Planned homes in Turlock to remain with Denair schools

A Stanislaus County panel denied the petition by developers to shift new homes going up on the eastern edge of Turlock into the Turlock Unified School District.

The vote of the panel that rules on school district boundary changes was unanimous, based on concern for the tiny size and precarious finances of Denair Unified and the closeness of Denair schools to the development.

The homes are being built inside the Turlock city limits, but in an area that falls within the historical boundaries of Denair Unified. Other developments along the Tuolumne Road and east of Berkeley Avenue have the same overlap, and Denair leaders said they feared a larger exodus if the request was granted.

At stake in the tug-of-war over territory is a little money for the developers and a lot of money for schools.

A Stanislaus County Office of Education study found the homes in question would fetch $5 to $7 more per square foot within the Turlock district, or about $12,000 more for a 2,000-square-foot home.

For schools, the first batch of homes planned for the 91 acres in question will bring an estimated $1 million in developer fees to the district with claim to the land, and about $750,000 in ongoing revenue to the district that serves the children.

Turlock Unified, with its schools rapidly reaching capacity, needs the fees, which are meant to be used to build classrooms. Denair Unified, emerging from near-bankruptcy in an uphill climb against declining enrollment, has plenty of classroom space. It needs the students, Superintendent Aaron Rosander told the board.

Where those children go, however, may well be split toward Turlock. In existing Turlock subdivisions in Denair territory, 60 children attend Denair schools and 160 have transfers to go to Turlock schools. Transfers require applications, and students who transfer in do not have first dibs on the closest school and do not get school bus service.

Before the vote, two speakers spoke for the switch of school territory and about 20 speakers spoke against it, loudly applauded by a hometown crowd at the Denair Middle School meeting site.

Most Denair speakers, including parents, students and alumni, vouched for the family feel of schools in the close-knit community.

“We know our students by name and need,” said Michelle Bush, head of Denair Unified student services.

Others said the developers’ petition was all about money, not about keeping Turlock kids with their own community.

“What it boils down to is greed (pitted) against students, and I sure hope you vote for the students,” said Dennis Findley of the Denair Municipal Advisory Council.

But the money matters to the school districts, too. Noting that Denair Unified employees still work under an 8 percent pay cut, Chief Business Officer Linda Covello said having the new students would ease the financial crunch.

“It would be a well-deserved reward for all those who sacrificed,” Covello said.

Rosander called the district’s financial situation fragile, and said the district is smaller than unified districts are supposed to be under California guidelines.

The district’s low enrollment and difficult circumstances were among the legal reasons the board was advised to deny the petition by Stanislaus County Office of Education attorney Chet Quaide.

Quaide said the panel was required to make nine findings to approve the switch, and three of the criteria had not been satisfied.

The first was that it could not leave either district without sufficient students to continue, which, he added, was not true for Denair if it lost the acreage.

Second was a finding that the homes had a community identity with Denair. Since no one lives there yet to say otherwise, Denair schools and Denair social centers are closest and the panel would have to assume the residents would be more within the community sphere of Denair, he said.

Third, the panel could not grant the petition if the result would be a significant increase in property values, raising the possibility that was the driving force behind the petition. The SCOE survey found there would be an increase if the property shifted into the Turlock school district, about 3 percent judged by nearby homes listed for sale on Zillow.com.

The panel’s decision can be appealed to the California Department of Education. Developer Chris Hawke said he had successfully appealed another such decision five years ago, but did not indicate if he would appeal this decision.

“We felt strongly that the children should go to schools in the community in which they reside,” Hawke said.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Planned homes in Turlock to remain with Denair schools."