A member of the ad-hoc advisory committee that ranked schools for possible closure next fall told other news organizations that, based on the district's criteria, Hacienda should have ended up on the chopping block instead of Randol Elementary School. The district has recommended closing Randol and Cory elementary schools to save an estimated $1.9 million per year in anticipation of a projected $9 to $11 million budget shortfall in 2005­06. Last year the district closed three elementary schools—Hester, Hammer and Erikson—for a savings of $1.5 million.

Other elementary schools under consideration for closure this year were Almaden, Allen, Bachrodt, Carson, Lowell and Trace. The committee ranked each school based on its demographics, the potential financial impact of its closure and transportation and facilities issues.

When committee members presented their rankings to the district last week, Hacienda had one more point against it than did Randol. But when district officials checked the committee's math, they discovered that the two schools were actually tied in the rankings.

District spokeswoman Karen Fuqua said Randol was pegged for closure over Hacienda to keep the latter school's popular science and environmental magnet program intact.

"The issue is choice," Fuqua added. "That's why we chose to keep Hacienda open."

The district established its magnet schools as part of a court-ordered desegregation program and now operates under a Voluntary Integration Program that allows students to attend schools outside their neighborhood.

While Hacienda is off the table for closure next year, parents aren't complacent about its longevity.

"Hacienda, my children's old school, has been on the chopping block many times," Mary McCuistion wrote in an email. "We've often felt that the district had it in for us."

"Parents need to be vigilant," Coreen Booth told the Willow Glen Resident. "It seems the district's solution is to close schools. It's been their strategy for the last couple years. As a parent, I'm wondering if the district is going in the right direction."

One group of parents are concerned enough with the direction the district is going that they're advocating succession. Parents at Almaden and Blossom Valley schools were out last Saturday gathering signatures for a petition to form a South Valley School District.

The succession would affect Willow Glen families who send their children to South Valley schools. In some cases these numbers are significant:

Of the 63 percent of students at Castillero Middle School who come from outside the Almaden school's attendance boundaries, 37 percent live within the boundaries of Willow Glen, Hoover and Burnett middle schools.

Randol parent Chris Brubaker, who's spearheading the secession effort, said the movement arose out of the district's inability to get a parcel tax passed.

Brubaker said the district's socioeconomic makeup is "great for community diversity but bad for passing a parcel tax."

If South Valley schools were to break away, he added, the new district could pass its own parcel tax, and the remaining schools in San Jose Unified District could pass another.

"South Valley's tax would probably be higher," Brubaker said. "Even if the remaining district gets a smaller amount, it would be better than what they have now."

Not all parents are convinced that dividing the district in two would mean more funding all around.

"I don't think that splitting the district would result in more tax dollars remaining in the south, unless that district became a basic aid district, which would cut state dollars to a minimum level," McCuistion wrote. "If we refuse to share our tax monies with those in the north, with the current fiscal crisis, I'm not sure the state would fill in the gap."

The district plans to hold a special parcel-tax election in March 2006 to preserve sixth-period classes at its middle schools. Without these tax monies, the district intends to cut sixth period to help close a projected $11-$13 million budget gap in 2006-07.

The district says it is pursuing school closures in the wake of declining enrollment, which has led to a decrease in state funding. In addition to the proposed elementary school closures, the board voted last month to shut down Steinbeck Middle School at the end of the current school year.

The district, current problem is just the tip of the iceberg, with a projected $40.9 million cumulative budget gap in the next four years.

A public forum on elementary school closures is set for Jan. 13, 6:30-8 p.m. and recommendations should go before the board on Jan. 20 and Feb. 3.

All meetings are at the San Jose Unified School District offices at 855 Lenzen Ave. For updates or additional information, visit www.sjusd.k12.ca.us or call 408.535.6000.