Small school, big enrollment

Rural Oak View sees largest attendance ever with 420 students

ACAMPO — While area districts are struggling with continued historic low enrollment and a corresponding drop in funding, one rural school is at full capacity.

In fact, administrators had to add an additional kindergarten class this school year to help with the influx in transfers from other districts.

Additionally, they are turning away a record number of intra-district transfers, according to Superintendent Michael Scully.

One-school Oak View Elementary School District currently has 420 students, the largest-ever on-campus population. Just two years ago, when Scully came to the district, there were only 370 students, he said.

Last year, according to the California Department of Education, Oak View had 394 students compared to 322 a decade ago.

Elsewhere, declining enrollment took center stage across California last school year when districts' per-pupil funding. Many school leaders felt it was because families couldn't afford to live here and were leaving the state. Actual figures, however, were unavailable.

"I don't think it's going to get better with the economy," said Scully, who is also Oak View's principal.

There is still a waiting list at Oak View as long as 30 students for many grade levels, Scully said.

He has had to turn others away, including a Galt elementary parent who wished to enroll there her three children in three separate grades. But the district gives priority to those who live in the school's jurisdiction.

School started at Oak View on Aug. 13.

Scully credited the surge in the number of transfers to the school's intimate country setting and families wanting to be a part of that.

Further, it is a kindergarten through eighth-grade campus where many siblings attend together.

"Parents want their students here," said eighth-grade teacher David Franke, who is also an Oak View parent. One child just graduated from there last year, while another is currently enrolled.

"We always joke it's like our own private school. It's a family setting."

Those sentiments were echoed by sixth-grade parent Kristen Gius, who also serves on the school site council. She believes the high enrollment is due to Oak View's teachers.

"They are great. It's just a big family," she said, adding that whenever she came on campus, she'd know within five minutes whether her children would have done something good or bad. Her eldest started as a freshman at Liberty Ranch in Galt.

Gius also praised the school's maintenance staff which, she said, keeps the campus beautiful.

Tony Macedo, who has overseen those efforts for close to 15 years, is also a parent. He praised the staff and the high parent involvement. "Everyone works well together," he said. "We're all involved because we want the best for our kids."

Many parents joined the PTA and even remain on board after their students have graduated. Others are quick to donate supplies or time in the classroom, according to Scully, who said he didn't see that in larger districts.

Despite some classrooms having as many as 34 students, he added that neither the teachers nor the parents seem fazed by the historic enrollment figures.

"It's just extra papers to correct," said Franke, whose algebra class has 32 students. "They're so well-behaved that putting an extra desk or two in the classroom is no big deal."

Further, parents concerned that their sixth-graders would once again be part of a dual-grade setting this year volunteered to help in the classroom since at 34 students, enrollment would be larger if the grade was kept separate.

Scully, who left Fairsite Elementary School in Galt to take this job, said Oak View enrollment might be up due to what is going on in neighboring districts.

The Galt Joint Union Elementary School District has seen many changes in the last couple of years, including the closing of one campus and redistricting of the others.

Its enrollment, like Lodi Unified's, is down, Superintendent Karen Schauer said last week. She blames the drop on the high number of foreclosures and surge in homeless families, but remains optimistic that more students will return as the picking season ends and migrant children return to school.

On the third day of school — last Wednesday — there were 4,108 students, down from 4,157 in June.

After the first month of school, Lodi Unified has 29,692 students, compared to 29,929 at the same time last year, according to Chief Finance Officer Doug Barge.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.