Alternative high school to close at year’s end

In the face of declining enrollment and ever-increasing budgetary strains, the 2010-11 school year will be the final hurrah for White Oak High School in Ben Lomond.
After the senior class graduates in June, the alternative high school — part of San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District’s charter school program — will be replaced by a similar program run by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, set to open its doors in August.
SLV Superintendent Julie Haff said that before the district decided to close White Oak, many efforts were made to keep the school open, with as many staff and program cuts as the school could handle.
“It just wasn’t enough,” Haff said.
The county office of education will take over immediately after the end of the term.
The county’s program, which Haff said has more stable funding than the district’s charter could offer, will begin in the fall and be open to ninth- through 12th-graders countywide.
That school, which has yet to be named, will have classes in the same buildings White Oak occupies at the SLV district office, on the former Quail Hollow Elementary School campus.
The county office will lease the space from the district, Haff said.
White Oak students who would have returned in the fall have the option next year of attending any of the county’s alternative schools, including Highlands Community School in Ben Lomond; enrolling at San Lorenzo Valley High School; or taking part in other charter programs.
Enrollment at White Oak stands at 30 students, down from 75 at its height a decade ago, Haff said. The lower enrollment prompted the need to make a change.
“When enrollment declines, you don’t need as many alternative schools,” Haff said.
As for the teachers and staff of White Oak, Haff said, each will be given a choice between accepting a role elsewhere within the district’s charter schools and taking a yearlong leave of absence to work for the county office of education.
The new county school will be led by Sandy Mast and will offer its students more access to the county’s Regional Occupational Program, including employment training and work experience.
Haff said that the county office will offer summer school this year and that it will be available to San Lorenzo Valley High students, as well as those in other county-run programs. Summer classes were not available in San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District in 2010 because of budget shortfalls.
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