Local Parents React as School Closure Committee Prepares to Meet

As the Fountain Valley School District's School Boundaries and Closure Committee prepares to meet Tuesday night to determine the factors that should be considered when recommending which school to close, local parents are reacting to the potential school closure.

"I am disappointed the F.V. school district is deciding to close down a school," said Laurie Zone, who has two elementary-age children in the district. "I understand the financial hardships the district is facing, but I’d like to see where else the district is taking such drastic measures to cut costs besides closing down a school site. No matter which school site is closed, there is going to be a major upheaval of families and school staff. As a family, we are enmeshed into the fabric of our school. That fabric is woven with teachers, support staff, children, parents, friendships and the community. When past schools have been shut down, what often is left behind is an abandoned building. People move on, and adjustments are made, but that sense of community is gone, and it takes a long time to rebuild it somewhere else. Shouldn’t a school closure be the last-ditch effort to save money? Have we really made all the cuts we could have made in the budget?"

The 19-member committee voted 12-7 two weeks ago to recommend closing one of the district's schools. The school board will ultimately decide whether to follow the committee's recommendation. Several concerned parents have attended the previous meetings, many of them from the Moiola K-8 school.

I think that closing a F.V. school is absurd," said Kirsten Noceti, who has one child attending school in the district and another who will start soon. "It will result in an overcrowded, poor learning environment for our children. I think that they can cut costs in so many other ways, like the big shots in the district office taking a pay cut or the schools cutting back on the supplies they provide. ... I also think that the individual schools could do more fundraising. Maybe have a school rummage sale with all proceeds go to the school. Moiola is our only K-8 school. Just by observing the children in my neighborhood who have gone to Moiola and the others that have gone to a 6-8 middle school, the kids that went to Moiola are so much more respectful, well behaved and excelling in school, where the ones that went to the middle school has a rough time adjusting and have done poorly. Staying at the same school is a bonus, as the children are comfortable in their surroundings and more involved."

At least one parent, who didn't want to be identified, shared the findings of the committee that the district's school were operating below an acceptable level of efficiency.

"It’s hard to consider giving up our local school," he said. "It is an important part of a neighborhood, and the kids love the staff and teachers. But, the fact is, we have had decreasing enrollment and need to be logical about these decisions. We don’t need as many schools as we have. The student population does not justify it. Our students suffer from the budget shortfalls, and consolidating will help the bottom line."