A group of foothill homeowners want to change school districts, moving from Sierra Unified to Clovis Unified.

One resident of the Ventana Hills community says having their kids go to school in Clovis makes it easier for parents working in the city. But the change could cost Sierra Unified, a small mountain school district, millions of potential dollars if the area is moved to Clovis Unified.

Sierra Unified trustees opposed the territory transfer in an Aug. 12 resolution. However, the district selected a subcommittee to study the impacts. The first public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5, at Foothill Elementary School.

“The people who live in this community, we identify more closely with Clovis or Fresno because all of our lives outside of our residence is lived down in those communities,” said Marc Thurston, a  Ventana Hills resident. “We have very few or any reason to go up the hill.”

Residents there have tried three times for a territory transfer. This time, the map would move 600 acres out of Sierra Unified. A petition presented to the district included all property owners in Ventana Hills.

Sierra Unified Board President Cortney Burke said that if the move takes place it will cost the district in the long run.

“The development was built with full knowledge that it was in the Sierra Unified district,” Burke said. “The homes were purchased knowing full well that it was part of Sierra Unified. We have a very unique and amazing district here and it saddens me to know that the petitioners are trying to annex over 600 acres of our mountain community without seeing what we have to offer.”

(Disclosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi is president and CEO of Granville Homes, builder of Ventana Hills.

Driving Up the Hill a Hassle for Many Parents

A drive northeast from Fresno along Auberry Road takes travelers past Ventana Hills. The families there have about 10 kids, Thurston said. Eight of them — including one of Thurston’s — go to other districts, either private or public school. Thurston said two go to Sierra Unified.

From Ventana Hills, it takes about 20 minutes to get to Foothill Elementary School in Prather and another 25 minutes to get to Sierra High School in Tollhouse, he said. It requires about 15 minutes to reach Clovis North High School from Ventana Hills.

Because many residents there work in Fresno or Clovis, it’s difficult for parents to drive up the hill and then back down for work, territory transfer proponents said.

“Kids these days are involved in a million different things, all of our activities are going to be down either in Clovis or Fresno such as you’re going to gymnastics or soccer or dance,” Thurston said.

He said an emergency makes the situation far more dire.

Sierra Unified has been accommodating to parents wanting to send their kids to other school districts, Thurston said. The problem can be the other school districts. One year, a child may be at one school, but the next year, they may be moved to a different school where there’s room.

“There’s no consistency and your child could end up being relocated amongst numerous schools, which obviously is really not the intent,” Thurston said. “You want that child to get settled in a school, make friends, build relationships with the teachers and staff.”

Both Sides Dispute Property Tax Losses With Transfer

Losing Ventana Hills would cost the district not just students that count toward daily attendance numbers but also yearly funding and potential bond money from property taxes.

A major source of funding for school districts is based on attendance. Losing that attendance costs schools money. While only two students attend Sierra Unified, the development is not fully built out.

Another loss would be property taxes. Shin Green, principal with Eastshore Consulting, an advisor hired by Sierra Unified, estimated $38 million of assessed value would be lost if the transfer were approved. Sixteen of the 91 lots have been built out, according to a financial study done by Finance DTA.

The Clovis Unified board has taken a neutral stance on the petition, said Kelly Avants, chief communications officer.

State law says proposed territory transfers have to be contiguous to the receiving district. At least one previous attempt would have created an island for Clovis Unified. That proposal failed on a technicality.

The new proposed map includes 437 acres of undeveloped land in addition to the 216 at Ventana Hills.

Green estimated a loss of $1 million in bonding capacity. At full build-out, it could cost the district $2.6 million. A $24 million bond is on the November ballot for residents in Sierra Unified. The $1 million estimation is approximately 4% of the district’s bonding capacity.

A study done by consulting company Finance DTA disputed those numbers. David Taussig, chairman and managing director of the company, wrote in a letter to the board that at full build-out, Ventana Hills would generate just under $800,000.

“Should negotiations occur with Project property owners regarding a suitable level of compensation to be provided to Sierra Unified by those property owners requesting a transfer, the theoretical breakeven level of compensation would be $8,772 per lot for each of the 91 lots in the Project,” Taussig wrote.

Related Story: Sierra Unified Hopes Voters Will Approve School Bond Measure for First Time

District Could be Too Small to Support Students with Transfer: Burke

The transfer process can take five years, said David Soldani, partner with Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, a law firm Sierra Unified hired to analyze the proposal.

The state has a series of criteria that a territory transfer has to meet. State law says the primary reason to transfer can’t be to increase property values.

State law also says a transfer cannot disrupt a district’s ability to teach students. Sierra Unified has been dealing with decreasing enrollment. With fewer than 1,500 students, it technically does not have the students to be considered a “unified” school district, Soldani told trustees.

Burke said that could affect the district in the long run.

“If we lose more territory to other districts, we could eventually be too small to support our students and incredible programs,” Burke said. “Every school and district has hurdles to overcome, but working together, we get through the bumps.”

Thurston Hopes for Negotiations

Thurston says he is looking at long-term solutions.

The private school he has his daughter enrolled in only goes through eighth grade. At Sierra Unified’s Aug. 12 meeting, trustees voted unanimously to oppose the transfer. While Thurston has not received notice of the board’s intent to negotiate, he said homeowners are hopeful.

“We have just been given that the answer is ‘no, we don’t want to discuss,’ ” Thurston said. “So if they’re open to something, absolutely, we would love to sit down and try to find some common ground and make this work for everybody.”