Opening a fourth middle school at the site of the defunct El
Portal Academy to stem the flow of students fleeing South Valley
and Brownell Middle schools seems like an end around.
Opening a fourth middle school at the site of the defunct El Portal Academy to stem the flow of students fleeing South Valley and Brownell Middle schools seems like an end around.
The Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees should not waste a good crisis. Two of three middle schools are under, and have been under for some years, the program improvement designation. So parents have the right to move them from one school to another under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Our successful middle school, which also happens to be the newest facility, Ascencion Solorsano, is overflowing while classrooms at Brownell and South Valley sit empty.
Is the solution really to open up another school, pay for the administrative staff, the telephones, the utilities, the letterhead stationery and 100 other things? No.
Perhaps the district should just say no to parents who want to move their children to Solorsano, or institute a three-year moratorium on transfers. That should give both schools the opportunity to right their respective academic ships. Another option would be to send all the students to Solorsano and divide the campus into Solorsano A, B and C. Or rename the schools as Solorsano A, B and C, keep all students at present locations and let Solorsano Principal Sal Tomasello run the entire middle school ship with assistant principals under his tutelage.
“Pope” Sal seems a crazy solution, but hardly any crazier than spending a fortune year after year adding new facilities to Solorsano and swelling the population beyond its intended capacity while classrooms sit empty at two other schools.
At some point, the successful structure at Solorsano will break down and then where will we be? Besides, there are other issues like traffic and extra-curricular activity opportunities to consider.
Why can’t South Valley and Brownell middle schools succeed? It’s the $64,000 question that Trustees and Superintendent Debbie Flores must honestly answer. Is it leadership? Staff? Lack of district support? Are drastic measures needed, like firing the entire staffs at both schools and starting from the ground up, or firing the staffs and consolidating the schools? What about getting a charter school organization to step in and take over one or both schools? Is a time for a new name and a fresh start?
What’s obvious is that what’s going on cannot continue. Tough decisions need to be made and making the former El Portal Charter School facility into another middle school is more of a diversion than a solution.
Let’s not waste a good crisis. Let’s make the tough decisions our students and parents deserve to reinvigorate the middle school experience and right the academic ship.
