Your group has been pushing for this change for years. I have yet to see any data on how this "change" would benefit families already living within the WCSD/AUHSD borders.

I live in Northwestern Walnut Creek, just 2 blocks from the WCSD/AUHSD and MDUSD boundary. Due to the age spacing of my children, I'll have at least 1 child attending WCSD schools continuously until 2023 (unless we move). I'm taking a longer term view on this. My concern is how such a change would affect my children and my neighborhood. In all honesty, I'm not too concerned about the issues the MDUSD schools in Walnut Creek. They're fine schools, even though the district administration is frustrating and unresponsive. Some people feel the same way about the WCSD superintendent (myself included).

I have to wonder what "skin in the game" has Ruth Carter. She's been pushing this for quite a while. Does she have kids in the local schools? Which ones? What age? Is she a real estate agent or other local business person?

I don't mean to be rude, but she needs to tell us what her situation is besides simply advocating for her views.

Regards, JJ

I know of Ruth's efforts and while not actively involved, happen to agree with them. I work downtown and my kids go to school on the Northgate side. The difference between the two halves of the city is palpable when trying to fundraise with local businesses or get the City/City Council involved with our schools. There is a long history that I won't go into, but unless you live "on this side" you can't imagine the disconnect. We don't want to interfere with your children and their education, we want to be apart of the city we live in. I'm sure those in Northwest WC feel the same way. I wish there were a simpler way. For now,we look to the City Council to recognize us, and look to the local businesses to help us educate half of the city's population.

I live on the WCSD side of town and I picked that side intentionally because of the school district, getting a lot less house for the money in the bargain than if I chose a different area. You made the choice of where in Walnut Creek you live, knowing fully the school district you would live in, so please stop trying to redistrict the schools after the fact. That is completely unfair to those who made their choices based on the school district, including those outside of WC who attend those schools.

At this point all that I've seen is a giant logistical headache, all for the benefit of a group of people who don't agree with the leadership of their current district.

All for what? So most of the kids in Walnut Creek will have the same school schedules? So it's easier to fundraise for your schools? IMO, it's kind of weak reasoning.

Maybe I just don't get it because I grew up in a city that was served by several school districts and never felt like I was in some way deprived because of it. The city I grew up in isn't that much different from Walnut Creek either..

re eastbay48- I totally agree with you. My wife and I chose to move to South Walnut Creek for the WCSD/AHUSD. We did our due diligence and decided that we would rather raise our family in a smaller house and excellent school districts than a big house east of YVR and big combined school district, even though the housing prices were about the same. Ms. Cormac and friend appear to have made bad decisions when considering school districts and now they want to change the rules. What is their motivation? Higher property values? We've been paying parcel taxes for our two school districts for years, how many school parcel taxes have they been paying for? I suggest that if they really want to be in the Walnut Creek and Acalanes Unified School Districts that they move within its boundaries.

Hi Patch readers. A second comment from Ruth Carver, responding to some of your comments, has been added to the main text of this post, with the two segments dated. Ruth is having technical difficulties with her computer, so I'm helping out by adding to the letter to the editor.

When we moved here, we were told "this is the better side" and the two were equal in education. We wouldn't have chosen this location if we could have seen into the future, although there was a time in the not so distant past when MDUSD did have the better schools. For us, moving is on the table. But why would we move from one Program Improvement District with an iffy superintendent to another? We are considering Lafayette or Orinda. They have consistant education programs with great community support and an inclusive city structure.
What happens to a city when people move out? We would love to continue supporting Walnut Creek. We love the people here and made lifelong friends, but education and continued value in real estate is important, too.

I'm interested in the whole Parcel tax reasoning. We have barely passed these taxes and she wants us to share? So we will have less? We already are struggling! And to top it off, MDSD is what? Three times the size of WCSD? So what are we talking about? We are expected to take on the responsibility of their mismanaged financially strapped district. I'm sorry but no. Why not vote in better people to your school board. It seems that's where it should start.

Jessica - the movement is not to move all of MDUSD into WCSD - only the MDUSD schools which are in Walnut Creek. These schools perform very well, in fact some have even better test scores than schools in WCSD. None of the WC MDUSD scores contributed to the fact that MDUSD is a Program Improvement District or whatever it is called.

If these schools moved into WCSD, there would be MORE parcel tax collected. You wouldn't have to share the existing amount, we would be paying in also so there would be more money.

You say to vote in better people to our school board. The fact is, the WC schools in MDUSD are such a small portion of MDUSD that we don't have much of a say in who gets voted in.

I don't hold out much hope that this will ever happen, but it is interesting here to see how opposed people are to adding schools performing equally well or better than their existing schools to their district.

