The McKinleyville Union School District will consolidate students from three buildings into two beginning this fall, a move district leaders say is necessary to address ongoing financial pressures.
Superintendent Julie Giannini-Previde said the reorganization is expected to save the Humboldt County district about $600,000 annually. Like many districts across California, McKinleyville has struggled with declining student enrollment, the end of one-time COVID-19 relief funding and other factors that threaten its bottom line.
"Keeping three school sites open, paying for secretaries and maintenance and kitchen staff and electricity and all the things to run half-empty schools — it isn't feasible," Giannini-Previde said.
The district serves about 850 students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade. Giannini-Previde said enrollment was around 1,500 students when she began working in the district 28 years ago.
Previously, Dow's Prairie served students in transitional kindergarten through second grade, Morris Elementary School served grades three through five and McKinleyville Middle School served students in grades six through eight.
Starting in the fall, Dow's Prairie will serve grades transitional kindergarten through three, and McKinleyville Middle School, renamed McKinleyville Central School, will serve grades four through eight.
The Morris Elementary building will remain open for after-school programs, special education services and storage.
The district has already begun the phased two-year transition. Dow's Prairie began serving students through third grade this year, and Morris served fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Giannini-Previde said the transition won't result in any layoffs, though some employees have been reassigned.
"Not everybody's getting exactly the job they want, but anybody who wants a job has a job for next year," she said. "It just might be slightly different."
She said the district's cost savings also helped pay for raises.
District officials spent a lot of time communicating with parents about the changes, Giannini-Previde said.
"We've done so much that people are like, 'All right already, just do it,' which is exactly where I want them," she said. "That's a way better space than, 'Oh my gosh, what happened, it's so sudden.'"
Meanwhile, the district is also in the middle of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, claiming that the department unlawfully cut short a five-year grant, leaving rural students without critical mental health support.
"They know that if they just keep us in court and keep us in appeals that we won't be able to hire these people back because we don't have money," Giannini-Previde said. "We're spending a lot of time right now trying to address those needs that were being addressed by that grant and may be gone, so that's some of our work to do this summer."
