Seven students the last to attend schoolhouse

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer
Board votes to close Palomar Mountain School | Thursday, February 7, 2008 10:04 PM PST ∞

VALLEY CENTER ---- After nearly six decades of educating children, a single-room schoolhouse on Palomar Mountain must close, Valley Center-Pauma Unified Trustees ruled Thursday night.  

In a unanimous vote, without discussion, all five board members decided that this year would be the last for the rural, isolated school. The school year ends in June.

"I think we are all sad," said Lee Fowler, one of about a dozen students, parents and Palomar Mountain residents who attended the meeting to make a final plea to keep it open.

"For the few thousand dollars they keep by closing it, they are making a huge mistake," he added. 

The vote on the school's future came after years of bargaining by district officials, parents and legislators to keep it open and financially afloat.

The number of students dropped from 11 last year to a projected three next year, leaving the schoolhouse strapped for cash and making it a burden to the district.

Closing the school will save the district as much as $80,000 next year, Superintendent Lou Obermeyer said. That's because with just three to four students ---- seven are enrolled this year ---- revenues would have been about $24,400. The annual operating budget for the Palomar Mountain School is close to $104,000.  

"It's a very difficult decision that we are asked to make," board President Lori Johnson said. "But, as board members, we are asked to make fiscally prudent decisions." 

For the last six years declining enrollment has been a concern districtwide.  

Closing the school is one way district officials have said they could cut expenditures. Another option discussed by board members Thursday night was the relocation of fifth- and sixth-graders from the Valley Center Elementary Upper School to the middle and lower elementary school. District officials estimate the move would save about $421,136 by eliminating a full-time principal, secretary, health clerk and two custodians, as well as a number of clerks and utility bills. 

A final decision is not expected until a Feb. 27 meeting.

While no parents were in attendance to speak about Upper School's future, those representing Palomar Mountain emphasized that the dollars saved by the district will result in a loss of educational opportunity for students.

Many also expressed concern about busing their kids 20 miles down the mountain to Pauma Elementary, the district's nearest K-8 school from Palomar Mountain. The trip along winding roads could cost the district at least $43,000 a year, district officials have said.

The elementary and middle schools students would take the 6 a.m. bus down the mountain with high school students. A separate bus would take them home, because of the schools' different dismissal times.

"The children do not need to suffer by having to ride in a bus with that wide age group," said Ken Warsh, whose 14-year-old and 19-year-old daughters attended Palomar Mountain School.

"I would implore the board to forget about the $80,000 ... and see the growth of the children that come out of there." 

The school's status has been in jeopardy since it lost its special small school status when Pauma and Valley Center school districts unified in 2000.  

Under state law, the small school status entitled the district to tens of thousands of dollars in extra state funding annually to make up for the cost of materials, staff and educational opportunities that might go unfunded.

The governor recently denied the latest attempt to re-establish Palomar Mountain School's special status. In issuing a one-time check for $55,000 to keep the school open for the 2007-08 school year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger emphasized that the state would not continue to bail out the school.

 

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416or schabner@nctimes.com.

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