MUSD Possible Consolidation Update

January 30, 2025

Dear Staff and Families/Caregivers,

As you know, our district is working to plan for our future. With birth rates and school enrollment down and state budgets tight, we are working on plans to address those declines and still provide the best environment for our students, families, and staff.

We shared the possibility of consolidating school sites with all of you in December and have been gathering feedback, ideas, concerns and questions ever since. We want to give you an update on what we’ve heard from all of you and what our next steps will look like.

What did folks have to say?

We’ve sorted and categorized feedback into three categories: Positives, Concerns, Questions.  

Positives:  

• Friends and siblings together longer
• Fewer school transitions
• Reimagining the Central Avenue site away from the middle school model
• Opportunities for mentorships between older and younger students
• Expanding program offerings, electives
• Financial benefit

Concerns:  

• The biggest concern by far was which grade levels would be at which sites
• Concern about class sizes going up
• The parking lot at MMS
• Overcrowding at schools
• Concern for staff and their jobs
• The need for increased supervision
• We also had many ultimatums–folks who want a certain outcome or they will pull their students, the conditions for these concerns vary, but most are included in the list above.

What are our next steps?

Let’s tackle the easier things first. There were many, many questions. Most of them are things we can answer immediately. At the bottom of this letter, you’ll find a list of those questions and our answers.  

There were also some bigger questions and concerns; like which grades should be on each site? And which school configurations might work best for our community?

I won’t be making these decisions unilaterally and our School Board wants to hear from our families, staff and students before they make these important decisions for our community.  These are questions we need to dig into together.

So, we will be putting together a team…a team to dig into the numbers and the possibilities and share their findings for our next steps. We’d like to gather a team that represents classified and certificated staff, families from all three sites, and community members. The goal is to look at our current situation, share the projections for enrollment and budgets, and then look at the pros and cons of various options, all through the lens of our budget constraints. At the end of the meetings, we are hopeful the team will share their findings with the school board.

• MUSD Team for a Bright Future–18-22 members

• Families/Caregivers (all grades–we have heard from many at the upper grades that their kids won’t be impacted so they aren’t weighing in. However, we’d like at least a few folks with kids who have experienced the upper grades to share their experiences)
• Classified Staff
• Certificated Staff
• Students Voice–perhaps through empathy interviews
• Community Members

• Will meet three times at the Middle School Conference Center:

• Tuesday, 2/11/25, 5-6:30

• Review the “why”
• Review the goal of this committee
• Share all ideas, possible solutions

• Wednesday, 3/5/25, 5-6:30

• Dig into each new idea  
• Pro/Con charts
• Budget information for each
• Begin to draft findings for the board

• Wednesday, 3/12/25, 4-5:30

• Update each standing idea with detailed budget information
• Determine best options for our community
• Finalize findings for the board

Who will be on the team?  

We are reaching out to you. If you’re interested, please complete THIS FORM (QR Code below).  Please sign up by MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3 2025 so invitations can be sent by Wednesday, February 5, 2025 for the first meeting on Tuesday, 2/11/25. We will choose the team carefully with the goal of having representatives from all over the districts and from our many programs/departments/grade levels.

It is important to close with a few ideas for all of us to consider: This decision has not already been made and input from our staff and community are vital to making a decision that works for our community. We will never be able to make a decision that makes everyone happy, but we hope to make a decision that everyone understands completely. We also know that our schools are what we make them as a community, your engagement and support will build schools we can be proud of. We hope you’ll join us in this important endeavor.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out,

Ms. Julie and the MUSD Leadership Team

jgiannini@mckusd.org, 707.839.1549

Questions from the surveys:

• What will happen to staff? Will they still have jobs? (2x)

• Our goal is to keep our staff in place, that is why we are considering a two year roll out. We will have a similar number of students, just at two sites….so we will still need staff to cover all those needs.  Additionally, we hire annually, so it is very likely that we will keep all staff and see savings from retirements and resignations that normally occur.

• Will we keep teachers in their Grade Level of expertise?

• We always do our best to minimize grade level changes and usually work with staff when any change is needed.  

• How will you protect kids from bullying?

