School district to launch special meeting for interdistrict transfer consideration
The Healdsburg Unified School District will hold a special meeting Feb. 26 to discuss the possibility of re-implementing interdistrict transfers, which the district put to a halt in 2009.
Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuval made the announcement at the Jan. 16 regular Healdsburg Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting.
“It would be a radical change for us,” Vanden Heuval said, giving impetus for a special and open meeting for trustees, teachers, parents and administrators to discuss the possibility.
After trustees seemed undecided and unsure about the option of exploring the consideration when Vanden Heuval first broached the topic in a December board of trustees meeting, he reiterated that the decision does not have to immediately be made and that trustees and the community can take the time to discuss different methods in approaching the policy change.
“When we say ‘opening the district,’ it is not as if we are opening the doors and hundreds of kids are coming. We have complete control over this and if we were to choose to open the district, we could say we are taking 10 kids and next year we could take seven – we would be able to set those limits,” Vanden Heuval said.
For instance, the district could also set up a series of criteria that determines who is eligible for applying to enter the Healdsburg district.
Eligibility criterion ideas include considering children of district employees, students who moved from the district during 11th grade, students who are a victim or an act of bullying, children in need of child care or mental and or physical care needs, among other items, according to a board of trustees agenda item packet.
They would also require approval from the student’s district of residence as well as a satisfactory student conduct record.
“For our special meeting we should reiterate what we can control,” board president Jami Kiff said. “It is not a flood gate that would open, but it could be very minimal. When we think of opening the district it asks, ‘What does that mean?’ so I think that will be important (to discuss).”
Trustee Judy Velasquez opined that it would be good to consider class size number and information during the special meeting in discussing the potential of transfers.
Board Vice President Donna del Rey echoed Velazquez’s thoughts, adding it would be good to consider the impact on kindergarten classes as there is a low number of kindergarten staff.
So why bring up this consideration now?
In a statement from the board of trustees the board said of the topic, “Our district has been closed for nearly a decade to transfer students from outside our boundaries. As we’ve seen many families forced out of our community due to the cost of living, we’ve seen our enrollment drop. Observing this, we can’t help but ask ourselves when and if our schools will someday be ‘too small.’ Our superintendent has posed this question for us to consider with the idea that we may sometime reconsider our current policy.”
In years past the district has allowed interdistrict transfers, however, after the Great Recession the district decided to on a policy change due to a decrease in funds.
“In 2009, the district was in financial distress and due to the recession, the state was giving us less education dollars and we went to the community-funded status and at that point we decided that it (funds) should go to students within our district boundaries,” Vanden Heuval said.
Another reason the board went with the decision to discontinue transfers is that funding cannot be generated from students outside of the district since the state funds are based on district student attendance.
However, times have changed.
“We want students to still enjoy (amenities we can provide with funds) but we also don’t want to get too small of a student population,” Vanden Heuval said.
The special board meeting will take place Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. at the Healdsburg High School gym at 1024 Prince Ave. All are welcome to attend the discussion workshop.
“It is important to engage everybody and get their point of view and have a discussion around the policy and an exploration of the implications of opening the district,” Vanden Heuval said. “We want to do what is best for our kids and our community.”
