Small schools are the beating heart of some rural communities in CA

California’s smaller school districts — especially those in isolated rural areas — cost taxpayers far more money per student. But as school enrollment declines across the state, the closings of these small neighborhoods it risks endangering entire communitieswrites Carolyn Jones of CalMatters.

California has over 1,000 school districts and spends an average of $23,000 per K-12 student. For the Orick School in Orick, however, it costs about $118,000 a year to educate each of the nine students.

Nestled in northern Humboldt County, Orrick School, like other small districts, gets most of its money through grants. It received $774,000 in state and federal government resources last year, and its budget goes mostly to salaries, facility maintenance and student transportation. Its students range from kindergarten through eighth grade, and about half are Native American.

To address the problem of underenrollment and save money, some smaller districts were closed, such as Green Point Elementary in the Klamath Mountains. It merged with another district last year when its enrollment dropped to three students.

• Carrie Hanelsenior associate partner at Bellwether, a nonprofit education research organization: “Should we provide a school in every community? … What if that community barely exists? We guarantee free public education to every child, but do we guarantee a school in every community?”

But in many ways Orick School is the community—or at least its central hub. For a town with a population of 300 and a median household income of less than $39,000 a year, the school is one of the few sources of decent-paying work. It also runs a food pantry, gives clothes to families in need, and has a washer and dryer so residents can do their laundry.

Consolidating the Orrick school district with a neighboring district 15 miles south will save on facility costs and eliminate a superintendent’s salary. But that would save a total of less than $200,000 a year, and the new consolidated school would also have higher costs, including transporting students 30 miles each way each day.

• Justin Wallaceprincipal of Orrick Elementary: “Should we close the school? It comes up all the time. But I would say it’s a question of fairness. We have families who can’t afford a lot, and this school provides the most consistent environment for our kids. They’re safe, they’re fed well, they’re learning.”

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From Adam Ashton of CalMatters:

Hiring growth at the California Highway Patrol had an unexpected benefit for CalPERS, the state’s main employee pension fund: California’s rate of contributions to employee pension plans declined slightly.

Next year, the state expects to spend 64 cents on CHP pensions for every dollar it pays in CHP wages, down from 69 cents this year.

That might not sound like much — and of course CalPERS isn’t funded with tens of billions of dollars yet — but it’s a sign that the state’s long-term strategy to pay down pension debt may be working.

Newly hired employees must work longer to earn a full pension, and their pensions hit a lower rate than employees hired before 2013. Employees hired under the less generous formula make up 48 percent of the CHP workforce, up from 39 percent a year ago.

This trend, together with recent positive investment returns, reduces the required state pension contribution for CHP. CalPERS expects contribution rates for other state employees to decline over the next few years as well — as long as it continues to meet its investment goal.

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With this year’s World Cup approaching, as well as the 2027 Super Bowl in Inglewood and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, private security firms are pushing back against a bill that would force them to get their workers to unionizeRyan Sabalow of CalMatters reports.

The Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday will consider a proposal it would require companies that want to provide a higher standard of training — including the power to arrest and use-of-force training — to agree to union contracts. The bill would also increase security guards’ pay, requiring them to earn at least 30 percent above California’s $16.90 minimum wage.

The Service Employees International Union sponsored the bill, and its author, Sen. Lola Smallud-Cuevaswas a former organizer for a local SEIU affiliate that brought security workers together. Over the past five years, SEIU and its affiliates have given at least $119,100 to LA Democracy, according to Digital Democracy.

Security firms say the measure would eliminate jobs, adding at least $1 billion to their costs each year.

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