Enrollment decline: Charter high school will close next year in Stanislaus County
The Stanislaus County Office of Education will close a charter high school in Modesto that has suffered from decreasing enrollment.
Valley College High School, founded in 1999, will close effective June 30, 2023. The county Board of Education approved the resolution Tuesday.
The charter school operated by SCOE, as an early college program, has a current enrollment of 104 students.
SCOE said average day attendance at Valley College High School over the last decade has fallen from a peak of 225 in the 2012-13 school year to the current level of 115.
The charter school was moved in August from the East Campus of Modesto Junior College to a new location next to the West Campus.
Tuesday’s board decision came two months after SCOE disclosed it was laying off 26 employees to begin dealing with a $5 million budget shortfall caused by enrollment decline in various programs. The county Office of Education will try to eliminate the budget gap over a two-year period.
Judy Boring, a spokeswoman for SCOE, said the decision to close the charter school was made 14 months in advance to give the students another year of education and allow time for the ninth- and 10th-graders to find another school to attend after 2023. Those in the junior class will be able to graduate next year.
Some students, staff and parents attended the county Board of Education meeting Tuesday to speak on behalf of the charter school and how it has enhanced the students’ education experience.
Kevin Richardson, a science teacher at the high school, said Tuesday afternoon he understands the decision came down to balancing budget considerations with the value of the academic program.
“I feel like we got cut loose,” Richardson said. “There was not a lot of input sought from us or a chance to talk about possible solutions. They just went ahead and did it.”
He said the school has an eclectic group of students, many of whom prefer a small school environment and the smaller class sizes, which average 10 to 12 students per teacher.
“The idea is we were preparing these kids to go out and be successful,” Richardson said. “We know many won’t finish their path with us but hopefully they will be successful at the places where they do finish.”
The school was chartered 23 years ago as Valley Business High School. It was rebranded as Valley Charter High School in 2007 in an effort to increase enrollment and give students a “jump-start to college” by taking courses at MJC. The students were dually enrolled in high school classes and college courses.
SCOE cites change in state law
Student enrollment reached a high point about 10 years ago, but the situation changed with the passage of Assembly Bill 288 in 2015, Boring said. The state bill removed fiscal barriers and restrictions to encourage community colleges and school districts to enter dual enrollment partnerships.
Starting in 2016, students served by Valley Charter High School could stay within their own school districts to begin college career pathways while attending high school, Boring said. According to SCOE, enrollment at Valley Charter High School dropped significantly after passage of AB 288.
SCOE changed the name to Valley College High School last year in another attempt to rejuvenate the school. Through a $150,000 grant from San Joaquin A+, the plan was to offer a path to careers in agriculture.
“That amount would have gotten programs started if there was more of an interest,” Boring said, adding that $150,000 probably was not enough to establish an agriculture pathway.
Richardson said the COVID-19 pandemic also seemed to impact the school’s enrollment figures, as classes were moved to online learning. He said about 70% to 80% of the charter school students are taking college classes, including more than 90% of the freshmen class.
Job losses for teachers and staff
The closure will affect 21 staff members at the charter high school, including 10 teachers and 11 classified employees.
One staff member is retiring and three others are being laid off by the budget cuts disclosed by SCOE in February.
Layoffs will affect two teachers at the end of the school year. Other Valley College teachers will receive notices by March 15 next year and classified employees could be offered other available positions within SCOE’s organization, Boring said.
SCOE held a recent job fair for school districts that highlighted “quite a few positions” for high school teachers in the area, the spokeswoman said.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
