Hercules Parents Want Their School To Get Better Treatment

A group of parents at Lupine Hills Elementary School says they aren't going to take it anymore.

The parents feel their campus is ranked third in the eyes of the West Contra Costa Unified School District among the three elementary schools in Hercules.

In particular, they feel their school gets the short end of the stick when compared to nearby Hanna Ranch Elementary, a California Distinguished School with higher API scores.

"Lupine Hills is not seen as the jewel that it is," said Jamela Smith, a parent of a kindergartner and third grader. "It's not treated as a school of excellence."

District officials deny any favoritism.

"We look at all our schools equally," said Adam Taylor, the district's director of K-12 school programs.

The Lupine Hills parents don't agree.

The latest incident that sparked their anger was a request last week to parents to allow 14 second graders to transfer from Lupine Hills to Hanna Ranch.

The move is needed to balance out second grade throughout the district so no classes are above the 26:1 ratio required to receive state local control funding.

Although the move was voluntary, Lupine Hills parents were upset that once again their school was the one being asked to sacrifice.

Kathryn Bressem, the parent of a Lupine Hills second grader, said switching a 7-year-old to a new campus four weeks into the school year is disruptive.

The plan would also require one of Lupine Hills' teachers to move to Hanna Ranch.

Bressem points out those students would only be at Hanna Ranch for one year. The family also wouldn't be allowed to transfer siblings with the second grader.

"It would leave a lot of families in the lurch," said Bressem.

Taylor said the district first asked for 11 voluntary transfers from Hanna Ranch to Lupine Hills. When that didn't happen, they then asked Lupine Hills for volunteers.

Taylor said after the parental complaints, the superintendent decided to hire an extra second grade teacher at Hanna Ranch to lower class sizes there.

Bressem still questions why this situation wasn't dealt with during the summer and why the Lupine Hills transfers would require a teacher to move, too.

"It's hard to feel this is a fair process," she said. "It feels like we are just numbers to them until we stand up and make noise. We shouldn't have to remind them that we are people."

Parents say the transfer request is the latest in a series of slaps in the face directed toward Lupine Hills.

They said they now have their third principal in four years. In addition, last year there were a number of long-term substitutes who taught in classes for more than 50 days.

Taylor said the last principal change was made at the parents' request. He said the substitutes were needed after the district granted some parents' request to remove several teachers whose behavior in the classroom they questioned.

The parents still wonder why it took so long to find permanent replacements.

"I felt it was put on the back burner," said Angelyse Gray, who has a third grader at Lupine Hills. "It's representative of the problem that is going on."

The parents also complain Hanna Ranch has a grass field for children to play on while Ohlone Elementary and Lupine Hills have asphalt.

Taylor said Hanna Ranch worked out an agreement with the city to use the park next to the school for a playground. He noted Lupine Hills also has a city park next door that could be utilized.

"Lupine has been promised a gate to our city park to use as a field for years," said Bressem. "It's great Hanna was able to get theirs up and usable; when is it our turn?"

The mothers aren't blaming just the district. They also feel other parents at Lupine Hills need to stand up and be heard.

"We're not getting the short end of the stick. We're accepting it," said Smith. "We need to change the culture at Lupine not to accept these crumbs."

If others accuse them of having a chip on their shoulder, the Lupine Hills parents have an answer.

"When it comes to our kids, we should have a chip on our shoulder," said Smith.