Some families unhappy about district’s proposal to change
boundaries from Luigi Aprea to Rucker
Gilroy – Tina and Rich Eichenbaum live mere blocks from Luigi Aprea Elementary School.
Two of their four sons attend Luigi. Their eldest will enter middle school next year. And they plan to send their 3-year-old to the neighborhood school once he reaches kindergarten age.
All was well in their Sunrise Park neighborhood until Rich Eichenbaum’s neighbor gave him some unpleasant news: “‘By the way, your 3-year-old is now going to have to get bussed to Rucker.'”
Eichenbaum said he felt “sandbagged” because the district didn’t stage meetings until January and basically kept the parents in the dark.
“This is a public issue,” he said. “The public has a right to know. The public is paying for it.”
The Eichenbaums and other concerned parents, most of them wearing neon-yellow “Sunrise Park Neighborhood” name tags packed the room during Gilroy Unified School District’s Thursday board meeting.
After listening to the attendance boundary committee’s presentation, parents streamed to the podium to voice their opinion. Some of the mothers teared up as they pleaded with the board to not split up their close-knit neighborhood and told tales of Fourth of July block parties and how safe they feel since neighbors all keep a watchful eye on the kids.
The parents pointed out that only 41 homes with a total of three children set to enter kindergarten sit within the proposed perimeters, south of Sunrise Drive. Also, they asked if one of the district’s priority was proximity why were they sending the children to a school across Santa Teresa Boulevard and Monterey Road, in the most northern edge of Gilroy?
Rubens Dalaison, who has a 3-year-old son, said his home is within walking distance of Luigi, but Rucker is “six times” as far.
“We have a very strong neighborhood that helps us out quite a bit with the kids,” he said.
Another mother, who is also a Realtor, said if the proposed changes are approved the value of her home will drop. Schools within the Luigi Aprea lines are more costly because the school had the highest Academic Performance Index and was the only local school to hit and exceed the statewide target of 800 in 2004-2005.
Homes on Hogan Drive, which line the southside of Sunrise Park would remain in the Luigi Aprea boundary. Residents living kitty-corner from Hogan on Saddler and Cheyenne drives would be moved to Rucker territory, while their back-yard neighbors would stay in Luigi land.
But the Sunrise Park neighborhood isn’t the only area set to fall under the district’s carving knife. District officials said school boundaries have to be adjusted to deal with over-capacity schools, to accommodate the new elementary school and in anticipation of new development.
The district’s goal is to keep the elementary schools at 700 or less. Las Animas Elementary School will be closed and a new school will open near the Glen Loma development in 2007. Under the proposed changes, students who live in homes south of First Street – currently the boundaries of Luigi Aprea, Rod Kelley and Antonio Del Buono elementary schools – will attend the new elementary school.
Students residing off Murray Avenue, near Leavesley Road, will attend Rucker Elementary and kindergartners living in area north of Mantelli Drive will attend ADB. Also, children living in the area from Uvas Parkway to Orchard Drive and south of 10th Street will move from El Roble to Glen View.
The committee addressed some of the controversy in the proposal by suggesting that the board not implement the changes until 2007 or allow incoming kindergartners to attend Luigi.
The district staged four meetings at various sites in the past couple weeks to give locals a chance to weigh in on the issue. The parent advisory council also sat through a presentation. A total of 115 community members attended the meetings.
2007 Proposals
– Las Animas Elementary School closes, new elementary school opens near Glen Loma development
– Students living adjacent to Las Animas will be reassigned to Antonio del Buono or Rod Kelley elementary schools
– Students living residing off Murray Avenue, near Leavesley Road, will attend Rucker Elementary
– Kindergartners living in area north of Mantelli Drive will attend ADB
– Uvas Parkway to Orchard Drive and south of 10th Street will move from El Roble to Glen View.
