Anger and frustration grew among parents in the South Bay as one of the largest school districts in the Bay Area continue to consider school closures.
Saturday, dozens of people attended a special School Board meeting at the San Jose Unified School District building, where the Board continued to discuss closing and consolidating elementary schools.
Concerned parents also marched from San Jose City Hall to the District’s Office.
“We are not accepting the idea that they are coming in and closing our schools,” Travis Curran, a parent, said.
San Jose Unified launched the Schools of Tomorrow initiative last year as a response to a decline in enrollment, letting the community know it could mean a reduced number of schools.
Under the plan, Empire Gardens, Lowell, Canoas, Terrell, Gardener elementary schools would close. Hammer Montessori would be relocated to the Gardener campus.
In a statement, the superintended said, in part, “We are proud that San Jose Unified families deeply value their schools, and we recognize school consolidations are a deeply personal topic because of their impacts on families and school communities. At the same time, thoughtful consolidations can greatly strengthen the educational resources and student support.”
Renata Sanchez with the San Jose Teacher’s Association said there wouldn’t be a reduction in staff.
“So, we would be able to take the two staffing sheets and put them together, consolidate resources together, and what that actually shows us is that every school that is on the consolidation list comes out not just with better resources by pushing the schools together, but even more expanded resources,” she explained.