Goodbye to Loma Alta Elementary and the Neighborhood School

As a child, I rode the yellow bus for eight blocks from my house to my school. And when the cafeteria featured Mystery Meat or Stew Surprise, I usually walked home for lunch.

Times change. And for many reasons, some of them good, during the past decade the concept of the neighborhood elementary school slipped away. First it was the victim of competition, then budget cuts. I guess I just wasn’t paying attention.

Something else that’s disappearing: School buses, and now I understand why. On my block alone we’d need 7 buses for 7 kids heading off in 7 different directions to 7 different elementary schools – not one of which, by the way, is within walking distance.

If you’re a parent, I can understand the appeal of open enrollment, despite some logistical challenges.  You can select a school that not only has the scholastic credentials you require, but one that also specializes in a course of study – science, for example, the arts, math, or dual language immersion in Mandarin Chinese or Spanish for grades K-2.

But the students’ gain may prove a neighborhood’s loss. Consider the case of , which is .  Aesthetically, it’s beautifully situated– up in the hills, near hiking trails and hawks, one block from a horse stable, two blocks from Sunset Ridge. It looks more like a friendly summer camp than an institution.

But a pretty face just wasn’t enough of a drawing card, principally because, academically, Loma Alta missed some key milestones.  In these tough times, when a school starts on the downward spiral of declining enrollment, there’s no turning back.  It’s the vicious cycle – need more money to attract more students, but need more students to attract more money. Or something like that.

So now that Loma Alta will be shuttered, instead of standing as a symbol of the old neighborhood school, it will just serve as an ironic reminder of how our tax dollars get spent.  And by that I mean all the renovations that were made to a school that was an obvious candidate for closure. Where was the voice of sanity, of common sense in that decision? Particularly when the remaining schools -- you know, the ones that will actually have students – are in the midst of a financial crisis and facing layoffs and program cuts next year?

Increasingly, I’m learning about tax money, appropriations, and their impenetrable silos.  And why Pasadena has deep pockets when it comes to , but is closing schools due to lack of funds. Which leads us back to Alta Loma Elementary. A new playground was built where no children will play.  

The only good thing I can say about all this is that I’m starting to learn some lessons. And I’m finally paying attention.