News Summary
The Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees has voted to close Flowery Elementary School by the end of the academic year. This decision comes amid declining enrollment and financial challenges facing the district. Community members are raising concerns over the impact of the closure on local families. Flowery Elementary serves a high enrollment despite being under capacity and requires facility upgrades. The district plans to relocate programs and adjust remaining schools to accommodate students post-closure.
Sonoma, California – The Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees has decided to close Flowery Elementary School at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. This decision was made during a regular board meeting held recently, where a 4-1 vote was cast in favor of the closure. Board President Catarina Landry, along with trustees David Bell, Anne Ching, and Jason Lehman, supported the motion, while trustee Gerardo Guzman voted against it.
This closure emerges as the district faces significant challenges due to declining enrollment and persistent financial issues. Flowery Elementary is the third school to be closed in the district, following the earlier shutdowns of Dunbar Elementary School and Adele Harrison Middle School as part of a consolidation and closure plan initiated in 2022 to address ongoing budget shortfalls and decreasing student numbers.
The decision to close Flowery Elementary has sparked public dissent, particularly given the school’s diverse student population and its importance within the Springs community. Community members and advocates have raised alarms about the potential impacts of the closure on vulnerable families relying on the school’s resources.
Opposition to the decision has been voiced by several community leaders. For example, a representative from La Luz Center highlighted the need to delay the closure until an equity assessment can be performed, which would evaluate the decision’s impact on families in the area. Guzman, the lone dissenting board member, emphasized the necessity for community input and more time to thoroughly evaluate the ramifications of the closure.
Flowery Elementary currently serves 363 students, holding the highest enrollment numbers among the district’s elementary schools, despite having the lowest overall capacity at 440 students. The facility itself is in need of substantial physical upgrades, which contribute to the decision for its closure. The resolution passed by the board also mandates district staff to search for alternatives for relocating Flowery’s dual immersion program, as well as reorganizing grade levels among the remaining schools to accommodate students post-closure. Possible relocation options for the dual immersion program include El Verano Elementary School or Sassarini Elementary School.
Current enrollment statistics reveal that the district has a total of 1,254 K-5 students enrolled, which stands against a collective capacity of 1,999 students, translating to a utilization rate of 62.7%. Following the planned closure of Flowery Elementary, the district’s remaining elementary schools will collectively accommodate a total of 1,559 K-5 students, which will boost the overall utilization rate to 80.4%.
Enrollment in the district’s K-12 system has seen a staggering drop of 39.4% from 1999 to the projected figures for 2025. This trend of decline is expected to continue moving forward. Financial forecasts highlight a looming deficit of $2.98 million for the 2024-25 school year, with similar fiscal challenges anticipated in the years following.
In addition to the school closures, the board has also made the decision to cut 40 classified employee positions and 14 certificated positions in an effort to save approximately $2.91 million. This series of budgetary changes aims to stabilize the district’s financial standing amidst escalating economic pressures.
The completion of the Flowery Elementary closure is contingent upon the development of a transition plan, necessary boundary adjustments, and adherence to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The district now faces the task of managing these changes while considering the impact on its student body and the community.
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Additional Resources
- Press Democrat: Sonoma Valley Elementary School Closure
- Sonoma News: Flowery Elementary School Closure
- Sonoma Sun: Trustees Reevaluate School Closures
- Sonoma County Gazette: Bilingual School Closure Vote
- Sonoma News: Overview of Sonoma School Closures
- Wikipedia: School Closure
- Google Search: Sonoma Valley School Closure
- Google Scholar: Sonoma Valley School Closure
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Sonoma Valley
- Google News: Sonoma Valley School Closure
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