Gilbert Junior High School seventh-graders may not know until early next year where they will attend school in August 2013, following a decision by the district governing board Tuesday night.
Gilbert Classical Academy families may be in the same boat.
Hundreds of residents attended the Gilbert Unified School District governing board meeting Tuesday when the board voted 3-1 to close Gilbert Junior High with the start of the 2014 school year.
But left open is what happens at the start of the 2013 school year. The board altered the district administration’s recommendation to close Gilbert Junior High in May 2013 and move Gilbert Classical Academy from its aging buildings into that spot.
Instead the board created a “transition team” to craft a plan — one with parent input that many felt was greatly lacking.
That group is to give a recommendation to the board to consider no later than the first meeting of January.
But between now and then, there is a school board election — one that could replace four of the five members of the current board.
Board members EJ Anderson, Blake Sacha and Lily Tram are all seeking election. Board member Helen Hollands is not.
Kimberly Smith, who has three children at Gilbert Classical Academy, said the entire process has been “frustrating.”
“Everybody feels we are being thrown under the bus. We feel we have been told we will get a new campus. We don’t have facilities. To get to PE, students have to cross a busy street,” she said.
The academy is a rigorous program for seventh- through 12th graders that started six years ago in about half of the buildings on the former Greenfield Elementary School site. There are about 400 students in the program, with more than 120 on a waiting list. There is no application process. Any student can enter the lottery for a spot.
Gilbert Junior High is in an aging part of the community. Because no new students are moving into the homes, enrollment has dropped from about 1,000 in 2003 to less than 700 now.
The district hoped to move the academy to the Gilbert Junior High campus next school year. But now any concrete plans will have to wait.
That’s OK with Gilbert Junior High parents who said not enough notice was given to them about this decision. They learned less than two weeks prior to the vote that the school faced closure.
“It took longer to name Campo Verde High School than to close a school that’s been around for 30 years. That’s inappropriate and irresponsible,” said Karen Udall, a resident of the area whose children have attended Gilbert Junior High.
Udall said she is happy that the brakes have been put on the plan for now so questions can be addressed.
“We hope the transition team will raise the awareness of all the pieces of the puzzle that have not been answered,” she said, noting the fact that there are 103 out-of-area students at Gilbert Junior High under open enrollment policies. “Will they stay with the district or will they be leaving? What will the traffic patterns through the neighborhood look like? What’s the cost for a bigger parking lot and renovations?
“We hope they will address those issues and get those answers and bring that information to light so the community can understand what they’re looking at.”
Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com
WesternConnections posted at 12:15 pm on Fri, Oct 5, 2012.
The key to just about everything GPS does can be answered by asking the question, "Who benefits from this?" In their haste to push through this repurposing, board members admitted that Gilbert Classical Academy was a "perk" for GPS employees, who get first dibs on their children attending what appears to have become a private academy for a select few rather than admission being based on merit, as most people used to believe.
Gilbert Jr. High parents immediately recognized that sitting board members who voted for the superintendent's recommendation were vulnerable to being "unelected" for this top-down decision that seemed to have been made long before it was presented to the community. The fact that the community was given 6 days notice does not meet the requirements of Arizona law, so the vote can be challenged as illegal. Given the public outcry against this move, you have to wonder if the current board would change their minds if forced to vote again.
Vote for the non incumbent posted at 5:17 pm on Fri, Oct 5, 2012.
The national politics are ugly and corrupt enough to drive you nuts. So do you think it is any better in Gilbert? No. The school board did exactly what WestenConnections said, with the added feature of purposely pitting parents and schools together to create a professional wrestling like environment. It was plain ridiculous. It appears that there are favored students that are related to school board members and other politicians, a construction company politicking for this to happen, un-quantified future expenses, and the ugliest thing of all, they just taught the students at both schools that they can get what they want at the expense of someone else if they have the right pull. This was a disgusting display of politics and everyone of these corrupt sacks with the exception of Ms. Burk need to be tossed out. Regardless if you "won" (GCA people), you have to recognize what a sham this was to the parents and students of the 7th graders who now have to go to 4 different schools in 4 years so your kids can get out of the asbestos filled building you are in now. But most important, do you think they will not sell you and your children down the road as the did with the 7th grade class at GJH? Really want to bet on it with your kid? You have stolen something from these kids, have the decency to toss that rats that caused this mess out of office before they do something like this again. Just because you benefited this time, does not mean you always will, they cover their butts first and care about you and your child last. Think about it.
Gilbert Watch posted at 8:41 pm on Fri, Oct 5, 2012.
The Board never led. They never governed. With the exception of Staci Burk, they did their best to flim flam their way away from their own INEPTITUDE to whomever was available.
The issue isn't whether or not Gilbert Classical Academy has outgrown its elementary school site, because it has. The issue isn't whether or not GCA is a phenomenal school. It is. The issue isn't that Gilbert Jr High School has a declining enrollment. It has. The issue is that this Governing Board has NEVER GOVERNED! It is a rubber stamp to whatever the District Officials want to do.
This so-called Governing Board doesn't Govern at all. They failed the Gilbert community, because they DIDN'T FOLLOW THEIR OWN STRATEGIC PLAN. That plan stated in 3 different places to INVOLVE COMMUNITY! They didn't do that.. The ONLY speaker to place the blame where it belonged was KAREN UDALL, a former Gilbert Board member.
Nothing will change until these people are REPLACED with people whose commitment is to the Gilbert community, and to fiscal responsibility. Those people are Julie Smith, Daryl Colvin, and Eric Johnson. Each of these people have a stake in Gilbert. They are committed to Gilbert's children: ALL OF THEM.