Some Santa Rosa high, middle school students sharing campus amid budget cuts, closures

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- Four of Santa Rosa's five public high schools will also house middle school students when classes begin Monday, a change that comes amid major budget cuts and the closure of six schools over the past two years.

Boarded-up windows were visible Sunday at Hilliard Comstock Middle School and Steele Lane Elementary School, two campuses that will not reopen this school year because of budget reductions.

As a result, more Santa Rosa middle school students will start the school year on high school campuses that now serve grades seven through 12.

Some parents said they initially worried about younger students sharing campuses with older teenagers.

RELATED: School closures: Santa Rosa and Vallejo districts vote to shut down several campuses

"I think we were just more worried that the older kids are going to be with the younger kids, but it looks like they have them pretty separated," said Ali Hernandez, whose middle school-aged daughter will attend Piner High School. Hernandez said the school has a separate building for seventh- and eighth-grade students.

Comstock Middle School and Steele Lane Elementary are the final two of six schools to close within the Santa Rosa City Schools district during the past two years. District officials have previously said the closures will save millions of dollars.

Not all parents support the changes.

"Not so happy. It was really close to our house, plus they remove a lot of programs for him for autism so, it affected a lot of people," parent Alex Hurtado said when asked about the transition.

Parents of children in special education programs also voiced concerns about staffing cuts and available resources.

RELATED: Santa Rosa public schools facing up to $20 million in budget cuts to avoid financial crisis

"Yeah, and it's one of the most vulnerable groups out there. Like, my son is severely autistic and nonverbal. He's in first grade now, and there's been lots of changes. There's barely any resources. They were last year, just switching between aids, putting the aides wherever they could. There wasn't enough to handle the kids," said Sherissa Harris, who said she fears the impact of ongoing reductions on students with special needs.

Other parents said concerns about mixing younger and older students influenced their decisions.

Ata Saechao said he has a child attending Elsie Allen High School but chose to enroll a younger child elsewhere.

"Just their age. They're a lot younger than the high schoolers. Mixing them up and thinking they could get easily influenced the wrong way, get into the wrong crowd," Saechao said.

The district did not respond to a request for comment on how the transition performed last year or what improvements, if any, are planned for the new school year.