Carrisa Plains Elementary, located in rural eastern San Luis Obispo County, once operated as a K-8 school. Today, students in grades six through eight are bused nearly 100 miles each day to Atascadero Middle School. This long commute affects both learning time and student well-being—despite existing options that would allow those grades to remain on-site.
We’ve proposed three solutions to bring middle school education back to Carrisa Plains:
• Restore sixth grade using a credentialed multi-subject teacher, as permitted under state law.
• Offer a virtual learning option for sixth through eighth graders on the Carrisa Plains campus, providing academic continuity and keeping students close to home while maintaining vital peer interaction.
• Pursue state waivers to meet credentialing requirements for seventh and eighth grade instruction, allowing flexibility in rural school staffing, as these grades typically require single-subject credentialed educators.
The Atascadero Unified School District has not yet offered a clear explanation as to why these options cannot be implemented, nor have they proposed any viable alternatives. While funding has been mentioned as a concern, available information suggests that the policy, infrastructure, and state flexibility provisions all support the return of grades sixth through eighth to Carrisa Plains.
Adriane Twisselman
president and spokesperson
Carrisa Plains parents, teachers, and friends
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 8, 2025.