street, a road which drivers usually do not stop for pedestrians.
There is alternate route via Lewis Street that would require some work to make it safer for walking, and district officials say they will work with the city to make that happen.
Some parents also said they thought the roughly half-mile walking distance to Eliot from the apartment complex was too far. It’s possible that students will be able to be walk to South Valley and then be bused to Eliot, Contin said.
Attendance areas are decided by a committee that the district established three years ago. The committee consists of seven parents and community members, five school and district administrators and board liaison Pat Midtgaard.
Meetings are planned to continue in the spring and fall to make further revisions for the fall of 2006, when the Las Animas replacement school is scheduled to open kindergarten and first grade.
What:
Gilroy Unified School District meeting.
When:
Tonight, at 7:30pm
Where:
District board room, 7810 Arroyo Circle
