Saturday, March 21, 2009

Desert View Elementary goes to year-round school

Melissa Hubbell News-Bulletin Staff Writer; mhubbell@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Desert View Elementary will have a bit of a different schedule now that it's a year-round school.

A balanced calendar for DVE was approved with a 3-2 vote during a regular school board meeting on Tuesday.

"I'm thrilled. I couldn't believe it that it finally happened. We've been working on this five years now and, to finally get that OK, it was like 'Oh my gosh.' We can finally get to do what we think is best for kids. I was very happy," DVE principal Jeannie Moore said about the decision.

Superintendent Walter Gibson said that Desert View would serve as a pilot program during the upcoming year. If the calendar is successful, the board may take into consideration making the Eastside cluster of schools year-round or perhaps even the entire district.

"At this point I don't think there's a lot of support for it from the whole community," Gibson said, "...but there is a tremendous amount of support in that specific community."

The DVE community was surveyed formally and informally on whether it would prefer a balanced calendar curriculum. The majority of teachers and staff at DVE are in favor of the change.

Board member Art Castillo said that he wasn't too certain that all the parents from DVE were really in favor of the change.

Board vice president, Maria Marez said that she, too, doubted that most parents knew what an incredibly big change this would be for their students and family. She said that she believed many Spanish-speaking parents may not have been able to translate the surveys well and might not have understood what was being proposed.

"I'm not 100 percent convinced that the community really understands what this means and the domino effect it will have on their kids," Marez said, adding that she is not opposed to a balanced calendar but felt as if the board was rushing into the decision.

Marez expressed concern about how much money would be needed for bus transportation if DVE became year-round.

According to Gibson, the additional cost to the district would be $25,000 to $30,000.

Board president Ed Hernandez said that, coming from an area where his children attended year-round school, he is a very big supporter of a balanced calendar.

"I've got calls from parents that did like it and did favor it. My daughter's grades fell when we moved from year-round school to regular year school," he said.

After a motion to deny the balanced calendar lost at a vote of 3 to 2, Marez said that she couldn't believe that the board was willing to change so many families' lives without more meetings.

"I'm opposed to voting for a community that is not present tonight, and I believe I'm speaking for the silent majority," she said.

DVE staff said that they had several school meetings about the possibility of a balanced calendar that did have a large turnout of staff and parents. They said they invited the board but it did not attend.

"All we're asking is for the opportunity to try," Moore said. "The staff feels this is a positive move for our school and feel that we need your support in allowing us to prove if this works or doesn't."

Desert View teacher Helen Duran said she communicates with Spanish-speaking parents on a regular basis and that they trust the staff to do what's best.

"The parents say, 'whatever is best for the children.' They put it in our hands. We've done everything you've (the board) asked, and I believe it would be a positive thing for our school," Duran said.

The board took a vote to approve the balanced calendar. Board member Chris Martinez, secretary Frank Otero and Hernandez voted in favor of the motion, while Castillo and Marez voted no.

Moore will present a proposed student calendar at the next scheduled board meeting.

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