As anticipated, school closure recommendations have been made, and a series of public listening sessions, listed below, scheduled.
Bottom-lines include closing Cheldelin Middle School, and possibly Crescent Valley High in a few years, but keeping all the elementary schools open. Those elementaries would however retain students an added year, extending into sixth grade. Except for Mountain View Elementary, which would run from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Prepared by Corvallis Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Noss, the recommendations are based on work from the District’s Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. They’ve been submitted for the Board’s Thursday, September 11 meeting.
Why close schools, why these schools
Birth rates are down nationally, and Corvallis is impacted like anywhere else, and maybe even a little more so. That means less students, and state funding is based on headcount.
So, with the enrollment and funding declines, the District, and even many of its critics, believe it would be better to prioritize spending on educational and enrichment programs, while saving on facilities and the costs that come with them.
Noss included information from the facilities committee in his report, saying, “The enrollment decline over the next ten years will result in underutilization of our facilities. According to projections, in the school year 28/29, our buildings will be at 59% utilization at elementary level, 86% utilization at middle school level, and 61% utilization at high school level; with utilization district-wide of 65% of enrollment capacity.”
Noss also wrote, “We have reached a point where we must consolidate the number of schools we operate to continue addressing a declining district budget while fighting to maintain programming for students. To be clear, school consolidation will not solve all of our financial concerns. Yet, it is an important next step as we work to do our best for the students we serve.”
The report also noted that Cheldelin, while in good shape, received fewer updates during the construction bond. Privately, many officials have said they believed having only one high school and one junior high meant needing to keep each as central as possible. And yes, we just said junior high, Noss is recommending that Linus Pauling Middle School be remonikered a junior high.
In the report, he also advises the Board should review the feasibility of keeping two high schools during the 2028-29 school year or when enrollment falls below 2,025 students.
The rationales for shifting Mountain View to kindergarten through eighth grade school are a little more complex. The report says, “A Kindergarten-8th-grade school at Mt. View accounts for additional growth in Adair Village.” It also says, “An additional kindergarten-8th-grade school near the edge of our community has the potential to attract transfers for families seeking the K-8 model.”
The recommendations also include Cheldelin’s gyms remain available for community use, the Board review Crescent Valley for closure in another two years, and the district keep the two properties instead of selling them. Retaining the properties, says the recommendations, means the district would be prepared for fluctuations in later years.
What’s next
As is the Corvallis way, there will be a process for public input, and one can assume considerable public testimony. Here’s the District’s schedule.
Community Listening Sessions
- September 16: Lincoln Elementary, 6:30-8:00 pm
- September 17: Linus Pauling Middle School, 6:30-8:00 pm – Spanish listening session
- September 30: Corvallis High School, 6:30-8:00 pm
- October 8: Linus Pauling Middle School, 6:30-8:00 pm
School Board Meetings with Public Testimony
- September 11, District Office, 6:30 pm
- September 25, District Office, 6:30 pm
- October 16, District Office, 6:30 pm
You can email can email the whole of the Board as a group: schoolboard@corvallis.k12.or.us.
You can also send mail to the Board at: Corvallis School Board, 1555 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333.
Reading between the lines
This is our analysis. Merging most middle school students together will probably prove a less anxiety ridden process than deciding which elementaries should close and then drawing new boundaries. Those are the kinds of community conversations that always lead to bitterness and controversy, and this plan avoids all that.
However, moving Mountain View to a kindergarten through eighth grade school may not be to every family’s liking. Some will appreciate it, others not. It may be helpful for the District to guarantee parents they can move their students to Linus Pauling for seventh and eighth grades if they want. We also think a difficult discussion about Crescent Valley High is likely for sometime in the future.
Some will likely argue selling the mothballed schools would save the most money and maybe beef up the District’s rainy day fund. Alternatives could include combinations of long and short term leases at each of the properties.
But it’s early on. The community may have concerns that are not addressed and that should be. We’ll keep you posted.
For copy of the ten-page recommendation report, click here.
By Hallie Greenberg
Correction: Superintendent Noss’ recommendations include that the School Board review the need for two high schools in the 2028-29 school year or if student enrollment dips below 2,025. A prior version of this story reported that Crescent Valley would be closed sometime after the 2028-29 school year.
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