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BACKGROUND
The Piner-Olivet Union School District has a historical background that goes back more than one hundred years. The district encompasses an area of approximately 24 square miles, located in Sonoma County, specifically in northwest Santa Rosa. The community of Santa Rosa is approximately 60 miles north of San Francisco and 20 miles east of the Sonoma coastline.
In earlier years, the region of the district was considered rural; however, today with the population growth of the Santa Rosa region, housing developments and light industrial complexes have been encroaching upon the area. The district's largest geographical area is still rural, but several suburban developments occupy the east section of the district.
The district is administered by an elected governing board composed of five members. At present, five schools—Piner, Olivet, Schaefer, and Piner-Olivet Charter School,—provide education for grades kindergarten through eighth with a total student enrollment of approximately 1,754. All five schools offer a variety of programs to its student population. These programs include Alternative Education, Miller-Unruh Reading Program, Special Day Class, Music, Computer Technology, Chapter I/EIA, GATE, Home school, Extended Day Kindergarten, and Environmental Education, as well as providing such professional staff as Speech and Language, School Psychologist, Counseling, Resource Specialists, and Health Services.
As a legislative function, the governing board shall determine the broad, basic policies governing the operation of its educational programs. In consideration and development of policy, the governing board encourages opinions and suggestions from citizens and residents of the district, and asserts it desire and obligation to seek expert advice and counsel from the superintendent and staff.
Board policy states that it is understood that the governing board formulates the policies which guide the affairs of the district. To carry out the legislative policy adopted by the governing board, they hire an executive officer known as the superintendent. Policy states mutual care is taken that the governing board not assume executive power, and likewise, the superintendent not assume the legislative power of the board.
To assist the superintendent and teachers there are three principals (one at each of the elementary schools), and a director of student instruction. To carry out the education programs of the district, there are 92 teachers who provide instruction to students in the three elementary schools, two charter schools, and in the home schooling program. To assist in the many necessary and required support services, there are 93 classified personnel in the district.
HISTORICAL
Olivet School District was originally Russian River School District, and was started in the late 1800s. The Russian River School District was allowed to build the school on the Rued property at 2345 Oakwild Lane with the condition that upon the closure of the school, the land would be given back to the Rued family. In 1905, there were 41 students enrolled in the Russian River School District, grades one through eight. The students and teachers traveled to and from school on horses or in horse-drawn buggies. A building near the school was used as a stable to keep the horses in during school hours. Teachers were paid $50 per month. When children graduated from the eighth grade, they attended Santa Rosa High School. They would go to school on a train which they would meet at the train station at Olivet Village at 8:00 a.m. and return at 6:00 p.m. In 1913, the Russian River School became too small, so a new school was built at the corner of Olivet and Woolsey Roads, and the name of the school and district were changed to Olivet. The name Olivet came from the grove of olive trees in the area.
Piner School District began in 1867. Piner School was built at that time and was named after the Piner family, who were pioneer settlers in the area. The school was built on the west side of Fulton Road near the intersection of Fulton and Piner Roads. When the school became too small, another was built at the north end of the same property in the late 1880s. The school consisted of two classrooms and two teachers; one was grades one through four and the other, grades five through eight. The school year started in July and six weeks later was let out so the children could help with the harvest. After the harvest, school resumed until June. In 1913, the third Piner School was built on the spot where the first one had been. It had three classrooms and a stage and cost $3,600. In 1956, there were 100 students enrolled at Piner School. It was so overcrowded that one class was being taught on the stage. Property was purchased and a larger Piner School was built on Piner Road around the corner from the old Piner School in 1957. It consisted of a small office and six classrooms.
Piner and Olivet Districts unionized in 1959. The district has grown steadily with a new Olivet School on Willowside Road being added in 1969 and the district's third school, Schaefer Elementary, in 1990. Schaefer Elementary is located at the corner of San Miguel Avenue and Coffey Lane. The property was purchased from Morrice Schaefer, a long time farmer in Santa Rosa.
History has shown a dedicated and sincere interest in the welfare of the educational program of the district—by the early settlers of the area in the free use of land for school sites and more recently by community members with their participation in the Parent Teacher Club and Educational Foundation.
GROWTH AND EDUCATIONAL TRANSITION
The Piner-Olivet Union School District had a moderate growth pattern in the 1950s and 60s; however, during the 1970s and 80s that pattern has substantially increased. In 1984, the district had 653 students enrolled. In just eight years, from 1984 to 1992, that enrollment more than doubled to 1,470. In 1996, the district added the Piner-Olivet Charter School, which includes students in sixth through eighth grades. In 1997, Sonoma County Charter School (also known as the Petaluma Cooperative) began schooling students in grades kindergarten through sixth. The district's current enrollment is approximately 1,625 and this growth is expected to continue, especially as more district property is annexed into the City of Santa Rosa.
