South Bay Union board votes to close 3 campuses

Finally, a decision: South Bay Union will close three campuses as declining student enrollment and financial problems at the school district persist. 

Board members unanimously voted Wednesday to close Central and two other campuses over the next five years instead of three years as the district’s superintendent originally proposed. South Bay Union will also postpone adding new specialized programs to focus on improving academics and use funding to explore facility upgrades at Nestor Language Academy. 

Officials say the plan will allow the district to make any necessary changes as they approach each new step. Board members will meet quarterly to discuss progress on the current consolidation plan.  

The decision comes after a year and a half of talks and opposition from some community members and staff who have raised concerns over the impact on students. 

Dozens of individuals showed up to the board special meeting Wednesday, pleading to keep schools open. Many community members said they felt ignored and that the decision goes against input provided by the committee and during town halls. 

“Begs the question, why have the advisory meetings and town halls if at the end of the day it’s just a math problem?” Rebecca Robinson, a Sunnyslope teacher, said during public comment.

But district officials have pointed to their troubling trends: Enrollment at the district is now roughly half of what it was a decade ago and officials expect that trend to continue. The district also faces a budget shortfall of $19 million and $15 million the following year, even as it plans on using most of its reserves to cover deficit spending. 

Officials agreed that it’s an emotional process. 

On Wednesday, board member Jose Lopez Eguino motioned to amend the resolution to leave out specific school names that will close with the exception of Central and have the district re-evaluate what other campuses should close at a later time. However, all the phases will remain as planned.  

Lopez Eguino also requested the district continue to invest in its current programs. Board members approved the resolution with those amendments. 

“There isn’t one community that wants to close schools,” said Superintendent Jose Espinoza. “Not one.”

In response to declining enrollment, officials formed the superintendent’s advisory committee, a group of parents, teachers and administrators tasked with providing a campus consolidation recommendation to the board. Community members provided input on suggestions given by the committee through a series of town halls.  

But earlier this month, South Bay Union board members ultimately zeroed in on Espinoza’s recommendation. In addition to Central, the superintendent had also identified Berry and Sunnyslope for closure.

Central Elementary will be the first campus to prepare for closure this year and shut its doors the following year. The district will repeat the process of preparing for the next closure and executing the following year until all three campuses are shut down by mid-2030.

Veronica Duarte, a teacher at Berry for over a decade, is among community members who pushed for school leaders to reconsider Berry’s closure to allow for a community schools grant to be implemented. Many families at the school are socioeconomically disadvantaged and rely on the food bank on campus and its closure will impact them, she told inewsource. 

“It’s a bad decision… it’s not in the best interest of students or the community,” she said. 

Each school closure could save the district between $400,000 to $900,000, with most of the savings coming from staffing cuts. 

Once Central closes, students from that campus will be distributed across Emory, Oneonta, Bayside and, potentially, Mendoza Elementary. 

The district will need to revisit its boundary lines to balance student enrollment across its campuses. It will also create a process that allows for school site input when developing specialized programs. Officials aim to implement the programs beginning in 2028-29, with the intent to attract and retain students. 

Despite the decision to close campuses, officials say long-term financial challenges remain. Identifying revenue to provide competitive compensation packages and cover increasing costs, including pensions and special education, will be an ongoing battle at South Bay Union. 

The district also plans to work on improving academics by focusing on standard-based instruction and professional development for staff, Rigo Lara, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, shared during Wednesday’s meeting.