Letter: Rural voices matter in AUSD decisions
To the editor,
– What’s happening to Carrisa Plains middle schoolers isn’t new—it’s the latest chapter in a long, painful pattern of rural divestment by in-town agencies.
When the Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) removed 6th through 8th grade from Carrisa Plains Elementary, it didn’t just disrupt families— it replaced local learning with a 100-mile-a-day bus ride.
Examples of that painful pattern of rural divestment include the closure of the SLO County’s Public Work Department’s road yard on the Carrisa Plains in the late 1990s. In 2014, the SLO County Library shuttered the Pozo Branch, followed by the Simmler Branch in 2019—both having served their communities for over 80 years. Earlier efforts to close the Simmler Branch were halted by a direct appeal of the librarian to the County Board of Supervisors, while attempts to shut down the Creston Branch were blocked by the Friends of the Library, who stepped in to pay the librarian’s salary and successfully lobbied to keep it open.
Each cut to a rural school or loss of a rural library erases decades of community effort and pride.
Rural property owners contribute substantial property tax revenue directly to AUSD each year, yet they’re told the bussing is about efficiency or that it is beneficial to the students. Parents and community members disagree.
AUSD now calls restoring grades 6-8 at Carrisa Plains Elementary “complex” or would set a “precedent.” Yet their entire bussing policy rests on a single PowerPoint slide presented to the AUSD board by a Citizens’ Advisory Committee in January 2012—hardly justification for years of disruption that deepen the pattern of rural divestment.
I respectfully call on AUSD to restore K-8 education at the Carrisa Plains Elementary beginning with the 2025-26 school year.
Sincerely,
Gregory Nelson
Proud former California Valley kid, current Bremerton resident
Carrisa Plains 8th Grade Alum, Class of ’88 + AHS’92
Editor’s note: Opinion pieces and letters to the editor are the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the A-Town Daily News, Paso Robles Daily News, or staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.
