Turlock Unified will appeal Denair boundary decision

The Turlock Unified School District will appeal a Stanislaus County decision to leave district boundaries in place that send Turlock children to Denair schools.

“After a careful review of the County Committee’s findings, the district’s governing board has concluded that the (developer’s) petition does meet all the necessary requirements of law, and that it is in the best interest of the district, its students, employees, and community, to appeal the county committee’s decision to the State Board of Education,” says a Turlock Unified announcement.

Developer Ron Katakis petitioned in August to shift the Turlock-Denair school boundary line, hoping to move 92 acres of future homes out of the Denair Unified School District. Katakis said at the time the land is within the Turlock city limits and families living there would have stronger community ties to Turlock schools.

The petition was denied in February by a county Office of Education committee, citing Denair Unified’s financial needs. The panel rejected the grounds of community ties, saying the land is closer to central Denair than central Turlock.

In a special meeting Thursday, the Turlock Unified board ruled it would appeal the decision by the county Committee on School District Reorganization.

Denair Unified is fighting its way back from near-insolvency that county overseers blamed on not trimming expenses as enrollment – and therefore revenue – declined. It has created and expanded charter schools to help draw more students living within other school district boundaries, but still has fewer students attending this year than last.

Denair needs the students of the housing development to secure its future, Superintendent Aaron Rosander said at the meetings. On Monday, he said the panel’s decision should stand.

“Though I greatly respect TUSD, I’m disappointed to hear that their board of trustees is filing an appeal. I believe it is time we agree that this matter is rightfully closed and to turn our focus fully and completely on education itself. I’ve no doubt that Denair schools and Turlock Unified can harmoniously and effectively operate our districts side by side as the boundary stands,” Rosander said via email.

Turlock Unified Superintendent Dana Trevethan said her district still hopes to work out a neighborly compromise.

“The district’s primary goal remains a continued dialogue with the Denair Unified School District, the county committee, the city of Turlock, the Stanislaus County superintendent of schools, and the Turlock community as a whole, in the hope that we can jointly collaborate to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that benefits all students in the region,” Trevethan said.

Development along Turlock’s eastern edge, where the Denair district’s lines overlap city boundaries, has long created tension over where the children in those homes would go to school. By Denair’s count, 60 children in those homes attend Denair campuses while 160 have transferred into Turlock schools.

At stake with the land transfer is roughly $1 million in one-time developer fees to build schools and about $750,000 a year in ongoing revenue, based on student attendance.

Denair has recently upgraded its campuses and has plenty of space. Many Turlock schools are reaching capacity, and the district is eying its chances of passing a bond to build more schools in the near future, in part to house Denair district students transferring into their schools.

At stake for families is having school choice. Students face a more difficult road switching out of Denair schools than into them. Denair’s elementary charter school is open to enrollment from all around, but students have to get Denair’s approval to attend Turlock schools and, as transfers, have to go to whichever school has space is available.

Denair Unified issued a statement saying its tiny size and precarious finances legally protect it from further erosion by land transfer.

There are nine legal criteria the state board must weigh in considering the appeal. Another forbids the transfer in order to profit from higher home prices and the change would raise prices in the development by an estimated $12,000 per home. It was not clear if a petition by the Turlock district, which would not profit from higher sale prices, would be bound by that limitation.

Community identity is another, but for families that do not live there yet is difficult to prove, county office counsel Chet Quaide said in February.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Turlock Unified will appeal Denair boundary decision."