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Don't blame SJUSD for falling dominoes
A growing population and lack of adequate land for schools isn't school district's fault
By Marilyn Dion
The Robertsville community's objections to the relocation of the Broadway continuation program to John Muir; the unpopular move of the River Glen Two-Way Immersion program from its Bird Avenue site; and much of the unhappiness related to school attendance boundary changes can all be traced to the same problem: a shortage of adequate land and facilities for public schools in the San Jose Unified School District.
This shortage is not the fault of the school district, whose staff and trustees have been forced to shift students from point A to point B to point C in order to accommodate all the children in the district. The real culprit is incessant housing construction in San Jose and the subsequent increase in the number of children living here who need to enroll in school.
The city encourages housing development along the light-rail corridor to increase public transportation use. However, all the new housing has a huge impact on San Jose Unified, because the light rail line runs north and south through the center of this long and narrow school district. More housing, plus more children, plus a zero increase in school sites equals an unsolvable equation for San Jose Unified.
Over the past few years, the district worked long and hard to address the problem of overcrowding, particularly in the north end of the district (downtown San Jose). Four years ago, a community-based school site selection committee was appointed by the district's board of trustees to find an appropriate site for a new school to relieve overcrowding in the district.
The committee recommended two potential sites: a downtown site at sixth and Martha streets and a site adjacent to the Tamien light rail station. The SJUSD board chose to pursue the Tamien site, and entered into negotiations with the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which owned the land. Negotiations over the value and price of the property took place over several months.
While the average citizen like me assumes that public agencies collaborate and negotiate in the community's best interest; that they acknowledge the impact that transit-friendly housing has on schools; and that they consider the needs of children, this was not the case. VTA staff insisted on obtaining the highest market price possible for the site, in spite of the financial challenges faced by SJUSD and the benefits of increased ridership the VTA reaps from the new housing.
The district was in a bind. If it paid too much for the Tamien land, there wouldn't be enough money left to construct a school on the land. It became clear that a price compromise with the VTA could not be achieved.
District staff regrouped and took another look at the properties it already owned as potential sites for a new school. They concluded that their only option was the River Glen site on Bird Avenue. It isn't "downtown" where a new school is needed, but boundaries were redrawn so that students will be shifted southward from downtown. It will become a "neighborhood" school for students living in the overcrowded Washington school area. It is a big enough site to accommodate more than 700 students.
Then the dominoes began to fall. For a new school to be built on Bird Avenue, River Glen's Two-Way Immersion program had to be moved. The district decided that the Broadway site would be a good place for it. This meant that the Broadway Continuation High School would be without a home.
Another community-based committee was appointed to evaluate potential sites for Broadway. That committee came up with a list that included the old Lincoln Glen school site. It is owned by the city and home to the Willows Senior Center. There is some open space on its southwest corner where a two-story school could be constructed if the city made the land available. Gunderson High School and John Muir among others also were evaluated. The school board selected John Muir Middle School.
The John Muir/Robertsville Community objected to the board's selection, citing reasons that included elimination of open space, which is a genuine problem in that part of San Jose. But for lack of a better option, the district is moving forward with placement of the Broadway students at the John Muir site.
Sen. Byron Sher, Assemblyman Jim Cuneen and Councilman John Diquisto all joined the fray when their constituents complained about moving the Broadway program to the John Muir site. Their involvement in local public school issues should have been cause for celebration.
But while jumping on the bandwagon protesting the move of Broadway to John Muir, these representatives ignored the larger issues that prompted this move in the first place. Did they ever try communicating with families whose children attend the overcrowded schools downtown? Did they consider the concerns of teachers, students or parents at River Glen or at Broadway? Did they study the demographics of the school district and learn how many downtown students the district has to bus south, in spite of efforts to return all elementary school students to neighborhood schools? In a word, no.
The City Council insists this is a school district issue, not a city issue. Is this true? Technically and legally, yes. Morally and ethically, no. If our political leaders care as much about education as they claim--and a lot of claims about education were made in the last election cycle--then they have a moral responsibility to see that the children who live here attend school in adequate facilities. They have a responsibility to mitigate the impact that new housing has on the schools.
Many letters and articles have been written complaining about the school district's decision. But let's put the blame where it belongs. A growing population, new housing development and lack of city support have put SJUSD in the position of making "no-win" choices of relocating educational programs, changing boundaries and overcrowding a limited number of schools. And as we have painfully learned, overcrowding at one school will eventually have an impact on all our schools.
As parents, we must look beyond our own neighborhoods and seek what is best for our school district as a whole. Let's not make our school district a scapegoat for lack of vision or leadership at the city, county, VTA or state level. We must insist that our elected officials take responsibility for the impact their decisions have on our schools.
Marilyn Dion is president of ¡HABLA! Friends of River Glen School.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
