By Megan Burks
Budget Ax Could Fall on Small Schools, But Are the Savings Worth It?
This morning Speak City Heights partner KPBS reported the committee looking into closing some San Diego schools to save money has put Crawford Educational Complex’s small schools on the chopping block. The group’s plan, which the school board is scheduled to hear Tuesday, would return Crawford to a comprehensive campus.
Many defended the small school model last year when the San Diego Unified School District proposed eliminating them at Crawford, San Diego High School and Kearney High School. Educators attributed more college acceptances and better race relations at Crawford to the smaller cohorts, while the district pointed to still-fledgling test scores. Ultimately, Crawford kept the schools but went down to two principals from four.
Changes will have to be more drastic this time around. Earlier this month, Superintendent Bill Kowba warned the district’s budget mess could result in a state takeover.
Our partner, voiceofsandiego.org, has also been looking into the realignment process as the district flirts with insolvency. It ran the numbers and found closing or consolidating schools could be an ineffectual strategy for filling the district’s $100 million budget gap next year.
According reporter Keegan Kyle, even if the district eliminated all middle schools—a hypothetical move he used for perspective—it would still be $9 million short.
Take a look at Kyle’s handy chart of district expenditures and tell us what you think. Is campus realignment a good strategy? Are the savings worth consolidating Crawford?
Follow KPBS education reporter Kyla Calvert @kylacalvert and Keegan Kyle @keegankyle.
New Collaborative to Support City Heights Kids From Cradle to Career
Schools have felt the pinch for several years now, and nonprofits are stepping in to fill the gap left by slashed support services. Last month, we brought you a report by City Heights Life about new mental health services at Hoover High School funded by Price Charities.
Now, the nonprofit is spearheading a collaborative of other nonprofits, health providers, police, colleges and the school district to better support City Heights youth. The project, called City Heights Partnership for Children, will form a support network to solve school, health and safety issues.
Tad Parzen, executive vice president of Price Charities, told the San Deigo Union-Tribune the initiative is not about forming committees and talking, but about “getting things done.”
Follow the San Diego Union-Tribune @sdut.
Reflections on Life in a Mixed-Status Family
The new mental health services at Hoover are especially noteworthy because they will help students who are not on Medi-Cal because they are undocumented. Services will also be extended to undocumented family members.
Many in City Heights live in mixed-status families, meaning one or more family members are in the country illegally. The situation can be particularly stressful, even for documented family members.
This week, Southern California Public Radio took a look at this struggle with a series of reader comments. This one comes from a 34-year-old legal permanent resident with two undocumented siblings:
My siblings and I have not gone back to the small town in Mexico where we grew up, even when close family members have been sick or passed away, afraid to not be able to come back to our families here in the U.S. Since checkpoints are quite common in Orange County where we live, we keep each other informed via text messages whenever we find out about checkpoints in order to avoid an unnecessary encounter with the authorities.
[I feel] fear that my siblings who are still undocumented will be picked up by ICE agents and deported. Fear that they’ll be deported and their children be picked up by Child Protective Services. Fear that they lose their employment due to their legal status.
His story was submitted via the Public Insight Network, a database used by some news organizations to help diversify their sources and experts. Anyone can sign up to become a source by answering a short survey—like KPCC’s related to mixed-status families—and providing some demographic information and details about your interests. The next time the news organization covers your area of interest, you could be contacted for help.
KPBS is a member of the Public Insight Network and looking for City Heights sources. This week, it posed the question, “Do you cook or eat the recipes of your heritage?”
Follow Southern California Public Radio @KPCC.