The burgeoning student population at Ascension Solorsano Middle
School, and the lack of bond money to complete the final wing at
Christopher High School and handle all the promised improvements to
other district schools are intertwined to a point.
The burgeoning student population at Ascension Solorsano Middle School, and the lack of bond money to complete the final wing at Christopher High School and handle all the promised improvements to other district schools are intertwined to a point.
The district keeps spending money on Solorsano to accommodate students fleeing from South Valley and Brownell middle schools, both of which carry the dreaded program improvement designation which allows parents to freely go elsewhere. So, while classrooms and bathrooms are empty at Brownell, portables and bathrooms are being erected at Solorsano.
It’s a nightmare worth a few million. And, while that alone wouldn’t solve the $20 million the district would like to finish CHS, those few million would certainly fix the roof at Rucker School or a cafeteria elsewhere.
Every dollar counts, but too often in school districts, those dollars are not well accounted for and a truth becomes all too clear: “There’s never enough money.”
The remedy is to pay construction professionals, independent of the contractors hired to do the work, to oversee the entire process. That suggestion is often pooh-poohed away and, instead, up pops another bond measure with a list of things that didn’t get done from the last bond.
That vicious circle is analogous in ways to what’s happening at Solorsano.
So, how does the district stop the flow of students to Principal Sal Tomasello’s academic gem? Perhaps make him “Pope Sal” and combine all three middle schools under his tutelage and unite them as Solorsano. Or the Gilroy Unified School District trustees could simply say “no more transfers” and invite a lawsuit or loss of funds while working to improve Brownell and South Valley. Perhaps star teachers could be reassigned from Solorsano.
With regards to finishing Christopher High, perhaps there’s a temporary solution. Trustees should consider all options. Could the boundaries be changed temporarily? What about having a freshman-only campus for a few years?
It’s certainly clear Christopher High should be finished with the same architectural style as the rest of the campus. That is, in fact, what people voted for – a new, comprehensive second high school.
Poor fiscal management, however, has the district in a pickle. None of the choices are perfect, but perhaps there’s no point in “wasting a good crisis.” Exhaust all options, make the best decision, and let’s get back to focusing on learning instead of building.
