CAMPUS COLLISION:
The Santa Barbara School Board will discuss a proposal next
month to merge a successful alternative elementary school and an
average performance middle school. The idea to combine the
overflowing K-6 Santa Barbara Community Academy and the half-full
La Cumbre Junior High has been bouncing around hallways and board
rooms for several months, generating mixed responses from parents,
teachers, and administrators. Though the district maintains that
plans for a single K-8 campus are anything but a done deal, many
opponents are worried the writing is on the wall: Academy grades
4-6 already convene at La Cumbre’s Westside campus, and some La
Cumbre classes adopt the Academy’s trademark Core Knowledge
curriculum. The proposal will be considered on July 11, along with
other options, including keeping the schools separate academically,
but holding them both at La Cumbre.