BUSD looks at opening a community day school

BARSTOW • Students expelled from Barstow High School or Barstow Junior High School could stay within the district next year and may be attending school for up to two hours longer if the district starts its own program for expelled students.

Barstow Unified School District currently sends expelled students in grades 6-12 to Barstow Community Day School, on 220 East Buena Vista Street, which is run by San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. There are about 20 students and one teacher, according to Principal Earl Smith, who is based in Victorville and oversees county schools in both Barstow and the Victor Valley area.

The district is looking at starting its own community day school as a way to save some of the costs of having students attend a county school. BUSD spent $28,463 on students attending the county program from 2006 to 2009, according to a district report.

In addition, BUSD would be able to manage its own academics for expelled students working towards eventually being readmitted to a district school.

“When we send them to somebody else, they’re getting somebody else’s curriculum,” said Joni James, BUSD director of pupil services. Students would be required to attend classes for six hours, not including lunches and breaks, which is two hours longer than the county’s school day. In addition, the district would provide its own counseling and classes like anger management, she noted.

“Character education plays a major role in a community day school program,” said James, who was former principal of Silver Valley Unified School District’s community day school.

The district may consider former school sites like Pitcher School on Armory Road or Barstow Intermediate School on Avenue H, said James. The location will largely be determined by whether the district provides buses or whether students must find their own transportation.

But deciding on location comes secondary to weighing the financial cost of opening another school. The proposed school would staff two teachers and require paraeducators, James said. The district had not come up with an estimated cost of running its own community day school as of Thursday, but James said a figure would be included in the information presented to the school board March 23. The proposal will likely come to a vote on April 13, she said. If the item is approved by the board and qualifies under the state’s application process, the school could open as early as this school year.

Expelled students in grades K-4 currently attend the Challenges Community Day School in a separate area at Lenwood Elementary School that will most likely stay intact next year, said James.

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Expulsion numbers
Students expelled from 2006 to 2009: 194.
Percentage readmitted over past three years: 70 percent.
Students expelled last school year: 63.
Source: Barstow Unified School District.