Kettler’s closing saddens

Lauren Vane

The day after the school board handed down a decision to close

Kettler Elementary, Principal Olivia Gaddini said the atmosphere on

campus felt more like a funeral than another day at school. Parents,

community members and staff from other schools delivered their

condolences on the phone and in e-mails; some even expressed their

sympathy by sending flowers, Gaddini said.

“It is the breakup of the community as we know it today,” Gaddini

said.

Though the full impact of the school board’s decision has not

settled in yet, Gaddini said there are more important things for her

and the staff to focus on.

“I see our job right now as the adults who will help them [the

students] transition successfully to their new school,” Gaddini said.

Despite the imminent reality that the school will close next fall,

this school year will continue on like any other, Gaddini said. PTA

President Cathy Lindsey said that school programs will be funded and

any money raised from the remaining fundraisers will go toward

programs for the current school year.

As for the students, Gaddini said some are aware that their school

will close in the fall and others are not. The closure has not been

discussed in detail with the students, Gaddini said. Although she has

told the teachers to answer all of the students’ questions

truthfully, the teachers will not focus on the topic until the

boundary committee determines which schools the Kettler students will

be attending in the fall. As part of the board’s decision, it was

announced that Kettler students will be distributed among Smith,

Eader and Peterson Elementary.

“Everybody’s disappointed. This is a wonderful school; we have got

an incredible teaching staff,” Lindsey said.

At first glance at the demographics study that showed rapidly

declining numbers at Kettler, Gaddini said she had an idea what the

future would bring.

“I’ve seen this coming as I’ve seen our numbers going down at this

school,” Gaddini said. “It was hard to argue that the data pointed to

this school.”

Although saddened that Kettler was the school on the chopping

block, Gaddini said she understood why her school would be the one to

close.

“I realize that they had to do it,” Gaddini said.

But all the talk of money, declining enrollment and boundary

realignment that has flooded recent school board meetings will

translate to a simple reality when the doors of this 32-year-old

California Distinguished School do not open next fall.

It will be change and a transition, but the Kettler community is

filled with parents, students and staff that Gaddini has faith will

build a strong community wherever they are.

“I think it can be a community wherever it goes, but it will look

different,” Gaddini said.

The school has always been a focal point of the surrounding

community, Gaddini said. Children who live nearby and walk to school

will now have to be bused to class, Gaddini said.

The families of Kettler said they will miss their school community

and what it has meant to them.

“The kids are sad,” said Debi Kasmar, a parent who has four

children attending Kettler. “We live in the tract and it hurts.”

Cathy Harvey and her family recently moved to Huntington Beach

from Arizona; she also has four children at Kettler.

“This school is definitely a warm school because we just moved

here from Arizona and our kids feel like they’ve been here forever,”

Harvey said.

Lindsey, who has been a part of the Kettler PTA for seven years,

said she encourages Kettler families to get involved when they are

transferred to new schools in the fall.

“I just hope that our parents who have become active in this

school will be welcomed into their new school,” Lindsay said.

The past 18 months have not been easy for the Kettler community.

Last year, it was discovered that methane emissions were present in

the soil five feet beneath the school. Parents were fearful that the

potentially-explosive gas could leak above the surface. Further tests

concluded that methane was not leaking above ground and there was no

danger to anyone’s safety. As a precaution, methane detectors were

installed throughout the school.

Then, in June, another shock came when more than $40,000 went

missing from PTA funds. Michael Rangel, former Kettler PTA treasurer,

recently pleaded guilty to one charge of grand theft for embezzling

the money and depositing it into his own bank account, according to

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ben Masangkay. Rangel was sentenced to 180 days in

jail and three years probation; he must also repay in full the money

he took from the PTA, Masangkay said.

The school dealt with these issues and moved on, Gaddini said. But

now the school must face a challenge that it cannot work around: the

dissolution of a tight-knit community of students, staff and parents.

“It’s like a hometown school,” Harvey said.