Forty mothers, fathers and grandparents, plus a dozen children, held up signs to protest the impending decision to close their school. Standing in front of El Brinquito, on Highway 12 at the corner of Depot Road from 12:30 – 2:00 on May 7, these Flowery families gathered in the hopes of persuading the Sonoma Valley Unified Board of Trustees to abandon a plan to close the Flowery site, and make a wholesale transfer of all the students who comprise the Dual Immersion (DI) academic program, to Sassarini School. The proposed move would displace most of the current Sassarini students and teachers.
The Sonoma Valley Unified Board of Trustees are slated to vote on May 8 on the closure of Flowery in June 2026. The trustees directed the Superintendent to prepare data about the cost of moving the the Flowery program, the cost of displacing Sassarini students and teachers to other sites, and the longterm cost of the transportation that closing a school in the most populous area of the Valley would entail. That data was not included in the Agenda packet for the May 8 meeting, and the Superintendent did not respond to a request for it.
Gabriela M., mother of a child in kindergarten, said she wants to ask the Trustees “not to consider their children as statistics, but rather as the future of Sonoma.” Another mother of a kindergartener and a 3rd grader, Zulema H., said she was protesting to “have our school in our Springs, our community, on this side of town, where the most vulnerable families live.” Emphasizing the importance for the children to have a school in their neighborhood, grandfather Humberto M., added, “I walk here to get my grandson in 4th grade.” One protestor said she believes that Flowery has the most people and children who walk to school in the District. Chelsea Livingston, whose children are in TK and 5th, said that the reason she and her husband chose Flowery was the dual immersion program, and the walkability. She added, “Why move a flourishing school?” and urges the trustees “not to uproot a thriving program.”
Other protesting parents, explaining why they came out to be seen, emphasized the importance of Flowery as the gathering place in their community. Mario H. affirmed, “Our community has been built around this school. A community that’s so strong. We visit our children at lunch time. All the parents are involved. We gather at many events at the school, making such a strong community with the mutual love of family and friends. Flowery is a community center for this side of town.”
Addressing the practical side of the issue, Rosa I. asks, “If they need to save money, what it will cost to transport all these children to another school?” She pointed out that the District already is struggling to provide transportation, especially with the challenge of finding bus drivers…