Stephen Schluer believes it’s time to revisit Manteca Unified School District’s interdistrict attendance policy.

The Manteca Unified board president is pushing for a school trustee discussion of the policy later this year.

Currently the district does not allow students to attend Manteca Unified schools unless they live within the district. The only exception is for students of school employees that live outside the district. 

“In my opinion we need to look at it and do what is best for kids,” Schluer said.

The policy has been in place for such an extended period of time that Schluer said most people at the district aren’t familiar with why it was implemented.

Spurring the move to reconsider the existing policy are parents frustrated that they bought homes within the Manteca city limits — some as close as two blocks away from Woodward School — but their children are bused to Ripon Unified schools more than six miles away.

Several newer neighborhoods in the southeast portion of Manteca are within the Ripon Unified boundaries where a number of parents have expressed a desire for their kids to attend Manteca High as well as city elementary schools to eliminate the bus trip as well as to make it easier for children and families to integrate into community activities in Manteca given they live here.

Deputy Superintendent Roger Goatcher said while the district doesn’t specifically go hunting for students that should not be enrolled in Manteca schools because they don’t live in the district, they employ new software that quickly pinpoints whether an address is within the school district.

Schluer said the school board could set conditions for those wishing to attend Manteca schools that reside outside of the district such as establishing they must maintain a specific grade point such as 2.0 or above and have a high attendance. He said a policy could also assure that once a student is enrolled in Manteca Unified they would be able to continue attending until they graduated high school.

The district recently rejected an interdistrict agreement for a former Manteca student who attended Manteca High as a freshman whose family moved to Ripon.

The school district’s decision was appealed to the San Joaquin County School Board. Goatcher said the county ruled in favor of the student to allow home to continue attending Manteca High.

Schluer noted any policy change would apply to any students seeking to attend Manteca Unified schools such as those living in River Islands in Lathrop within two miles of Lathrop High that they could walk or bicycle to as opposed to Tracy more than eight miles away that requires traveling on Interstate 5 during heavy commute traffic to reach.

Any student attending Manteca Unified from outside the district would need to provide their own transportation if interdistrict agreements are opened up.

Schuler said he would support discussions with Ripon Unified to revisit the issue of changing district boundaries so that students residing within Manteca’s city limits would all attend Manteca Unified. It’s a discussion that Manteca Mayor Steve DeBrum has indicated he wants to see happen for the benefit of families who buy homes in Manteca.

Schuler stressed that is a long-term proposal that will be time consuming and requires Ripon Unified to be in agreement to pursue a possible boundary change.

Small group seeks

to campaign for

Measure J Nov. 6

Several individuals are stepping up in a bid to campaign for passage of Measure J — the Nov. 6 ballot measure that would take the City of Manteca hotel room tax from 9 percent to 12 percent per night.

Laurin Sephos, Toni Raymus and Cecily Ballungay are among those trying to get several signs support the measure in place.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, emailwyatt@mantecabulletin.com