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Beach Flats kids may attend Bay View
Some parents upset at review of decision to send children to Gault
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG
Sentinel staff writer
In a move that has parents and activists up in arms, the Santa Cruz school board will reconsider Wednesday night a month-old decision to send students from the Beach Flats neighborhood to Gault Elementary School this fall.

The board is expected to reassign 68 students from the low-income, Latino area to Bay View Elementary School, raising neighborhood concerns about everything from public process to a longer trip to school.

But district officials say shifting students to Bay View will avoid overcrowding at Gault, providing more space for an award-winning arts initiative and a "dual-immersion" Spanish-English language program slated to begin in the fall.

The flare-up comes amid a controversy at Gault over reported school district plans to remove principal Olga de Santa Anna this summer and replace her with central office administrator Mary Anne James.

The Santa Cruz City Schools district now buses Beach Flats students to Westlake and DeLaveaga elementary schools as part of a voluntary desegregation effort dating back to the 1980s.

But last month, the cash-strapped school board voted 4-3 to ship Beach Flats students to Gault as part of a broader districtwide reshuffling rooted in two elementary school closings and busing cuts.

The move angered some Beach Flats parents, who wanted to keep their children at Westlake and DeLaveaga. But others applauded the board’s decision to put all the Beach Flats students at one school, close to home.

Proximity was particularly important, parents said, with Beach Flats busing set to expire this summer and many unable to afford a car to drive their children to school.

Last month, school board member Tim Willis found the argument compelling and voted to assign Beach Flats students to Gault. But now, after weeks of analysis by district staff, Willis said he is prepared to reassign to Bay View.

The move, officials say, will give Gault space to continue admitting out-of-neighborhood or "open enrollment" families in the arts program, while growing the new dual-immersion program.

But Veronica Lopez-Duran, community and resident initiatives coordinator for the Nueva Vista apartment complex in Beach Flats, said Beach Flats parents will have a hard time getting their kids to Bay View, one-third mile farther from the neighborhood than Gault.

She also raised concerns about shutting off Beach Flats access to Gault’s dual-immersion program.

"They’re making decisions that will affect our neighborhood for a long time to come," she said.

But school Superintendent Alan Pagano said the open enrollment policy, which allows some students to attend schools outside their attendance zones, will give Beach Flats children an opportunity to go to Gault in the future.

Meanwhile, Gault parents and staff say the district plans to remove de Santa Anna this fall. School staff has signed a petition opposing the move.

Pagano declined to discuss any plans for the Gault principal, citing employee confidentiality concerns. De Santa Anna, a 26-year veteran of the district who has served as Gault chief for three years, also declined to comment.


Contact David Scharfenberg at dscharfenberg (at) santacruzsentinel.com.