For this South Bay custodian, Central Elementary was a ‘second home.’ Now, it’s shutting down

Before dawn, Angel Gonzalez prepares for another work day as the head custodian at Central Elementary in Imperial Beach. 

He opens the school with a ring of keys and sweeps rainwater off the blacktop near a faded playground before staff and students trickle in. His house is two blocks away from the campus, but Central is like his second home, Gonzalez said. 

He remembers a different campus. A fuller campus. When he started the job over three decades ago, the student population was booming and the school needed portable classrooms. Working at Central gave Gonzalez — a high school graduate who became the sole provider for his family of six — financial stability and the means to pay off his home. 

But times have changed. 

Central Elementary is set to close its doors after 75 years of serving students in the heart of the beach community. It’s the first of three campuses that the South Bay Union School District plans to close in the coming years, with officials pointing to drops in birth rates and the area’s high cost of living among the reasons behind massive enrollment declines.

Hundreds of students at Central will be dispersed across other campuses next school year. And dozens of staff, including Gonzalez, may soon be out of a job. 

“It’s hurtful to know that schools are closing,” he said.

Financial pressures

The district has roughly 3,500 students at its non-charter campuses this year — less than half the amount it had at its peak before the turn of the century, enrollment data shows. Experts expect those numbers to worsen.

Administrators considered the cost of facility upgrades, campus sizes and the distribution of schools across the entire district when determining which sites to eliminate. Central needs approximately $50 million worth of renovations, the highest bill compared to any other South Bay Union school. 

School officials also needed to comply with recent state legislation that was prompted by a rise of districts in financial distress. This required them to consider specific metrics, including operating costs, associated savings and environmental factors, to ensure students are not disproportionately impacted.

But many district community members worry Central’s closure will have rippling effects. Several parents say they’re concerned about their child losing access to the after-school program on campus. Some of them walk to the campus from their home to pick up their children at 6 p.m, but will no longer be able to because of a lack of transportation, afterschool program staff told inewsource.   

Meanwhile, financial challenges are mounting in the South Bay Union. 

Officials say one-time funding provided during the COVID-19 pandemic kept the district afloat over the past half-decade. Now its nearly $115 million budget faces a roughly $27 million shortfall and the district is projected to operate its remaining schools in a deficit until at least mid-2028, according to financial records released last month. 

But the district is not alone. From west to east, several schools in the country are navigating similar issues and have already decided to consolidate or are considering it. Districts will be forced to reduce their workforce and potentially close some of its campuses over the next couple of years as they operate with smaller budgets, experts say.

In California, public schools receive funding based on attendance, so fewer students reduces the money districts have to operate. But South Bay Union leaders also say they’ve been challenged with rising expenses, including salaries, special education and liability insurance, which changed significantly over the last couple of years after the annual budget had already been adopted.

The district will meet its financial obligations through the next two years by using most of its reserves to cover deficit spending, financial records further show.  

Board members plan to hold a study session to discuss budget reductions later this month. 

Superintendent Jose Espinoza has said layoffs are likely. 

Central staff have yet to hear whether they will be transferred to another site. The state requires districts to give formal notice by March 15 that staff may be released the following school year. 

South Bay Union is also facing financial pressure from its staff. 

The teachers union has been negotiating with the district on new terms since May 2024. That contract has since expired and they’ve yet to reach a deal in some areas, including pay.

Some teachers say the ongoing delay has impacted them financially and has eroded trust, morale and stability across the district. A few teachers have left, some classrooms are being covered by staff who aren’t qualified and it’s been difficult to attract talent, said union president Vanessa Barrera. 

This year, Central had to hire four teachers after some quit with news of the school’s closure, Principal Edgardo Salazar, told inewsource. 

District officials have said a pay increase and additional support is not financially feasible at the moment as they need to be conservative with reserves. They aim to have a reserve for economic uncertainties of about 5% of its total expenditures, which would allow the district to sustain operations for about 18 business days before running out of funds. 

The union and district are now in the fact-finding process. Teachers are prepared to strike later this month if the two parties fail to agree.

“South Bay cannot simply continue a culture of divisiveness,” said board member Kelly Leiker during a meeting last month. “We must work together if we expect to overcome our challenges.”

Uncertain future

Back on campus, Gonzalez is known as Mr. Angel. From the smallest to the tallest, some students at Central enjoy helping him by opening up trash bags or putting away chairs.

He treats students on campus much like his own, teaching them about respect and encouraging them to eat their food.

Gonzalez was a South Bay Union student himself. And all four of Gonzalez’s children attended Central. Two of them still live at home. He took on the second mortgage to expand their household.

Gonzalez is one of Central’s longest-serving employees. In 2024, he was named the district’s classified employee of the year. Salazar, the school’s principal, described Gonzalez at the time as “a good person with a heart of gold.” 

“I like what I’m doing,” Gonzalez said. “I will miss it.” 

It’s unknown exactly what will happen to Central Elementary once the campus closes, though officials have said it could be transformed into affordable housing for teachers in the district. 

Uncertainty also looms over Gonzalez. 

He said he hopes to work at another campus within the district. Though he would consider a severance package in exchange for retiring early, he said he would be forced to retire before he’s financially ready.

He would need to work at least two more years to be able to qualify for Social Security to help afford his bills, including health insurance for his wife and his second mortgage.

“I try to just, you know, prepare myself for that. I mean, nobody's prepared for losing a job,” he said.