Wednesday marked the final day of classes at Lewis Adult School in Santa Rosa – a real reminder of the impact of budget cuts.
The Santa Rosa School Board voted in May to shutter the campus as a budget-saving measure.
“I’m totally persuaded that the value for Lewis Adult School related to the general population is there, but it’s not our core responsibility,” said board member Bill Carle said at that May meeting.
Carle has recommended the district examine a fee-based program for adults while maintaining credit recovery courses for primarily high school students.
“We can’t reasonably take monies out of the general fund that are meant for K-12 and use them in this fashion at this juncture,” he said in May.
On Wednesday, that vote became very real.
“There are a lot of gifts for the teachers, it’s a little overwhelming,” said interim principal Laura Hendrickson.
For weeks, representatives from Santa Rosa Junior College have been on campus, helping students who take English, computer and other classes at the small campus navigate the potential transition to the larger Mendocino Avenue community college campus.
“There was a lot of trepidation and concern about not being able to get through the system at the JC,” Hendrickson said.
But many of those fears have been alleviated, she said. Students who have already found the classes they need have been coming back to Lewis and helping classmates make the move, she said.
The school issued between 15 and 20 high school diplomas in the last week, as teachers scurried to get students out with as many credits as possible.
But on Wednesday, as the final class sessions wound down, there were mixed emotions, Hendrickson said.
Flan was served, there was music, potluck offerings.
“This is an amazing place,” Hendrickson said. “It’s bittersweet.”
jetconference
this upsets me, there gonna cut funds on education, why not other funds? like maybe the chess club for instance, that’s just a game to see who’s the smarter man, or whatever way you wanna put it. This move hurts alot of people, this town is growing, it’s gonna be a city in a near future, it’s probably the biggest town from here and on up north, and when you head south, it’s stop at oakland. it’s like telling young adults, education isn’t the way to go, go join a gang, go get pregnant, start a family and get on welfare, and eat free money from the tax pot.
July 16th, 2009 4:21 am
lifelong learner
I wonder if board member Carle has considered the cost of student activities and sports as a drain on the K-12 general fund. The K-12 system has been greatly enhanced by the funding that was generated by an effective (and needed) adult education program. Legislative changes have gifted the money generated and allocated to train and retrain California’s workforce to the school district general fund. Adults go to school because they need to learn something that was lacking in their K-12 education. Literacy, technical training, life skills… The decision to close the adult school program is a decision to remove future economic stability for families in your community. Wow, that’s a big decision! Will your K-12 system fill this need?
July 16th, 2009 10:06 am
curious
I give them an F on this decision. Let the sixth graders teach the 4th graders. Make this a community of learners and teachers, all giving and taking from each other. Why do we have so many rules and regulations that not only hamper, but kill the educational system. A recent visit to my Texas hometown reminded me of how much I learned from the people on the street. I was on the honor society, and the other teachers in my life taught me more than the school. We bind ourselves with rules so we do not have to think, and we teach our children to march in straight lines. The world no longer gives us straight lines and right angles. I admire the administrators and wonder how frustrated they are with the restrictions on their ability to offer good, thorough, and useful education.
July 17th, 2009 1:39 pm