Sixth graders graduated. Kindergarteners blew bubbles. Then the school closed.

As sixth graders at Central Elementary in Imperial Beach lined up to receive their certificates of promotion on Friday, some of the younger students on campus blew bubbles, munched on snacks, and hung out with friends as teachers packed up their belongings inside classrooms once filled with color.  

The campus looked like most do on the last day of school. But next year, students won’t be returning. 

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said Arlett Slarich as she picked her son up from the same school she once attended with her sister and their cousins.

Last year, board members at the South Bay Union School District voted to close the campus and two others amid declining student enrollment and financial issues. Officials also postponed adding new specialized programs to hone in on improving academics. 

Each school closure is estimated to save the district between $400,000 to $900,000, with most of the savings coming from cuts to management and classified positions. 

A mid-year financial report listed the district’s operating budget at about $115 million with a $27 million shortfall. Officials project that enrollment — already half of what it was a decade ago — will continue to decline, meaning less funding for the district.

Several others across the state — and nation — are facing similar challenges. High housing costs, lower birth rates, migration pattern changes and an increased interest in alternative education are among some of the contributing factors.

The district redrew its school boundaries to balance enrollment across its campuses, according to officials. Next year, Central students will attend other elementary campuses in the district, including Emory, Oneonta, Bayside, and Mendoza. 

But not all parents are taking their kids to their new neighborhood school.  

Some of Central’s students are heading to a charter school within South Bay Union, others are transferring out of the district and a few are considering moving out of the beach city for school before the upcoming year.

Slarich is among the parents who have chosen to send their child to a charter school. Her son, a rising kindergartener, is set to attend Nestor Language Academy, a dual-immersion school. 

“I haven’t done the greatest job getting him to speak Spanish, so I knew I wanted that extra help,” she said. 

Inside Central’s cafeteria, family members filled the room with balloons, bouquets and leis in hand ahead of the sixth-grade promotion. Many graduating from elementary school that day dressed to the nines – some boys wore suits and ties, while some girls wore dresses and heels. 

Several students received special recognition, including a few who earned presidential awards for their high academic performance.

For nearly 75 years, students have walked through the school’s brick hallways, but those who are here now are the ones to close this chapter “and your place in this story will always be special,” Central Principal Edgardo Salazar said during his speech at Friday’s ceremony. Life isn’t easy, he added, and there will be things you didn’t expect, but what matters is how you respond. 

Near the end of the school day, two teachers set to retire after decades of working at the campus walked across a red paper-made carpet as staff and students cheered them along. Other staff members are set to work at another campus within the district in the upcoming school year. Some of them said they’re now working at multiple campuses because there aren’t similar full-time positions available at one of the district’s schools. 

But for some staff, like sixth-grade teacher Nallely Arellano, the future isn’t so clear.  

It’s her first year teaching at Central Elementary and her last. Arellano, among those who received a layoff notice earlier this year, told inewsource she wasn’t aware the school was closing until she attended her first staff meeting last year. 

Arrellano said she’s still waiting for the district to post another job she could apply for. But with the new school year beginning in a few weeks, she may have to consider applying at another district, she said.