Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\nThe San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) is considering closing up to nine elementary schools as early as August, a move met with opposition from thousands of parents. Despite the outcry, Superintendent Nancy Albarr\u00e1n has not indicated a willingness to reconsider the closures, leading to calls for new district leadership. The district plans to consolidate schools to achieve an ‘ideal’ size, but parents and students maintain their schools already provide a high-quality education. The potential closures also raise equity concerns, as a racially integrated school is slated for closure and a disproportionate number of Black students could be displaced.<\/p>\n
Why it matters<\/p>\n
School closures, even under normal circumstances, can have negative impacts on student outcomes and community well-being. The current proposal, coupled with concerns about the district’s leadership and a lack of transparency, raises serious questions about the priorities guiding these decisions. The closures could disrupt the lives of thousands of students, including young children and special education students.<\/p>\n
The details<\/p>\n
SJUSD is funded by local property taxes and, unlike some districts, is not financially obligated to close schools. In November 2024, voters approved Measure R, providing the district with $1.15 billion in bonds for school repairs and improvements. However, the district is now pursuing school closures instead of utilizing these funds as intended. A civil grand jury described SJUSD’s leadership culture as characterized by ‘tolerance for verbally abusive behaviors, lack of a safe space to communicate, (and) low morale.’ The school board is the only entity with the power to address these concerns by removing the superintendent.<\/p>\n
The San Jose Unified School District is considering closing up to nine elementary schools as early as August 2026.In November 2024, voters approved Measure R, providing the district with $1.15 billion in bonds for school repairs and improvements.
\n The players<\/p>\n
Nancy Albarr\u00e1n<\/p>\n
The Superintendent of the San Jose Unified School District who has not indicated a willingness to reconsider the school closures.<\/p>\n
Seth Reddy<\/p>\n
The Chief Business Officer of the San Jose Unified School District, who is a graduate of the Broad Academy and Broad Residency programs.<\/p>\n
Rachel Carson Elementary<\/p>\n
A racially integrated school that is slated for closure as part of the proposed school consolidation plan.<\/p>\n
David Goldberg<\/p>\n
The president of the California Teachers Association, who stated that ‘Closing schools is the last thing we should be doing. Schools are a safety net in so many communities. \u2026 Disrupting that is a setback that is hard to undo.’<\/p>\n
SJUSD Teachers Union President<\/p>\n
The president of the San Jose Unified School District’s teachers union, who has expressed support for the school closures, a position potentially influenced by the fact that the union president automatically serves on the Superintendent’s cabinet.<\/p>\n
Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n\u201cClosing schools is the last thing we should be doing. Schools are a safety net in so many communities. \u2026 Disrupting that is a setback that is hard to undo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 David Goldberg, President of the California Teachers Association<\/p>\n
The takeaway<\/p>\n
The proposed school closures in San Jose raise serious concerns about the district’s leadership, transparency, and priorities. With the availability of $1.15 billion in bond funds for school improvements, the decision to pursue closures instead has left many parents and community members questioning the district’s motives and commitment to providing quality education for all students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on Feb. 20, 2026 Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The San Jose Unified School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-187446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}