REBUTTAL TO DONNER TRAIL CLOSURE
Donner Trail School has been a neighborhood school since 1939. It has been a focal point for the community of Donner Summit. At Thanksgiving the community has come together and celebrated by having a dinner with all the proceeds going to the purchase of materials and supplies for their local school. Over the years Donner Trail has been a training ground for many of the principals in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Donner Summit residents have served on the TTUSD Board. Most importantly, Donner Trail has enriched the lives of many young people throughout the years.
In 1995, a proposal was made to the Board to create a Multi-Age/Environmental program. We were directed by the Board to fill the facility to capacity and use the building and surrounding grounds in every way possible. Over the last nine years we have trained over 10,000 students both within the district and outside the district in Winter Survival. During the fall-and spring, prior to CST accountability, the teachers ran educational outdoor environmental programs, which affected hundreds of students. Additionally, because of our multi-age philosophy we have created many lifelong learners.
We have done everything the Board has directed us to do, and more. In order to create equity for our students and not impact the District, we have written and received many grants to sustain the quality of education at Donner Trail. For example, during the past nine years we have received grants from Alpine Winter Foundation, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Hewlett Packard, and several Excellence In Education Grants.
The Board did not ask us to be the top performing school in the District, but we are. We attribute this success to several factors that speak to continuing the school in its present location and configuration. Most importantly is the philosophy that drives our school and therefore, our culture. The unique staff models the philosophy and nurtures the culture of Donner Trail School. When we speak of the staff, we include all of the players. The passion that drives our staff is infectious. Our culture includes creating life-long learners who believe that they can accomplish anything with a "can-do" attitude, Donner Trail students work with a sense of purpose. The students believe that everybody has strengths, no one is behind, and each student is working where their brain is right now.
In addition, the physical environment plays a vital role in shaping our students lives. They learn how to adapt to their environment as well as appreciate their environment. The Yuba River becomes an outdoor classroom. (Please see the attached student letter.) Students practice service learning by restoring the river in partnership with S.W.E.P. Adapting to the fact that there is no play field, the teachers construct activities to use the forest and snow. The P.E. teacher has woven the environment into the curriculum. The students play softball on skis because there is no field. At Donner Trail the environment is an important teacher.
Moving Donner Trail to another site would destroy the philosophy and culture and obviously negate the physical environment as a teacher. In addition, we would not have the integrity of program that is created and modeled by the staff.
Furthermore, we think that it is pennywise and pound foolish to close Donner Trail. Have you considered the cost of busing students to Glenshire? How many buses will you need? What is the mileage? How many trips back and forth are required? Remember, you have Kindergarten students as well as high school students that need to be bused at different times and to different locations. Will the meager savings, if any, that you will receive from the closure of Donner Trail mitigate the expenditure of the busing?
Our PTO works to supplement budget shortfall for the school by raising over $23,000 annually. If we are moved to another site, will we receive this type of support that defrays various costs to the school district?
Does this district need or want the API score that Donner Trail generates for the district? Given the fact that our district is now a Performance Improvement district, is this a wise move? I think not! If this program is moved, the culture and integrity of the program will not remain intact; therefore, the positive results will be gone forever.
Please reconsider postponing this recommendation until further research into the efficacy of the idea and/or savings can be determined. Don't wipe out 66 years of tradition and community support without serious consideration. Please keep in mind that Donner Trail offers parents a choice for an alternative education within the District.
