I am advocating against the closure and/or proposed âredesignâ and ârepurposingâ of the River School campus. I am a parent of a 7th grader and am saddened to think that future Napa families would be left without this amazing public school of choice.
I understand the financial gains that closing a middle school may provide to the district, which is predicting declining enrollment for the next several years. I understand how important it is to keep cash reserves above the 3% minimum requirement to avoid state interference in district operations. I also understand the value of engaging in an open and transparent process with the community to explore difficult cost savings opportunities.
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It is essential that we save River Middle Schoolâs unique program. NVUSD wants a balanced budget in order to maintain financial solvency, which is absolutely necessary. However, implementing budget cuts alone, without regard for actual âprogram excellenceâ (a stated goal for the Middle School Redesign Task Force) does not improve the health of the district or our community in the long term.
Riverâs 26-year-old program is an exceptional middle school that should be preserved, whether on the current campus or elsewhere. Dissolving our program is not a necessary step for the districtâs financial solvency; River provides a valuable alternative to the traditional middle school experience. NVUSD is on a path of eliminating educational choice, which will causes families to leave NVUSD. Not every kid thrives in a one-size-fits-all model.
Pushback by parents concerned about the possible closure of Harvest Middle School â and about reducing access for disadvantaged and minority students â is leading advisers to the Napa school district to look at other ways of shrinking the footprint of a public school system pressured by falling attendance.
The task force charged with helping the Napa Valley Unified School District adjust its budget to a contracting student body is turning its attention to a host of options that would shutter one of four middle schools in the city of Napa before the 2022-23 academic year but keep open Harvest on Old Sonoma Road, which hosts a dual English-Spanish curriculum and a student body more than three-quarters Latino.