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Cotati-RP school closures at issue

Challenger for board seat faults communication with parents


By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 4:55 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 10:59 a.m.

The controversial closing of two elementary schools has spilled over into the race for the Cotati-Rohnert Park School District race, with the challenger to the two longtime incumbents claiming the closures were poorly handled.


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Also in the race: Marc Orloff, photo not available: Ed Gilardi, Karyn Pulley
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Candidate Marc Orloff said it was not the only reason he is running, but he is unhappy with how trustees communicated with parents during the closing of La Fiesta and Gold Ridge elementary schools.

"At school board meetings, you could have a comment, but there was no response," Orloff said. "You have to find a better way to get to them; they should have hit site councils at each location, gone to PTA meetings."

Orloff, 44, who has had five children in the district's schools, is running against incumbents Ed Gilardi and Karyn Pulley for one of two open seats on the board.

The district like others in Sonoma County is facing declining enrollment and a loss of revenue that results in trustees annually having to find ways to make cuts.

This year it closed Gold Ridge and La Fiesta elementary schools, at a savings of $600,000 per school site, and also made $3.2 million in budget cuts.

The district had 6,600 students last year and 242 fewer students this year, which is $1.8 million in state funding that will have to be accounted for in next year's budget, said Barbara Vrankovich, the district's superintendent.

The district budget this year is $55 million, with the possibility the state could make mid-year cuts, Vrankovich said.

The district also has to address working with a school that is in its third year of performance sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law and another school that is just entering its first year.

"Another instructional challenge is ever-increasing number of English-learning students and the effort the district takes to close the gap," Vrankovich said.

Incumbent Ed Gilardi, 51, a produce buyer and a 12-year veteran on the board, said the district has cut as much as it can.

"It's down to the basics," Gilardi said. "I don't want to see sports cut, I don't want to see music cut, but we have to maintain all the core education components. It will be tough. To be honest, I don't know where we would make the cuts."

He said he would maintain the small classroom sizes for kindergarten through the third grades.

"Those are the most critical learning years for students, building the proper building blocks for reading and math and English," Gilardi said. "Otherwise it doesn't matter how many intervention programs you have down the road, if you don't have those early building blocks, they will struggle the rest of their career."

Pulley, 56, who does community volunteer work and is an eight-year veteran on the board, said any budget cuts next year should be away from the classroom.

"When all you have left is a soup bone, how are you supposed to make soup? We have to do it in ways that do not affect the kids through programs," Pulley said. "I do not wish to take away music, take away athletics, take away library services, and at the same time, I don't think we can ask the parents to pay one more bus fee, one more athletic fee."

Orloff, a claims director at Fireman's Fund, said because he has had five children in the schools and been involved in PTA and site councils, he has a unique and fresh perspective.

"You need creative ways to make the school district run efficiently so we don't have to cut anything else," Orloff said. "I have seen a lot of budget cuts over the years. I think it has been business as usual. I think it is time to consider alternatives."

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.


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  1. Pax says...
    October 12, 2008 7:37:56 am

    RE: Link

    It surprises me that the Rohnert Park Cotati Unified School has not done their homework on population and demographic clusters. They have failed to realize that while their schools have faced declining enrollment over the last several years it's not because the population is getting older it's actually because the "Generation X" demographic those born between 1965 and 1985 is smaller then the Baby Boomers. However Generation Y those born between 1985 and 2005 is actually a bigger population then the Baby Boomers and Gen X er's. So what takes that mean? Well that means that Gen Y demo and Gen X are just now having children. Add X to Y and in about ten years the schools in Rohnert Park and Cotati are going to be over crowded. Given the fact that Rohnert Park and Cotati are economically affordable cities for young families they need to rethink their philosophy and go back to the blackboard. While they are at it, the RPCUSD should consider taking one of the schools they have closed, remodel it and build another High School. Letâ??s see the RPCUSD use some logic skills and plan ahead!

  2. wagonmaker says...
    October 12, 2008 10:09:00 am

    They tried to do their homework, they spent tons of money on demographers to tell us what we already know.

  3. dgoss33 says...
    October 12, 2008 11:28:29 am

    I have a child who attends Thomas Page School in Cotati. They have doubled in size since last year because of the school closures. This has effected the quality of learning, teaching and difficulty getting to school on time because of increased traffic of parents getting kids dropped off. I feel this has been poorly hadled and something must be done. The children are not the getting a quality education they are needing.

  4. mattchesley says...
    October 12, 2008 4:34:10 pm

    I completely agree with Mr. Orloff's statements and he will be getting my vote. The communication was seriously lacking. As the article points out there are schools in danger of being taken over by the state due to their performance. Not only did they close higher performing schools but they also sent even more students to those schools that were failing to acheive performance levels mandated by the state. The points chosen by the district to base the decision on were things that mean nothing to the parents and students within the district they served there own purposes only. The school board had misled the people in the district many times, including the fact that the new superintendent was saving us money by doing two jobs when they actually hired someone to fill her old position a few shorts months later. This board is also riddled with possible conflicts of interest. Now they want tax payers to approve a bond to increase the size of the Evergreen MU when they crammed the kids in there while leaving behind perfectly good MU's that tax payers also payed to construct.

  5. cotbass says...
    October 12, 2008 8:44:06 pm

    Not to mentioned the bond measure that was passed SEVERAL years ago that was supposed to take care of some of the maintenance at La Fiesta. What happened to that? Basically voters need to get informed and VOTE ALL THE INCUMBENTS OUT. Now, if we could only oust Ms. Vrankovich and the money-guy. Sorry, didn't bother to remember his name. I saw his (along with other board members and Ms. Vrankovich's) eyes rolling too many times at these meetings. What a bunch of amateurs - have they never had a professional job before. Seems likely not.

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