I don't much care about Northgate's test scores; what I care about is that when I bought my house I did my homework, checked the boundaries, and bought (at a much higher price) within the WCSD. I voted for and paid (for many years) parcel taxes for the district where my son attended.

When Northgate parents were satisfied with the way the school was run, we didn't hear a word from them. If this was a longstanding wish of Northgate parents, no one I knew had heard of it. Then a couple of years ago, every time we went to Longs we were accosted by parents demanding we sign a petition to get Northgate into our district - and wouldn't take no for an answer, I might add. Although I am not sure what precipitated this sudden, very organized push, I understand these parents' frustration. But not enough to vote for them to secede from Mt. Diablo.

JM Hogan states "there would be MORE parcel tax collected." I have no evidence of that. And I am NOT willing to take on Northgate's existing problems and try to solve them with my hard-earned money.

WCSD and AUHSD are small, well run districts - and I hope they stay that way. I am sorry that MDSD parents won't pass parcel taxes; I'm sorry someone may drive farther to take their kids to school. However, I consulted the DISTRICT before buying my house; perhaps these parents should have as well.

Why would these kids be reassigned if charter schools are created? And why is it our problem? I would like our districts to stay the SAME.

I would need to see substantial data showing that combining city schools actually results in improving scores for ALL students before supporting this idea. Yes, Pleasanton's scores may be higher but is this the direct result of city schools being combined? I would need to see more evidence. My husband's office is in Pleasanton but we moved to Walnut Creek and purposefully chose the WCSD side because the district is small. Like other posters here, we checked the district boundaries before buying. We paid more for our house as a result of choosing a house in the WCSD. It would be difficult to support combining all Walnut Creek schools without data that shows that combining the schools would benefit ALL students.

I just read Lisa's comment and many above. While most of the WCSD commenters site immediate, obvious, concerns -- the reasons for doing this might be less obvious and immediate. I'm glad to see Ms. Carver recognize that it took 20 years for a skatepark! This sport requires persistance and patience... So, with that in mind, consider this:

1. 20% of WC's population is scheduled (GP2025) to be added to condos downtown in the next decade (ie YVR, BART, ...). That's over 30% for WCSD. Neighboring jurisdictions recognize student generation rates of 1/3 for condos compared to SFHs. We're stuffing a barren population downtown that impacts passage of school bond financing (2/3). YV looks and votes more like our neighborhoods. It adds stability and continuity to WCSD.

2. All of YV votes in WC where 1/2 of WCSD does not. Segregation only serves to elect political nit-wits who are less sensitive to the neighborhood concerns much of WCSD faces. I don't want a McDonalds or a cell phone tower in my front yard -- we're in this together :)

3. Civic Pride. Fragmentation serves an indifferent downtown, not neighborhoods. People only speak out when something affects their neighborhood. Does City Hall care about isolated 250 member HOAs? Do you think they'd care more about a city-wide ethic? That, historically, is the glue to this community -- it benefits everything and everyone. It WORKS.

In any case, this isn't a cash flow issue you'll face next month.

Some Walnut Creek schools in the WCSD are underperformers. Murwood Elementary has a high Spanish speaking population which causes a low API score. Buena Vista Elementary has a similar problem in that there are many "slow learners" in that school which also result in a low API score.

The Walnut Creeks schools in the MDUSD consistently score over 900 on the API. Bancroft Elementary, which has a high ESL % of students has scored over 900. Valle Verde Elementary and Walnut Acres Elementary also have over 900 API.

Northgate HS (MDUSD) has a higher API score than Las Lomas HS (WCSD).

I don't see how Bancroft, Valle Verde, Walnut Acres, and Northgate would be a detriment if added to the WCSD. The property owners of these schools would be hit with the new parcel tax thus paying their own way to be part of the WCSD.

I have had students in WCSD and now in AHSD. I don't see how adding these schools is a detriment to these districts. Jessica you talk of added families etc. the schools will be added not just the district lines changed. The student population of the schools in the WCSD/AHSD will remain the same. Parcel taxes would be collected from those within the new district lines to help support the schools being added. This sound a lot like "I've got mine" so I could careless about the rest of you.

Also, if you were to talk to anyone in Lafayette, Orinda or Moraga they would tell you that (as unfair and biased as it is) Las Lomas is considered to be the poor school in the district and that it pulls the district down. Doesn't feel so good when your the odd man out and I hate to tell you folks, but that has been the sentiment since I went to Acalanes in the 1980's.

True, Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek is a ghetto school with poor scores. It is the retarded brother that you keep in the closet and are embarassed of, according to Acalanes High students. The reason is Las Lomas is right in the smack of the WC apartment ghetto where "the help" lives. "The help" works cleaning the houses of those in the Northgate area. Northgate High is a highly sought after school and is the best school in WC.