Monday's Modesto City Schools board meeting is full of compelling items — closing Pearson Elementary School next school year, appointing an associate superintendent of curriculum, reorganizing district office administration and starting a dual-language program.
All are important decisions as the district prepares to slice at least $25 million from it's $250 million budget for next school year.
Modesto City Schools would be the third in Stanislaus County to close a school. Stanislaus Union and Empire Union districts closed one each for this school year.
Modesto Bee - ALISON YIN/ayin@modbee.com Ethel Pearson Elementary School is set to close in Modesto, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010.
Next to the district office in west Modesto, Pearson Elementary enrolls 280 students in kindergarten and first grades, according to 2008-09 data. It's one of the district's smallest and oldest campuses.
Students would attend Franklin Elementary School, half a mile away. About 670 students in grades two through six attend Franklin.
Officials have met with parents and staff at both schools and formed a steering committee that will continue to meet as the schools consolidate, according to a staff report.
The cost to combine the schools is about $12,000, the report says, but it does not include an estimate on how much the district would save by closing Pearson.
The average costs of running an elementary school are about $400,000, but Pearson is smaller, so savings likely would be less.
Superintendent Arturo Flores' plan to reorganize the district office to consolidate jobs and save money comes to the board for a second time. When last discussed Jan. 19, employee unions raised some objections to the district's figures.
Read more: http://www.modbee.com/featured/story/1038882.html#ixzz0exQwgFWP