A Community-Led Path Forward for DJUSD

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We are asking the DJUSD Board of Education to form a broadly representative Community Advisory Committee to ensure that decisions regarding school closure are transparent, equitable, and grounded in reliable data and careful analysis.

DJUSD considered - but ultimately did not pursue - a community-based advisory process to identify community priorities and to develop and evaluate options to address declining enrollment. Given the limitations of and the lack of data to support the options presented so far, and consistent with the recommendation of education experts, this Community Advisory Committee should be included in the development of new options in the next phase of this work.

Accordingly, we respectfully urge the DJUSD Board of Education to:

• Establish a Community Advisory Committee to identify community priorities and values and to generate and evaluate district-wide solutions to declining school enrollment. The Committee must comprise diverse and equitable representation from at least parents of students, teachers, and school staff;
• Ensure the committee has the time, data, and resource needed to analyze impacts on students, as well as equity, traffic, environmental, staffing, and community-wide impacts; and
• Commit to transparency and shared responsibility by expanding how data and analysis are generated, discussed, and interpreted, including real-time, two-way engagement with the School Board to ensure community feedback is meaningfully heard and considered.

BACKGROUND AND SUPPORTING DETAILS

School Closures Affect the Entire Community

Research consistently shows that school closures harm community cohesion, erode neighborhood identity, and can accelerate further enrollment loss. Elementary school closures will impact all of Davis.

Displacing students into schools that are already at or near capacity would:

• Strain shared resources, including counselors, reading specialists, librarians, and library technicians;
• Significantly worsen drop-off and pick-up congestion at receiving schools, as many displaced students would no longer be able to bike or walk to school;
• Disrupt the stability of schools that are currently balanced and functioning effectively at capacity;
• Negatively impact the academic achievement of both the displaced students and the students at the receiving school;
• Increase competition for limited on-site after-school programs; and
  Require the use of substantial facilities funds - estimated at up to $12,000,000 - to purchase and install portable classrooms, diverting resources that could otherwise be used to improve permanent school facilities across the District.

School closures will have a real impact on all Davis families:

• Increased traffic during school pick-up and drop-off hours;
• Reduce property values in neighborhoods that lose their elementary schools; and
• Potential disinvestment in West Davis and other impacted areas.

DJUSD's Financial Challenges Require Community-Centered Solutions That Will Balance DJUSD's Budget

Addressing DJUSD's fiscal challenges requires solutions that meaningfully reflect the values, priorities, and long-term vision of Davis.

The California School Board Association recognizes that "[t]he role of the school board is to ensure that school districts are responsive to the values, beliefs and priorities of their communities."

DJUSD's financial and enrollment challenges are a community-wide problem that requires community-wide solutions, where members have meaningful opportunities to share expertise, raise concerns, and contribute to shaping how the District can serve the long-term priorities of Davis.

DJUSD's Current Decision-Making Process Is Insufficient

DJUSD's current process does not provide adequate space for a thorough analysis of alternatives to school closure.

The existing process relies almost exclusively on district staff to generate and present information to the Board. This structure creates significant blind spots, limits the exploration of viable alternatives, and leads to uneven and inequitable impacts on students and neighborhoods.

For example, in response to California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests, DJUSD has stated that it does not have any assessments of:

• Racial/equity impact of the proposed concepts;
• Impact of closures on students with disabilities, lower-income families, multilingual learners, or communities west of Highway 113;
• Room utilization studies, portable classroom siting plans, and facilities for potential consolidation sites and receiving campuses; and
• Traffic, safety, pedestrian, or environmental studies impacts as a result of closing a school in West Davis.

The shortcomings are also evident in the lack of data supporting the assumption that school closures are necessary to address DJUSD's budget issues. Research shows that school closures rarely deliver meaningful net savings.

In response to CPRA requests, DJUSD has shared that it has not run full budget models for its proposed concepts. The only cost projections DJUSD currently has are the proposed concepts, which are based on rough estimates of savings from staff reductions. Under DJUSD's own projections:

• Closing one elementary school would save approximately $825,000 (0.6% of general fund operating expenditures).
• Closing two elementary schools would save approximately $1,785,000 (1.4% of general fund operating expenditures).

These estimates do not include offsetting implementation costs, including up to $12,000,000 in facilities spending for portable classrooms and ongoing costs associated with portable classrooms and having more students at school sites.

A Community Advisory Committee would help identify alternative ways to achieve comparable savings without imposing such widespread disruption on students, families, and the Davis community.

Experts Overwhelmingly Recommend Including Community Members in Advisory Committees Before Making Decisions to Close Schools

Given the high stakes of school closure decisions, experts including the California Department of Education and California Attorney General identify inclusive, community-based advisory committees as best practices for all school districts.

The California Department of Education states in the Best Practices Guide for Potential School Closure:

"Committees can serve an essential purpose in the school closure process, helping the district to navigate matters that can be logistically, legally, and emotionally difficult. Committee members can provide perspective. A committee membership that includes trusted leaders from the community can help assure the larger community that the problems leading to school closure are real, the process will be transparent, and the district's intentions are good …. [E]stablishing this advisory committee should be done as early as possible."

(Best Practices Guide for Potential School Closure, https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/schoolclose.asp)

The California Attorney General states:

"Deep community engagement is the best practice for all school districts, as it pays dividends beyond school closures. Increased parent and student engagement lead to better academic achievement and attendance, which in California leads to more funding for schools and the decreased likelihood of future school closures."

(April 11, 2023 Press Release, https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-statewide-guidance-school-closures-ensure)

"[T]he district should recognize the diverse concerns, needs, backgrounds, and opinions of the community and ensure that any advisory committee be representative of the ethnic, age group, and socioeconomic composition of the district, and include at least teachers, administrators, and parents of students."

(Guidance Regarding Laws Governing School Closures and Best Practices for Implementation in California, https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/letter-school-districts-school-closures-04112023.pdf)

According to Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), an independent research center led by faculty directors at Stanford University, University of Southern California, University of California Davis, University of California Los Angeles, and University of California Berkeley:

"If districts are considering closing schools, they should thoughtfully plan and execute an inclusive, transparent process that engages a wide range of stakeholders. Closing a school is a significant community event with considerable consequences for neighborhoods, families, students, and educators." School districts should: "Provide opportunities for stakeholders to influence the process and result …. [F]or [public engagement] to be meaningful there must be the possibility that stakeholders can affect the contours of the final policy."

(Centering Equity in the School-Closure Process in California, https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/r-hahnel-sept2023.pdf)

Please uphold your obligation to act with care and deliberate awareness and follow the process that is recommended by experts, reflects the values of and advances a long-term vision for Davis, and recognizes the magnitude of the decisions ahead.

Signed,
DJUSD Parents, DJUSD Staff, and Davis Community Members