We have the money and we have the additional students. Let's re-open a school in the neighborhood that hasn't had one for 10 years.
The district should re-open a school in the Whisman/Slater neighborhood. The State of California pays us for every child in our district. We closed Whisman and Slater Schools when we were in an extended period of low enrollment and we were losing money. 10 years ago we had approximately 4,300 students in our district. Today we have 5,000 students. 10 years ago we needed rental income from Whisman and Slater Schools to withstand "the Great Recession." Today we have a healthy balance. Those 2 factors - 700 more total students and a healthy financial balance - mean that we can re-open a school in the neighborhood that has not had its own school for 10 years. Neighborhood school boundaries and existing assignments of both teachers and students will change when a new school is opened, but opening a school in the Whisman/Slater neighborhood is the right thing to do at this time.
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