• We consistently teach and reteach the social skills kids need to treat each other with respect and kindness and we address issues of bullying when they occur.  This will continue at all sites regardless of grade levels.

• When will this decision be made? (4x)

• A decision made by late Spring ‘25 would allow changes to begin for next year.

• Can we get families together to work with the administration to make this decision?

• Yes! See information above.

• Will Spanish Immersion continue? (3x)  Could we look at a different mode for Spanish Immersion?

• Spanish Immersion is slated to continue. Any big changes to our district will impact all of our programs and we will need to work through how a consolidation might change all of our programs.

• Will there be supervision afterschool at the crosswalks?

• There is supervision at crosswalks now.

• Will there be ELP for 4th-6th?  Can ELP be K-8th? What will happen to ELP?

• The grants that pay for ELP pay for a TK-6 program. It allows 7th and 8th graders to participate if there is space. We will continue in this manner.

• Which site will be the home of ELP?

• This is a logistics question that we will need to figure out once we determine if we will consolidate and what grades will go where.

• Would 4th/5th have access to Art, Music, electives and athletics?

• Our 4th/5th have access to Art, Music, and athletics now. If we consolidate, that might look a little different, but would continue.

• Will 4th/5th have the same consequences as 7th/8th?

• We always strive to ensure that discipline is age appropriate, so no.

• Will 4th/5th have the same schedule as 7th/8th?

• No. Again, once we determine which grades will be at which sites, we would start developing schedules for teachers/kids. But 4th/5th would be self-contained.

• Will 6th grade become self-contained?

• This will depend on how we configure our sites, it is a possibility.

• Will the Central Avenue (MMS) site have a Reading Intervention teacher?

• This will depend on how we configure our sites, it is a possibility.

• Can we have more Science? Can we add self-defense? Can we add a middle school FFA program? Can we have advanced math? Could we have more trade classes?

• These are all possibilities. We can do anything…we can’t do everything. So we will have to decide as a community what is most important to us.

• What will happen to the TLC program? (2x)

• The TLC program is a county run classroom that is housed at MMS currently.  We have a number of local McKinleyville students who benefit from it. We plan to continue to partner with HCOE and SELPA to run this program as long as it is beneficial to our kids.

• Would younger kids be able to use the Morris gyms for games?

• Yes.

• How will older kids be separated from younger kids?         

• Once we determine which grades will be at which sites, we would start developing plans to separate students as needed. This could include designating areas of campus for certain grades and staggering recesses and lunchtimes to keep kids with their grade level peers.

• Do we have enough room at two sites for all the kids? (2x)

• Yes.

• Can we address everyone’s social-emotional needs?

• With the addition of the Community School Grant at Dow’s and now the School Based Mental Health Grant for the district, we are have good support for Social Emotional needs.

• Will there be more staff for supervision?

• We have struggled to hire enough staff over the last few years, reducing a site could help us with better supervision coverage.

• What are the actual savings? (2x)  What are the hidden costs of switching to 2 schools?

• This is a big question, the Team and Board will review at length.

• Would the portables at MMS be replaced?

• We are looking to remove most of the older portables at all three sites.

• What will Morris look like? What would happen if the district offices were there?

• Once we have a decision, we will provide detailed maps of the changes needed at each site.

• Will there be smaller class sizes?

• By saving money on a school site, we open up funds for other things. These could include smaller class sizes, staff salary increases, more support staff, etc...it is always a balancing act to find the right balance of everyones’ needs.

• What do the teachers think of this change?

• We have gathered input from our teachers in meetings, individual conversations, and surveys.  They have many questions and Morris staff are understandably sad.  Overall, there is support for consolidation as our teachers understand our budget shortfalls.  There are a few teachers with concerns about which grades go to which site.  We plan to choose teachers and staff for our Committee who represent many facets of this decision.

• How can we get more information out?  How can we get more input? Are there studies on which configuration is best?

• We continue to use email, Parent Square, and our district website.  We also followed up with paper surveys at Dow’s after we had a low turnout via email.  We held in person sessions at different times of the day and at each site.  And now we are inviting folks to be part of a committee.