Auburn Union School District school consolidation decision approaching fast

There are only a few more public meetings before the Auburn Union School District Board of Trustees are scheduled to decide how to consolidate their district from five schools to three next week. The district is preparing for its second year of deep cuts after the Placer County Office of Education required the district define cuts in a Fiscal Recovery Plan last year. The Fiscal Recovery Plan addressed the district's $3 million budget shortfall, spreading the cuts over two school years. The Fiscal Recovery Plan outlined the district would have to close two school sites starting next year. The district's plan declared Alta Vista Charter School and another school would close and consolidate onto one of the district's remaining three sites. The district formed the Fiscal Recovery Implementation Planning (FRIP) committee to make a recommendation to the board of trustees on the best way to implement the school closure/consolidation. Its last meeting, which is open to the public but does not have public comment, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday. "The goal of this meeting is for the committee to determine any edits they would like to make on the final report out of the committee," AUSD Chief Business Officer Heather Leslie said. FRIP prioritization exercises have indicated the committee is almost evenly split between whether Rock Creek Elementary or Auburn Elementary should be the program to close next year. When the board last discussed this issue, some board members were interested in learning more about preserving the elementary campuses as K-8 schools and potentially shuttering EV Cain Middle School. Born out of that desire, Leslie said a Special Board Workshop is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 6, at 5 p.m. "The board has asked this to be a workshop with information presented from the FRIP, which will allow them to ask questions of members presenting and discuss this matter further as a group," she said. The workshop is public and will have public comment at the beginning of the meeting. The ultimate decision is scheduled for the Jan. 11 regular board meeting. Closed session is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and open session, with an opportunity for public comment, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. All of the meetings will be held at the EV Cain gyms, 150 Palm Ave. The FRIP meeting is scheduled in the Wildcat Gym, and the workshop and board meeting are scheduled in Dragila Gym.