San Jose school districts forced to consider campus closures

 Declining enrollment rates are forcing school districts across San Jose to stare down campus closures and sharp budget cuts. California education data shows almost every school district in the city has faced enrollment declines over the past decade. Families are being priced out of San Jose because of increasing costs of living — and as students leave the districts, so does the money tied to enrollment and attendance. Berryessa Union School District (BUSD) in North San Jose recently launched a task force to assess potential school closures and strategize for $6 million in funding reductions. The monthslong process has included numerous public meetings and discussions, a school district spokesperson told San José Spotlight, and members of the School Consolidation Advisory Committee hope to come back with a plan by Oct. 16. Enrollment at BUSD has declined about 22% since 2014, with the number of students going from more than 7,700 to roughly 6,000, state data shows. The school district has 13 campuses. The California Department of Finance projects the trend of declining enrollments will continue into the next decade statewide. “California schools have been under unprecedented financial challenge as a result of declining enrollment and the loss of one-time pandemic related funding that has now disappeared,” BUSD Chief Business Officer Kevin Franklin told San José Spotlight. “We know we will get through this challenging and unavoidable process and will work to not only maintain, but improve the quality of the education our students receive.” A BUSD teacher, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the district, told San José Spotlight as funding decreases, teachers will see less support staff and counselors for students. “With the declining budget, you’re just not gonna be able to keep the facilities operating as they were,” they told San José Spotlight. “The budget isn’t just being affected by student decline, it is also the result of the state budgets shrinking.” Alum Rock Union School District (ARUSD) is facing similar funding issues as its board voted unexpectedly earlier this year to fire Superintendent Hilaria Bauer after she proposed a school closure. ARUSD faces multiple potential school closures — though interim Superintendent Manny Barbara said nothing has been decided. “I’m going to suggest the process Thursday to the board for them to consider, and that will involve creating a task force with stakeholders that will meet over the next few months and gather information, then make a recommendation to the board in December,” he told San José Spotlight. But school consolidations doesn’t mean there is a lack of student services, Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools and San José Spotlight columnist Mary Ann Dewan said. “Families that are already in the district can anticipate they’re still going to have high-quality education programs for their children,” she told San José Spotlight. “It might mean families who have been attending a particular school site may be requested to attend at a different school.” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2024-25 state budget called for using almost all of California’s $8.4 billion education rainy day fund to help cover its budget deficit going into the current fiscal year. The budget also suspended $8.3 billion in education funding from Proposition 98, a constitutional amendment passed in 1988, that established a minimum funding level for grades K-14 from the state each year. The new state budget outlines at least $4 billion in repayment to the fund based on tax revenues. David Cohen, a San Jose councilmember and former BUSD board member, said school districts across the South Bay are facing funding issues, but he’s glad to see his former school district establish a public process to explain why cost cuts are being made. “Young families and people with kids can no longer afford to move into this area,” he told San José Spotlight. “A lot of the homes in Berryessa are people who have not sold them and are staying, which means we have older residents who already had kids – and their kids have grown up and left the house.”