Changes Underway Within Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified as School Year Begins

Few would deny it: the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District is marred with problems. 

, there were 8,300 students enrolled districtwide. Today, there’s 5,900 — 2,400 less, according to figures released in late August. Four schools have closed in the last three years — Mountain Shadows Middle School, Gold Ridge Elementary, Richard Crane Elementary and La Fiesta. There are fewer school days and class sizes are growing to 32 or 33 students per teacher. And, teachers themselves are being forced to  of salaries and benefits in the aftermath of unprecedented state and federal budget problems.

, the district's new superintendent, has publicly acknowledged the plight.

“Honestly, every district has their problems; I see it as an opportunity to make it better,” Haley said when he first came to town in May. 

Now, three days into the , Haley concedes that he has his work cut out for him. But he's already overhauling a few district practices. Some include:

— Interdistrict transfers are now handled by the district's assistant superintendent, Elizabeth Kaufman, under the office of Instructional Services. In previous years, transfers out of the district were handled by the business office.

"Interdistrict transfers is a critical issue here — we want to find out why students are coming in and why they're going out," Haley said. "Now, if a student chooses to leave, we get the chance to find out why. The reasons may be very valid, and we'll listen to that. Or, we may have the curriculum here that meets their needs and they don't know it."

"I’ve always been directly involved," Haley added. "I think it’s very important."

— Regular meetings with teachers and members of the community.

"We need to find out what’s working and ask what we need to improve or stop doing," Haley said. "In some cases we may put in place processes that will lead to new programs."

Haley said he's also set up meetings with the Community Advisory Committee — a citizen group formed last year to study what parents and residents are concerned about in the schools.

— Restructuring the district website's calendar. Haley said he's working on getting specific school board agenda items put on the calendar and making full agendas available to the public.

"That way if a parent has a question about English language learners, for example, they'll know there'll be a report to the board in March," Haley said. "Or if I’m curious about , we update that in this month."

"These things may seem trivial, but they’re really important steps," he added.

— Haley and Kaufman are meeting regularly with the Governing Board, teachers and principals to develop a long-range plan for the district.

"We have some things in place that lay a foundation," Haley said. "It's something we can build on – this process will include the community, parents or people involved in the community, staff and the governing board."

Haley said the long-range plan, for example, would include direct input from principals and four times a year, all teachers districtwide will get together to exchange ideas.

"I think our teachers and principals are a well of knowledge and we need to be listening to them," Haley said. "If we can get them to come up with new programs, help implement curriculum changes and projects – whatever we may need — then our role becomes to guide them and support them because everything happens with the teacher."

— . Haley said he's currently working with the board to "create structures to make sure our communication, either at the principal, site or board level, is something that's available to parents and all tax-payers." 

"We want our community to be involved," Haley said. "Everybody has a stake in how well the schools do."

Haley said so far, he's already implemented a podcast of every school board meeting, made available 24-48 hours after the meeting. And he plans to publicize other community events on the district's website, such as local fairs and festivals.

"Our next step is to stream it live – that’s a goal to show it live in real time," Haley said. "We do have fiscal constraints — that sort of thing is not without cost, but it’s the cost-benefit analysis. Will we get more out of spending some money in that area to inform and bring the community in? Will that at the end of the day be worth the expense and get more people involved? I think there's an argument that if we're more open and informative, will more students stay." 

The Citizens Advisory Committee said they agreed. 

"I think most important thing we found that parents wanted was transparency," said Susan Adams, a member of the committee who has three sons in the district. "People want to see what's going on with their schools."

"We have some great programs in this district that are not being advertised and I think the new superintendent gets that," she said. "The other thing we found out is that parents want smaller class sizes."

Mike Bowcut, another member of the committee, agreed. 

"Our data showed that there is a general lack of understanding of what's going on in the schools and for the most part, no communication at the parent level," Bowcut said. "There was also a lot of interest in what the schools could do to help out with homework programs and after-school activities.

Haley and Kaufman said addressing these issues is a top priority — one that can't be done overnight.

"As a system we need to prepare our children," Kaufman said. "And when they enter our sytstem, we need to ensure they’re staying. Then when they leave, they're prepared to be in the world and ready for college."

"We need to build a system where that’s seamless for them," she added.

The City Council said they agree — and the city wants to be more involved in what the schools are doing. 

"I think it's central for Rohnert park to build our schools back up," said councilmember Joe Callinan. "We have to get kids back in to the schools, residents back in to our homes. We've been shutting schools and there's been no growth here for 20 years."

"In order for a city to have vital schools, it needs to expand and grow," Callinan added. "It was time for a change, and hopefully the new superintendent is the person who can help do that."

Mayor Gina Belforte said she wants to develop a stronger relationship with the board and superintendent.

"There is this synergy that is lacking with the schools and the city," Belforte said. "The city and the schools will benefit with active participation."