On Thursday, Davis Vice Mayor Bapu Vaitla posted the following on Patwin and housing concerns.
From Vice Mayor Vaitla:
Thank you to all the parents, educators, staff, and community members who are making their voice heard about Patwin Elementary. I share your thoughts around the value of keeping a second kindergarten class at the school.
I’m sympathetic to DJUSD’s difficult fiscal circumstances in the face of declining enrollment, and I recognize that tough choices have to be made. I think, however, that reducing kindergarten to a single class puts the future of Patwin at risk. I’m concerned that our neighborhood school will become increasingly strained for resources as student numbers fall, further increasing uncertainty about the viability of classes and 
programs.
The root cause of declining school enrollment is insufficient family housing in Davis. The future of our community depends on taking strong action to increase housing accessibility and affordability in our town. Without more places to live for families, our school system will deteriorate. Please make your voice heard by City Council when new housing projects are proposed. Please also participate in the General Plan Update process that will kick off later this year, which will set a vision for Davis for the next generation.
Although there are several housing projects in the pipeline that may help in the near-term, sufficiently building our housing stock is a multi-year effort. In the meantime, I respectfully urge DJUSD to employ all short-term strategies possible to increase Patwin’s enrollment enough to protect the second kindergarten class. Patwin Elementary is at the heart of community life in West Davis, and is a tremendous asset for the town as a whole. Please invest in the future of our neighborhood school.
When I read the headline my first thought was that Patwin was being closed. But no, they are talking about having one less kindergarten class due to declining enrollment. Wouldn’t that be a prudent move in order to save money and be a step in the right direction to help the school stay more fiscally viable?
Also, does anyone have an idea of how many parents choose not to enroll their students in public Davis schools due their LGTBQ+ policies and other such political issues? Could that be a reason that enrollment is down so much?
Keith doesn’t have a shred of evidence that enrollment is down because of any specific school policies.
Walter doesn’t have a shred of evidence that enrollment isn’t being adversely affected by some of the current school policies.
Neither do you Walter.
He is simply expressing his opinion … in the form of a question.
What percentage of Davis parents that send their children to DJUSD schools disagree with district LGBTQ+ policies and practices enough to speak out in public and be counted? Since no one can read other people’s minds those that remain silent can’t be counted.
Walter, your comment does absolutely nothing to provide any evidenxce to refute the belief that lies under Keith’s question? This is America where we treasure the Right to have our own personal beliefs, and the Right to freely speak those beliefs. I personally do not agree with a lot of Keith’s beliefs, but that doesn’t stop me from defending his Right to have, and express, those beliefs.
So what do you propose Keith? Discriminate against students that have every
right to attend a public school. Get out of the 1950s, this is 2024.
Sadly, Keith, with one unsubstantiated comment, we know what you are.
Who said anything like discriminate against students? Yes EVERY student has the right to attend public school. Don’t put words in other people’s mouths. But parents also have the right to not have their children attend public schools if they don’t like the school’s policies.
After reading Vice Mayor Vaitla’s letter about Patwin’s possible closure, specifically one of the kindergarten classes, I wanted to weigh in and share some thoughts.
First, addressing Vice Mayor Vaitla’s concerns that student numbers are falling. He believes the falling numbers are rooted in insufficient family housing in Davis. This in my opinion is a true statement. Furthermore, he states “The future of our community depends on taking strong action to increase housing accessibility and affordability in our town. Without more places to live for families, our school system will deteriorate.” Again, I agree and share that school closures and dropping enrollment rates are a state and nationwide problem. With birthrates continuing to decline and housing expenses climbing faster than income levels we will see fewer families living in various parts of the region, like Davis, giving way to impending school closures.
The issue I have with comments made by Vice Mayor Vaitla pertain to the fact that there is no mention of what that housing looks like, i.e. type. The conversation at Council level and elsewhere in town have focused on very high density, which can also be described as a type of housing described as multi-family. While I agree density is important I will quote a credible source from the Terner Center/Moretti “we won’t solve our housing challenges without giving thought to the type and location of housing.”
Type of housing can be defined as any of the following: apartments, condominiums, zero lot line, single family large/medium/small lot, townhome, PUD, attached single family, detached single family, deed restricted and more. While I agree that housing and housing of any kind is important. I think we need to be careful to understand that for a successful project there needs to be housing of various types including housing types that have density as part of the design not exclusively dense housing. I am in good company with this thought. I recently attended the CalMatters IdeaFEST and listened to Senator Scott Weiner make the case for housing and housing of “all” types as important.
I appreciate and agree with Vaitla’s comment to “Please make your voice heard by City Council when new housing projects are proposed. Please also participate in the General Plan Update process that will kick off later this year, which will set a vision for Davis for the next generation”. Without community engagement there is no vision.
But, let me caution that there needs to be a realistic view about work done on the General Plan. While the General Plan is incredibly important, as it currently stands it is a very outdated document, and a General Plan update can take a minimum of 5 years and realistically longer. The question is…What can we do now about helping young families buy a home in Davis?
Finally, the several housing projects that Vaitla makes reference to are years out in the future. Homes are not likely to be built on any of these projects for a minimum of 8-10 years, even if one of these projects was approved today. So, again I ask…What can we do now about helping young families buy a home in Davis?
In my role as a presenters at the Davis Housing Solutions: A Community Conversation I presented the case for a Down Payment Assistance program. A program that could be established now to help First time Homebuyers (i.e. young families) purchase a home in our town.
While we would need to provide initial start-up funding for the Housing Trust Fund. A program like Down Payment Assistance is sustained by the loan repayments made by the First Time Homebuyers.
I appreciate Vice Mayor Vaitla’s concerns about DJUSD and Patwin Elementary. Let’s stop the loss of children and young families in our community by making it possible for these families to live here. Down Payment Assistance is a proven method to get First Time Homebuyers into homes.
You can help by advocating at Council meetings and directly to your Council representative for their support of the Housing Trust Fund and programs like a Down Payment Assistance program.
Georgina Valencia, Affordable Housing Consulting