Convert old Cunha into a new elementary school ...

By Roy Salume

This is a second opinion column for the Review I wrote in April of this year dealing with the future use of the old middle school.

Let's Keep Cunha ... as an Elementary School
-- by Roy Salume

A few weeks ago I suggested in the Review that we should construct our new Middle School next to the High School. I also proposed that we turn the Cunha site into an Elementary School to relieve the overcrowding in our other K-5 schools.

I'm not alone in my opinion. At the March 13th School Board Meeting, some teachers voiced their concerns about student overcrowding. They urged the Trustees to retain Cunha as an Elementary School.

Why do the teachers think that our Elementary Schools are overcrowded?

The student populations have grown far beyond the original design capacity of our schools. Even if our student population does not grow in the future, we already have more than enough children enrolled today to justify another Elementary School campus:

Hatch - 602 students El Granada - 496 students Farallon View - 474 students

That's far more kids in the system now than when those sites were built thirty years ago.

(Kings Mountain, a tiny school with 60 kids, should not be included in this analysis. It's a remote campus, designed to serve the needs of a few children in the hills near Skyline Blvd.).

What's the downside of overcrowding a school?

Students in grades K-5 need more attention and guidance than older children. At these early ages, kids learn how to learn.

As with a crowded classroom, an overcrowded school is less effective. In crowded schools, students with learning differences can fall through the cracks. At a crowded campus like Hatch, a principal or counselor has a tougher time tracking the kids in their care.

A crowded school also makes it much harder to take advantage of classroom reduction programs. The lack of space gives us fewer options.

Okay, so smaller schools are better for students. There's another problem with overcrowded schools: the more people, the more wear and tear on the buildings.

Imagine what would happen to your home if double or triple the number of folks were living in it. Restrooms, walls, floors, utilities, and furniture would all take a much heavier beating.

The same thing happens in an overcrowded school. Maintenance costs rise -- this has already taken a toll on our District operating budget. The Board and its advisory committees recognized this problem six years ago. The deteriorating condition of our school buildings was one of the reasons we passed the original School Bond.

Because another Elementary School campus hasn't been available, we've been forced to make do. Over the years we've added space with temporary portable classrooms. The portables go up quickly, but take up valuable outdoor recreation space and cost us money.

So, one way to solve the K-5 overcrowding problem is by turning Cunha into an Elementary School and redistributing our students.

But what's wrong with using the Cunha site for a new Middle School? Well, with 858 students on a site that's a little larger than Hatch Elementary, Cunha also suffers from overcrowding.

Cunha was not designed to house 858 students. The buildings and classrooms are undersized for the population, and the available athletic field space is limited.

It's been suggested that we construct new buildings on the Cunha field, move the kids into them, and then tear down the old buildings to replace them with athletic fields. There are a few problems with that plan:

- At the very earliest, the public comment, design and approval process would run two years. It would take at least another year to construct a new building, demolish existing structures, and re-landscape the site. During this time, the athletic fields would be unusable, classes would be interrupted by construction, and life in the neighborhood would be disrupted.

- The largest structures on the campus, the gym and administration buildings, were built before World War II. They are of local and national historical significance. A move to demolish them would raise an outcry and probably be challenged in court.

- To gain the necessary square footage to house all the students, we may have to build a multistory school, perhaps as high as three stories. Remember, we can only build it once; we'll need to gain as much square footage as possible for present and future needs. That could mean going higher.

- Multistory school facilities can be more expensive to build, operate, and maintain. They have complex elevator, ventilation, cooling, and heating systems. These systems use up valuable square footage and drive up the cost of construction. Those are funds that could be better spent on classroom space at another site.

- A large, multistory Middle School would be out of character with the area. If you doubt this, look at some of the high-rise neighborhood schools built in San Francisco years ago. They are dramatically out of scale to the homes that surround them.

As it is, Cunha would make a fine Elementary School. With a little care and some cash it could shine for another 60 years. Check out the work that was done on the Cunha gym last year. It's beautiful, and hints at what's possible.

True, our current School District budget difficulties are pressing, and the recent failure of the parcel tax will force us to make some harsh cuts. The state budget shortfall is a tough problem, but we still need to think long term.

Let's get it right.