School officials mull merger of Wooden Valley, Capell Valley campuses

By JILLIAN JONES
Register Staff Writer

Napa County’s last remaining one-room school house could be forced to close its doors for good.

Wooden Valley Elementary School, nestled in the eastern hills of Napa County near the Solano County line, has educated local children for more than 150 years.

The original one-room schoolhouse was built on agricultural land in the 1850s, at a time when small schools in Napa were the norm.

In 1965, students moved into a new building on the site, but the weathered walls of the now 150-year-old building still stand, a reminder of Napa’s rich rural history.

Some believe Wooden Valley to be California’s oldest continuously run one-room schoolhouse, the last of its kind to have escaped closure or consolidation with another school.

But Tuesday night, parents, teachers and students at Wooden Valley heard the news — in June, that tradition may finally come to an end.

Officials at Napa Valley Unified School District are considering saving money by consolidating Wooden Valley with Capell Valley Elementary, located a few miles away, where the slightly larger school has one empty classroom.

The two schools could either function autonomously as separate schools on a shared campus, or they could be merged into one, according to NVUSD Superintendent John Glaser.

The two schools already share a principal, Jon Soper.

Glaser said that the option is still only just that — an option, and not yet even on the school board’s radar screen. Additional options that could save the district money on the two schools are being considered as well, he said.

Eliminating bus services to Wooden Valley, for example, could save the district up to $25,000, Glaser said. Outside fundraising could also save the school. Or if the schools find a way to boost enrollment, there would be no need to close or consolidate them, he said, explaining that declining enrollment is at the heart of the financial concerns.

Small schools are notorious for having high per-pupil spending rates. Overhead costs alone keep the expense of operating a small school high. The district also spends more on teachers, because of the high teacher-to-student ratio.

Between the two schools, district officials expect an enrollment of only 57 students total next year, a 15 percent drop from current  enrollment. Wooden Valley has managed to keep its enrollment at or above 20 for the past few years, after a dip below 20 nearly shut down the school in 2001.

But at Capell Valley, enrollment is continuing to decline, and district officials are reconsidering the cost of operating both schools on separate sites.

“It forces us to ask the question, ‘At what point will either or both of these schools no longer be viable?’” said Glaser.

The concern comes during a troubling budget year for California schools, which face a possible $4 billion reduction in funding from the state.

District officials have been working for months to identify possible cuts, and the option of consolidating two elementary schools has always been on the list, though specific schools were never identified.

The original list of cuts puts the savings of consolidating elementary schools at $300,000, but Glaser said this particular consolidation would likely save the district much less, given the schools’ relatively small budgets.

No other elementary schools are being considered for consolidation, he said.

The amount that would be saved by consolidating Wooden Valley and Capell Valley would depend on how the schools are consolidated, said Glaser — meaning whether they would continue to function as separate schools on a shared campus, or as one larger school.

For example, if they are merged into one school, the district might be able to reduce the total number of teachers between them from three to two, he said.

Glaser was careful not to over-emphasize budget cuts as a variable in the decision. “Even if this were a normal budget year,” he said, “I think we’d have to take a look at it.”

Glaser said the option will be presented to the NVUSD board on June 5, in time for the district to present a budget on June 19.

Needless to say, the Wooden Valley community isn’t taking the news lightly.

“We have a very involved community, and I think they’re going to feel very betrayed and put up a big fight,” said LeeAnn Ohlandt, Wooden Valley’s single teacher.

“I don’t think we expected it to be so abrupt,” added Ohlandt, who feels the decision has already been made by district officials. “We expected warning.”

Wooden Valley residents worry that moving the school to Capell Valley would do away with its sense of history, and also the with unique culture of the one-room school.

“My school is like a big family,” said Wooden Valley fifth-grader Emily Whitmire, who likened her campus to a family home.

Third-grader Zak Graham said he would be “heartbroken” to see his school closed or moved to Capell Valley. “I really wouldn’t like you to shut down the school because it’s really important to me,” he said in an appeal to district officials.

Elementary schools in Napa have been under the gun for years as demographics continue to shift. This year, Salvador Elementary opened up its campus to Stone Bridge charter school. Carneros and Mt. George have also been under review, but have managed to ward off closure or consolidation.

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