District applies for community day school

To address the needs of students enrolled at Village High School, the continuation high school in town, the Pleasanton Unified School District plans to submit an application for a community day school. With more ninth-graders enrolled than ever before, the district seeks to add the program which would increase educational hours and provide alternative learning methods and extra support for struggling students.

According to district documents, the Alameda County Office of Education identified the Tri-Valley as “having a gap in their ability to serve [expelled] students in Alameda County.”

The only alternative community day school is the county day school in Hayward, which provides “educational opportunities for referred students, ages 12-17, whose behavior prevents them from being successful in traditional school settings in Alameda County,” according to the school’s Web site. For many, the distance from Pleasanton to Hayward is to far to be a viable option for students.

Diane Howell, director of secondary education at Village High School, said currently expelled students only have the choice of attending the opportunity program at Village. The community day school would give students another alternative.

The curriculum would use the same material as those in the comprehensive high schools, yet the methods of teaching would vary according to the needs of the students. The class size would also be smaller and would include career education.

Howell also said if the application and other details were in order that the program could start as soon as the second semester of this school year.

At the district’s special board meeting Jan. 29, trustees agreed to have the district submit an application to the state Department of Education.

Trustee Kris Weaver said it was great and thought it would enhance the image at Village High School. Board President Juanita Haugen was also pleased with the program, adding that she hoped it would be added for the coming semester.

The biggest roadblock would be the hiring of staff to support the program at this time of the year.

Funding for the program would not encroach on the district’s general fund, as money comes from the state according to student attendance.

The school received $5,700 for each student attending school and an additional $5,000 for those attending all six hours. Those funds would go toward counseling, teaching and support services. Howell said getting extra funds through attendance could be another challenge to the project, Rich Puppione, senior director of pupil services, said that regular attendance is required to get off expulsion and in some cases, is required by the probation department.

“Even if we were encroaching a bit on the general fund,” trustee Pat Kernan said, “this is a program we’ve been seeking for a long time.”