There are some school districts that exist with one or two schools and I don’t understand why the school districts aren’t combined.  Can you explain why these school districts should or should not continue to operate independently? It seems like the Districts would benefit from consolidated services (bus/transportation, food service, resources) Combining the Cutten and Ridgewood School District with the South Bay School District. Combining the Garfield School District and the Freshwater School District. Combining the Arcata School District, Jacoby Creek School District and the Pacific Union School District. Combining the McKinleyville School District and the Fieldbrook School District.

— HumBro

Response

Michael Davies-Hughes

HumBro,

I’m happy to dig in on this one as it’s a question that pops up frequently these days in light of declining student enrollment across the County.

We have 30 school districts and 14 charter schools serving just over 17,000 students. Six of those school districts have less than 50 students. Keep in mind that there are many single school districts in California that serve more than 17,000 students, but they are located in more populous urban settings. Many of these smaller districts exist as independent entities because of their geographic isolation; Humboldt County is large and very rural with small communities spread out over a vast area which makes consolidation challenging. At one time (early 1900s) Humboldt had close to 100 school districts - one close to every lumber mill.

O.K., so there’s the historical context. Now to your question. Some of our small districts continue to operate independently because it makes sense for that community. Students have the opportunity to attend their neighborhood school, and the local independent school board gets to make decisions that are specific to the local needs of that district. There are communities that are fierce advocates for maintaining local control of their school. There’s also a financial benefit to some small districts to stay independent; the State provides additional funding for “necessary small schools” - a recognition that a school closure would require neighborhood students to travel long distances to get to the nearest school.

For school districts that are in close proximity to one another, consolidation may make more sense. Consolidation of services, as you suggested, does happen. For example, we do have districts that share transportation, food services and business services. But consolidation of services is not the same as consolidation of districts, and the latter is something that I believe needs to be considered as countywide student enrollment (and funding) continues to decrease. The process for consolidating districts is somewhat complex and lengthy, but it starts with a district school board’s willingness to explore possibilities for a different way of serving their students.

And it does happen. Our most recent example is when Rohnerville and Fortuna elementary districts combined in 2012. Ultimately, the action to reorganize a district (through unifications, dissolutions, lapsations, annexations and boundary alterations) is taken by the County Committee for School District Organization.

 

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