2 more South Bay Union schools set to close

South Bay Union board members voted to close two more campuses Wednesday as the school district continues to struggle with declining student enrollment and financial issues. 

The board unanimously agreed to close Sunnyslope Elementary at the end of the 2028-29 year and Berry Elementary after the 2031-32 year. Officials also decided to use bond money and site funds to implement a plan for maintenance, replacement and improvements for Nestor Language Academy.

Moreover, new specialized magnet programs will be postponed for three years to focus on standards-based instruction at the district. Officials will later incorporate school site input to create a new program to attract and retain students and improve academic outcomes. 

The vote comes after the board already decided to close Central Elementary at the end of this school year. 

South Bay Union schools have lost nearly half of the enrollment they had a decade ago. Experts expect another loss of about 20% by 2034. 

This year, roughly 3,500 students are enrolled in the district — about 30 fewer than anticipated. That overestimate translated to a loss of funding of about $160,000, adding to a roughly $2 million loss in revenue projected earlier this year, according to district officials. 

The district also is operating with a structural deficit, meaning officials are spending more money than the revenue coming in. That comes as the district continues to face inflation and rising costs for special education and liability insurance. The district’s ending balance for its unrestricted fund will dwindle from roughly $28.5 million this year to less than $7 million by the 2027-28 year, according to an interim financial report released this month. 

Officials said staff will present a budget reduction plan in January. 

However, the board still approved the district’s budget with a positive certification during Wednesday’s meeting, meaning that it will be able to meet its fiscal obligations for the current and next two fiscal years. 

Under-enrolled schools cause the district to use a disproportionate share of resources to operate them and reduce available funding for its other campuses, impacting the ability to provide quality instruction and services, according to the district. 

Some parents on Wednesday raised concerns about student-to-staff ratios, particularly in special education. 

Officials previously said they aim to notify staff of their new assignments within a few months. Superintendent Jose Espinoza has said that layoffs are likely.

Starting next year, students from Central will attend Bayside STEAM Academy, Emory Elementary, Mendoza Elementary or Oneonta Elementary. 

The district will revise its attendance boundaries after each school closure in an effort to balance students throughout its campuses and review enrollment and financial data to make changes if needed.

Last month, the district established new boundaries to respond to the planned closure of Central. But some community members at that time had taken issue with the proposed maps showing Sunnyslope would close — even though the board had yet to vote on such a decision. 

Back in May, the board voted to close some campuses, specifically approving plans to shut down Central. But while closing Berry and Sunnyslope was also up for a vote that night, members decided against naming additional schools after pressure from the community.

Teachers to strike amid district’s enrollment, funding challenges

The district’s biggest revenue source comes from California’s Local Control Funding Formula. Although the formula has led to an increase in revenue per student for South Bay Union, declining enrollment continues to have an impact, officials said. Its local control funding has declined by about 10% since the 2022-23 school year.

Special education is also not appropriately funded by the state and federal government. The cost to fund those services exceeded the district’s contribution last year and will continue through the following year. 

And on average, the yearly inflation rate is about 3%, but officials said it’s much higher for some of the district’s expenses, including liability insurance, which has gone up by about half — more than $800,000 — since mid-2022.   

Meanwhile, the teachers union has been negotiating with the district on new terms since May 2024. But the two parties have yet to reach a deal and are heading into a process known as fact-finding. 

If they don’t come to an agreement, teachers are preparing to strike as early as January. 

Several of them say the delay has impacted them financially.   

Some teachers have also left the district and it’s become difficult to attract talent, the union’s president Vanessa Barrera said earlier this year. 

“If the door is closed, if the teachers are driven away, and if this money remains locked in a chest while the community crumbles, then the future I see is bleak indeed,” Barrera said during Wednesday’s board meeting. “A school is not a line item on a spreadsheet. It is the soul of the neighborhood.”

However, district officials have said a pay bump and additional support is not feasible at the moment, and they need to be conservative with reserves to cover costs once covered by one-time funding provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.