As Clovis Unified adds 3 new schools, which students will have to switch? Here’s the plan
In the Spotlight is a Fresno Bee series that digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about. Story idea? Email tips@fresnobee.com.
As Clovis Unified School District prepares to open three brand new schools, it will need to reassign students from other parts of the district to fill those classrooms.
Where students attend could depend on the grade they are in now and whether they already have siblings in the intermediate and/or high schools in their current secondary school feeder system. The three new schools will be part of the new Clovis South Area, which is prompting these attendance changes across the district.
The first new school, Satoshi Hirayama Elementary School, will open next Fall 2024 semester for TK (transitional kindergarten)-6th grades.
The two other new schools will form the Terry P. Bradley Educational Center, consisting of Clovis South High School and a still-to-be-named intermediate school. They will have a phased opening with 7th-9th graders in Fall 2025 and add a grade level yearly until fully operational in 2028.
Some students might not be affected, but for others going to a different intermediate or high school it might be an unexpected change.
As Clovis Unified’s board soon votes to approve the final proposed details on attendance boundary changes, The Bee researched, emailed and talked to district spokesperson Kelly Avants to clarify doubts and concerns community members might have about the process.
These changes are being voted on now in preparation to open three new schools. Adding them means the district has to reshape its attendance boundaries, the areas that determine where students go to school based on the neighborhood where they live.
The district recommended proposal three, titled Scenario Silver, to the school board after consulting with community members, according to its webpage and timeline of events.
Under this proposal, some elementary schools will have a:
Partial school move, same secondary area
Partial school move, existing secondary area
Whole school move, existing secondary area
Whole school move, creation of Terry P. Bradley Educational Center (TBEC)
Partial school move, same secondary area
Ten elementary schools — Cedarwood, Century, Clovis Elementary, Dry Creek, Fugman, Liberty, Red Bank, Oraze, Valley Oak, Weldon — will have partial attendance changes within their own area, meaning some students will have to switch schools within their own district region.
Students entering 5th and 6th grades in Fall 2025 can remain at their current elementary school.
Yet, these students’ younger siblings – who are currently enrolled – may remain in the same elementary school until the older sibling enters 7th grade.
“Once the older child leaves the elementary school, the younger sibling would be expected to make the move to their new elementary school,” said Kelly Avants, spokesperson for Clovis Unified School District.
Partial school move, existing secondary area
Three elementary schools — Cole, Copper Hills and Riverview — will have some students undergo a partial move to a different area within the district.
Students entering 5th through 9th grades in Fall 2025 can remain at their current school, in their existing secondary feeder system through high school. Avants explained this means students in this circumstance can “declare their intent” to remain in their already established school path as originally planned through graduation.
“The same rule applies at the grade TK-6 level,” Avants said.
The difference in this case, Avants explained, is if that younger sibling is going to be in grades 7-12 at the same time as their older sibling — who chose to remain in their original secondary system — their family could choose to apply for a sibling rule transfer so the younger child can also stay in that same secondary system.
Whole school move, existing secondary area
Gettysburg Elementary School is the only one listed in this attendance change section.
Avants said this option means that if there is a Gettysburg Elementary student enrolled in any grades 7th through 12th in Fall 2025 and has a younger sibling who would also be in grades 7th through 12th at the same time as the older student, then they can choose to attend Clark Intermediate and Clovis High schools.
“Once a child is in grade 7 or above on a sibling transfer,” Avants said, “they remain on that track through graduation.”
Whole school move, creation of Terry P. Bradley Educational Center (TBEC)
Students in five elementary schools — Boris, Fancher Creek, Hirayama, Temperance-Kutner, and Young — will have their attendance changed to help create the student body at the Terry P. Bradley Educational Center (an intermediate school and Clovis South High School).
However, if a student currently enrolled at these elementary schools will be in 7th, 8th and/or 9th grades in Fall 2025 — and have siblings in grades 10th, 11th and 12th at Clovis East High School at the same time — these families can ask for a sibling transfer to keep their families enrolled at the same time at Reyburn Intermediate and/or Clovis East.
“We do not expect families to have to travel to two different secondary schools and would grant a sibling transfer,” Avants said. “That transfer is good through graduation for the younger sibling.”
Avants said as long as there are siblings from the same family attending the original secondary schools, younger siblings would also be granted a sibling transfer.
To request sibling transfers and determine students’ attendance, the district encourages families to complete and submit forms they will send later this year, which must be submitted to current school sites between Oct. 7-24 later this year.
“Form(s) will be sent directly to all affected families before October and must be submitted by October 24, 2024,” the district’s attendance changes webpage reads.
Board members received information about this plan during the April 3 meeting, and then are scheduled to cast their final votes during the April 17 meeting.
According to the district’s webpage, the period for online community comments ends on April 12. Those can still be submitted digitally through the form at the end of the webpage, cusd.com/BoundaryChangesTBEC.aspx.
