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The Hollister School District is revisiting the idea of either relocating or closing the Accelerated Achievement Academy in order to address increased enrollment districtwide.
Amid the uncertainty, on March 12 Principal Ken Woods announced in a message to parents that the academy achieved the highest scores in the county on the California State Assessments in math, English language arts and science and was also recognized as a Distinguished School by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Officials say a decision won’t be made without community input, but several parents and teachers voiced opposition to the potential changes.
In conversations that have spanned over a decade, recent discussion of a new facilities master plan, which identified more than $325 million in improvements, sparked the idea of relocation or closure, as the district expects 2,860 new residential units to be developed in the next six years, resulting in an estimated 838 new students.
“The conversation was to look at different options,” Trustee Elizabeth Martinez said at the Feb. 24 Board of Trustees meeting, who said the board directed superintendent Erika Sanchez to “evaluate certain sites or certain moves of other schools, perhaps being placed at a different site.”
The board held a special meeting March 16 with the facilities master plan as its sole action agenda item. Although the district normally posts videos of the meetings in its Youtube channel, no video is available of this meeting.
At that February meeting, a parent said she opposed closing or moving the academy and lauded its academic success.
“The program is working,” the parent said at the meeting. “It is preparing students for success and for many families like mine, it represents opportunity, stability and hope.”
Fifth grade teacher Denise McNett said the school serves students who move at a faster pace than their peers and that the program allows other teachers to focus on academic skills of their students while not needing to provide more services to the faster moving students.
The possible landing spot for the Accelerated Achievement Academy is two miles east of its current location at Marguerite Maze Middle School, which already shares its campus with the Hollister Dual Language Academy.
Another option is Rancho San Justo Middle School, Martinez said, adding that some infrastructure at the two sites has been prepared and that it might also require adding portable classrooms.
According to the facilities master plan, Accelerated Achievement Academy currently has an enrollment of 151 students in fifth through eighth grades, seven shy of its capacity.
The academy shares a campus with Calaveras Elementary School located in the west part of Hollister. Calaveras, which serves TK through eighth grade, currently serves 556 students and has a capacity of 620 students. If the Accelerated Achievement Academy were moved, it would free up five classrooms at Calaveras, according to the master plan.
According to the facilities master plan, the district estimates both schools would exceed their capacity in the 2030-31 school year.
“We know we have a severe impact at Calaveras, AAA, R.O Hardin, Ladd Lane and many other schools,” Martinez said. “It’s just the growth. When we drive around we see every single day the impact that it will have on our classroom sizes.”
Overall, Hollister School District, the county’s largest in enrollment and number of schools, has a remaining capacity of 1,278 throughout its 10 schools, according to the assessment. It adds Hollister School District total enrollment is 5,468 students.
Martinez said the district has “limited funds” and can’t build another school. The district completed its newest campus, Rancho Santana School, in 2021.
“It isn’t something we want to do, it’s something we need to do and I hope folks hear that it pains us to have to go down these paths.”
According to the facilities master plan, the long-term solution is to expand sites as needed.
Trustee Kim O’Conner said the district is analyzing all its school sites and infrastructure needs to determine which actions are feasible before soliciting input from the community through town halls.
“We’re not picking on anybody or any program or any school,” she said. “We have to see the whole picture and then we have to start putting pieces in places that make sense.”
The board is scheduled to have its regular meeting March 24. The agenda is not yet posted.
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