Sierra Independent School District

Sierra Independent School District (Cartadanian: Distrito Escolar Independente de Sierra) is the largest public school system in Verona, and second-largest in Cartadania after the statewide school district of Sanova. As its name implies, it serves as the community school district for the entirety of the city of Sierra, as well as all or parts of some neighboring cities and parts of unincorporated Sierra County, though it is independent of the city of Sierra and is legally a separate governmental entity. It operates 686 schools including 435 elementary schools, 131 middle schools, 109 high schools, and 11 specialty campuses.

Contents

 * 1 History
 * 2 Governance
 * 2.1 Superintendents
 * 2.2 Political divisions
 * 2.3 Taxation
 * 3 Student body
 * 3.1 Student body history
 * 4 Coverage area
 * 4.1 Cities
 * 5 Facilities
 * 5.1 Schools
 * 5.2 Support Facilities
 * 5.3 Alternative Education Campus
 * 6 See also

History
Sierra ISD (SISD; DEIS) was established in the 1890s, after the Verona General Assembly voted to separate school and municipal governments. Its jurisdiction was formed when Sierra City Public Schools (of then independent city Sierra) merged with neighboring school districts. With amendments and changes to Verona's constitution and education system, all school districts were granted independent taxing authority. This in turn allowed Sierra ISD to tax it's residents in order to vastly improve its school system.

In 1992, the district, under superintendent Linda Fine, massively rezoned Sierra schools, moving students from overcrowded ones to underutilized ones. Harriet R. Cook, a former SISD school board member, wrote that Fine accomplished this goal with a minimum of press coverage and controversy by using a participative process that minimized conflict between various cities and neighborhoods. Cook credits the move with being the catalyst for the 1995 establishment of geographic districts patterned around high school feeder patterns.

In 1994, after superintendent Cook left the district, the school district voted 6-1 to make Katherine Gomez the interim superintendent; the school district board members described this as a "symbolic" motion as Gomez was the first Hispanic interim superintendent. Gomez served until Jason Giles became the superintendent.

Cities
Sierra ISD is the de facto school district for Sierra County (in fact named for the county and not the city), while other districts formed in supplement. Because the jurisdiction of the school district has been cut by the creation of school districts in other cities, there were exclaves of the school district in the southern and northeastern portions of the county. These are mostly covered by South Sierra ISD and Valencinco ISD.

Sierra ISD covers all of the following cities:


 * Adria
 * Agoura Hills
 * Aquia
 * Del Amo
 * Duarte
 * Giraçao
 * Hermosa
 * Malibu
 * Sierra
 * Tarisa
 * Vicara

Sierra ISD covers portions of the following cities:


 * Mirada (areas bordering Sierra, northwest of Sierra Creek)

Schools
Main article: List of schools in the Sierra Independent School District

Support Facilities

 * Administration Building
 * Aaron B. Cohen Center
 * Hamilton Stadium
 * Transportation East
 * Transportation South
 * Transportation West
 * Transportation Central
 * Starr Pavilion
 * Sierra ISD Storage Annex
 * Sierra ISD Law Enforcement Center
 * Lakeland Convocation Center

Alternative Education Campus

 * Bridgeport Academy
 * Hampton Academy
 * Elmwood Heights Academy
 * The Adenborough School
 * Gateway Career & Technology Education Center
 * Opportunity Awareness Center
 * Carrollton Woods/School of Choice
 * Andina-Sierra Joint Collegiate Prep School