10/28 Update: The revised consolidation plan only worsens the impacts listed in this editorial. Now, an average friend group in Corvallis Junior High will have 80% of the students go to CHS, while only 20% of the students go to CV. [Again, this is a generalization where each elementary school that feeds into KJH only brings 20%. Until we get true, actual numbers, this is a rough estimate and could end up differing in reality. However, any significant imbalance will still lead to the same problems.] That means that if you were to make a friend group, you are 4x more likely to make a friend who goes to CHS. This disproportionately harms students going to Bessie Coleman, as it forces them to effectively only make friends who went to the same elementary school with them, or risk being split up when they move to high school.
After speaking with school board members, I’d like to clarify the notion of elementary school being feeders that feed into a specific high school. I agree that the consolidation plan doesn’t reduce the number of students going to CV. Nonetheless, it brings up the ugly truth of the worsening imbalance of students between the two high schools. The fact that all of the elementary students who will go to CV can fit into 2 elementary schools, while all of the elementary students who will go to CHS need 4 elementary schools to fit all of them, shows how fundamentally imbalanced the student populations of the high schools will be in the future.
The imbalance is not something that the consolidation plan addresses. The district ought to focus on ensuring that the enrollment numbers between the two high schools are balanced as much as possible. To do this, we have to redraw the High School Boundary Line to ensure that an equal number of students go between the two high schools.
Some might argue that redrawing boundaries is a time-consuming, lengthy, and emotionally charged process. In fact, that was what the school district administration claimed in the original consolidation plan. One of the reasons they initially didn’t want to close an elementary school is that it would involve the boundary process, and that was bad. That expectation contrasted with the current reality when the district ended up proposing a closure of an elementary school and proposing new boundaries. Was it a lengthy, time-consuming process that the district framed in the original consolidation plan? As of right now, that’s not shaping up to be the case. The superintendent made the executive decision without any significant community involvement to draw the line on Highway 99W, splitting Letita Carson students between two elementary schools. This could be the case because there was a strong resolve and motivation at the admin level to redraw the boundaries. So why isn’t there that same strong desire from the leadership to do the same thing for the high school boundaries? Is it because they know that CV is eventually doomed, and it’s not worth their time and effort? Is it because they fear backlash from parents and the community? Because by failing to do so, they are going against the equitable principles the district stands for.
Now, redrawing the boundary without giving significant time for community feedback and input is still a bad decision. If we hopefully redraw the high school boundary, I hope that we incorporate the community’s perspective while maintaining the urgency of the decision. The point is that we shouldn’t fear the boundary adjustment process; a change in enrollment necessitates a change in boundaries.
Through this revised plan, CV is almost doomed to close. From only 2 elementary schools serving CV to the 4 CHS that it has, from the closure of Cheldelin Middle School, and from the lack of will and urgency to address the high school problem now. This plan has, to an extent, disregarded CVHS’s future. For all of these reasons and many more, I support the CVHS leadership’s amendment to initiate the high school boundary redrawing process, or closing down a different elementary school that feeds into CHS.
Because if we wait till the 28-29 feasibility study, it is going to be too late, and it may be rushed again; and ultimately, the students will be the ones who suffer from it.
The Crescent Crier 