The dust is finally settling. With the help of a $2.5 million loan and the unflinching support of staffers, school board members and parents, the district is getting back on its collective feet. Right now district leaders are pondering critical decisions about how they will allocate resources and manage school operations moving forward.
Reconfiguring grades was at the center of discussion at a pair of school board study sessions last week in Pescadero. The next installment from a $15 million bond voters approved in 2006 to finance a new high school is out of reach for at least two more years, and district leaders are looking at ways to make the best of what they have.
 Amy Wooliever is poised to move up from the position of principal of Pescadero High School to being superintendent of the South Coast school district. |
Helping steer the course is Pescadero High School Principal Amy Wooliever, who last month was hired to take over as district superintendent starting in July, the start of a new fiscal year. She is taking over the position from Dennis Dobbs, who was hired on an interim part-time basis to help stabilize district finances after former superintendent Tim Beard resigned last summer.
Financial disclosure and general transparency were issues on the minds of South Coast parents last year. For some, the bond project foul-ups and the murky aftermath that ensued damaged trust in the school board.
On Monday, Wooliever sat down at the Review office to talk about moving forward.
What issues are driving the necessity to reshuffle grades at the schools?
“One of the issues driving the reconfigurations is the pending loss of the middle school buildings. We took exactly five (portables) out last summer and left four buildings, and those all have to be returned in June. That leaves the middle school without buildings, and the elementary school had their portables also removed in the summer, so they have limited space as well in Pescadero (Elementary School). We’re looking at ways we can reconfigure based on our facility needs but also use it as an opportunity to enhance our program.”
How would you manage to do both?
“Before we had the problems with the bond management, we were on a path to create a middle-high school, (grades) 6 (through) 12. … Now, with the loss of the middle school buildings, one idea on the table that’s gained a lot of momentum is a 7-12 (school). So we’d put middle school students in the buildings with high schoolers. We don’t have the space in the existing high school building for a 6-12, but we can do a 7-12.”
What would become of the lower grades?
“Well, there are three main issues with reconfiguration. One is Pescadero Elementary School and what size of a school we have there; the second is the sixth grade; and the third is, of course, the 7-12. We feel there’s consensus around the 7-12. Both elementary schools would like to keep their elementary schools at K-5 … but it leaves the sixth (grade). Where does that go? … There’s been a lot of discussion about what that looks like — is it a self-contained? Do we do an academy kind of approach; do we enhance the program and make it special academically or extra-curricularly? So it looks like that’s the moving target. … There are advantages and disadvantages to both.”
What are the benefits of the 7-12 model?
“The high school has more staff than the middle school. Especially with the cuts last year, the middle school took the brunt of the cuts … so with 7-12 coming together, seventh and eighth grades will have access to high school staff and expertise, especially in the area of electives. … The other huge advantage, there is the subject area of math where we can mix students in our high school classes.”
Compared to the district’s position at this time last year — finding out about facilities issues and the extent of botched construction work at the schools — where does it stand now?
“Compared to last year, we’re in a much more settled place. We know we have more financial information. We made a tremendous number of cuts last year we won’t have to repeat this year. We have a clear picture of our finance. We’re not looking at downsizing like we were last year. We’re dealing primarily with facility issues and, how are we going to set up our students for the next three to five years until our bond recovers?”
In the past year, what different roles have you had to juggle and how has that prepared you?
“We’re a very small district and the administrators have always done a lot of different jobs. In the past year I’ve definitely been at the table in terms of making decisions around our future and continuing trying to push the actual academic program in the midst of all our facility problems and financial troubles. … I think I’ve become much more involved in the financial side of our district — looking at cost-cutting measures and trying to keep cost-cutting away from classroom. That was traditionally handled by our former superintendent (Tim Beard) — the business and finances. We’ve increased flow of information to the principals around budget and finances, which is critical to us doing our jobs.”
Is that something you’re consciously working on, given the issues the last couple years?
“Absolutely. There’s more involvement. There’s more transparency. We have more information, and it’s flowing to whoever wants that information.”
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