School Redesign Task News Today

Letters: Speak out against Mucettis generous new contract.

I am advocating against the closure and/or proposed “redesign” and “repurposing” of the River School campus. I am a parent of a 7th grader and am saddened to think that future Napa families would be left without this amazing public school of choice. I understand the financial gains that closing a middle school may provide to the district, which is predicting declining enrollment for the next several years. I understand how important it is to keep cash reserves above the 3% m...

Earlier this year, I was invited to be a member of the NVUSD Middle School Redesign Task Force. I was happy to serve. In addition to serving on the task force as a Pueblo Vista parent, I have also worked in public higher education for more than 20 years, so I have a vested interest in ensuring that our P-12 and higher education systems are working together to prepare students to achieve the credentials and degrees that our economy and society will need in the coming decades. I knew some of the ...

This is a copy of the letter that was sent to the NVUSD Board on April 6. As a pediatric optometrist serving the children in Napa Valley for the past 15 years, I would like to give my input to the Middle School Redesign Task Force. I have visited and supported many NVUSD schools as part of an IEP/504 team, school events, and fundraisers. One of the best parts of my job is getting to see these Napa Valley children grow over the years and become independent adults in the working world. I have see...

It is essential that we save River Middle School’s unique program. NVUSD wants a balanced budget in order to maintain financial solvency, which is absolutely necessary. However, implementing budget cuts alone, without regard for actual “program excellence” (a stated goal for the Middle School Redesign Task Force) does not improve the health of the district or our community in the long term. River’s 26-year-old program is an exceptional middle school that should be preserved,...

Pushback by parents concerned about the possible closure of Harvest Middle School — and about reducing access for disadvantaged and minority students — is leading advisers to the Napa school district to look at other ways of shrinking the footprint of a public school system pressured by falling attendance. The task force charged with helping the Napa Valley Unified School District adjust its budget to a contracting student body is turning its attention to a host of options that would ...

As a task force of schoolteachers, parents and others ponders closing one of Napa’s middle schools amid falling attendance and state funding, a survey of campuses illustrates sometimes sharp differences in their demographics and communities – including for the junior high school briefly targeted for a possible shutdown last fall. While the Napa Valley Unified School District has an overall glut of hundreds of student spaces, it also faces an imbalance between its recently rebuilt â€...

A team of teachers, parents, principals and school district staff has begun pondering one of the most difficult questions facing local educators: with fewer children entering local schools, a surplus of classroom space and a financial crunch looming, which middle school might close in the coming years? And how can that decision be made as fairly as possible? The possible road toward shrinking the Napa Valley Unified School District’s footprint began Tuesday night with the first meeting of ...