Patterson acreage will serve students

PATTERSON -- The Stanislaus County Office of Education is moving closer to securing a spot in northeast Patterson to better serve special education and alternative education students.

The seven-acre site at Walnut Avenue and Hartley Street would house about 200 students who now spend up to two hours a day riding buses to classrooms in Ceres and Turlock.

"This project allows students to walk to class," said Patrick Sweeney, superintendent of the Patterson Unified School District. "Overall, we're very happy they (county office of education offices) are coming."

County offices provide support services to school districts, including special education, and alternative education programs for students with behavioral, legal, family or other issues. Independent study meetings for at-risk students now are held in a Patterson church outbuilding, County Superintendent Tom Changnon said.

Officials are in the process of buying the property, which was appraised at about $2 million, Changnon said. Because county offices of education are different from school districts and do not get daily attendance funding per student and cannot ask voters for school bonds to pay for construction, they appeal to the state for "hardship" funding. Changnon expects the state to pay for the land and any construction.

Special education students will come from all grade levels, while alternative education students will range from grades six through 12. The students will be separated, Changnon noted.

Eventually, he said, the goal is to offer some vocational classes at the site.

Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at mhatfield@modbee.com or 578-2339.