Sacramento school closures? Board to start discussing ‘reimagined’ facilities plan
In 2016, more than 41,000 kids attended one of the 71 sites in Sacramento City Unified School District. Today that enrollment number has dwindled to around 36,000. Despite hemorrhaging 10% of its students in under a decade, the district still operates the same number of schools.
The fact that more than half of the district’s schools are operating under 70% of their capacity is a financial liability, according to the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a state agency that helps districts stay financially solvent.
Official talks to reassess the district’s facilities plan will begin Thursday at a special board meeting. The eventual outcome of this discussion could be school consolidations and closures.
As the district has sought to make immediate cuts to stave off a ballooning deficit, officials must also plan ahead to cut spending through 2028, when the shortfall is expected to reach more than $300 million. One aspect the district’s fiscal solvency plan is to discuss “facilities and optimization planning.”
Student enrollment is declining across California, but Sacramento City Unified is losing students at a rate slightly higher than the state average. California’s student population has dropped by 8% in the past decade.
‘Reimagining’ the district might mean closures
Board President Tara Jeane announced the special meeting at a meeting last week, floating the question, “what if we were to reimagine our school district (facilities) based on who we are today?”
Jeane expanded on this idea in an interview, sharing a list of questions on her mind when approaching the prospect of school consolidation and closures: “Where would we build schools? Where are they currently located? What educational programs need to be provided and where? What is common at every school and what is specialty? How will enrollment boundaries change? How would transportation services change?”
She mentioned three schools in her trustee area: Crocker Riverside, Bret Harte and Leataata Floyd, which are fairly close to each other. Crocker Riverside is over enrolled to the point where the district is considering replacing its grass fields with artificial turf due to high foot traffic. The other two schools are underenrolled and feature a much larger number of high-needs students.
Jeane used the example not to say that any of the three were in danger of closing, but to point out one of the enrollment quagmires in the district that covers 70 square miles.
“This needs to be equitable — it’s reimagining what’s best for our students at our core,” she said. “We’re not going to look at schools that are underenrolled and close them for that reason.”
When will Sacramento school closures happen?
Jeane emphasized that this special board meeting is the first of many in a slow-moving process and that no action is slated to be taken. Facilities administrator Chris Ralston will present a facilities “optimization and consolidation plan” at Thursday’s meeting, according to the agenda.
“It’s really important that we do this as thoughtfully and stragetically as possible, making sure we include the voices in the room who need to be there at the right time,” she said.
The published agenda does not include any informational materials and Ralston was not available for an interview Tuesday.
Right now there is no stated timeline on potential changes nor a list of schools that could be affected. But with so many schools operating well under capacity, closures are a likely outcome. By Jeane’s napkin math, the district could close up to 20 schools while maintaining a seat for every current SCUSD student.
But Jeane is focused on rooting the process in equity and using the situation as an opportunity to optimize operations.
“I want parents to know that our ultimate goal is that every student gets the education they deserve and we are asking ‘are we doing this currently in a way that optimizes our resources?’” she said. “I get that the trust right now in Sac City doing things well is frayed and run thin but I want to show that we are going to do this well.”
