{"id":244835,"date":"2026-03-31T09:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/244835\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:57:10","slug":"san-jose-usd-closes-5-elementary-schools-after-20-enrollment-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/244835\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose USD closes 5 elementary schools after 20% enrollment drop"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published on K-12 Dive<\/a>. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily K-12 Dive newsletter<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Dive Brief:<\/p>\n

San Jose Unified School District\u2019s board of education on Thursday approved a plan to close five of its 26 elementary schools by the end of the 2025-26 school year as the district faces ongoing enrollment challenges.<\/p>\n

The California district reported that its enrollment has dropped by 20% \u2014 or 6,000 students \u2014 since the 2017-18 school year. This is due to declining birthrates as well as the high cost of living in the Bay Area that is leading many families to move away, according to San Jose USD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Jose USD also expects its enrollment to continue decreasing. Between the 2025-26 and 2032-33 school years, enrollment is projected to dip by another 13% from 24,081 students to 21,186.<\/p>\n

Dive Insight:<\/p>\n

Elementary schools in San Jose USD are feeling the brunt of its enrollment declines: the number of primary schools with fewer than 350 students doubled from six to 12 since 2017-18, the district reports.<\/p>\n

The district announced it was considering possible school closures in September through its Schools of Tomorrow initiative<\/a>, which was established by the board of education through a committee of parents, teachers, principals and union representatives. The initiative was created to make \u201ca recommendation on the characteristics of an ideal elementary school,\u201d which could include reducing the number of schools to ensure more resources are available at each site, according to the September announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In November 2024, the district\u2019s $1.15 billion bond referendum passed, adding a new tax rate of $60 per $100,000 of a property\u2019s assessed value. The approved Measure R<\/a> provides the funds to San Jose USD to upgrade school campus safety systems, update classroom technology, repair old electrical systems, improve classrooms and labs for STEM and career and technical education uses, and provide affordable housing to the district\u2019s teachers and staff.<\/p>\n

As the district develops a school facilities plan using Measure R funds over the next two to three decades, San Jose USD said its Schools of Tomorrow process will \u201chelp us focus our facilities investments and ensure we are getting the most out of Measure R for our students, staff, and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the school closure transition process, San Jose USD will be providing additional resources and supports for families impacted as well as to the elementary schools that will be accepting the incoming students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These additional district supports will include free afterschool extracurricular activities for students from closed schools and increased funding for the receiving elementary schools to support student integration, culture and climate activities. The receiving schools will also be prioritized for facility improvements, including with Measure R funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s final recommendation report for school closures said its goal is not to save money \u2014 given that no San Jose USD employee will lose their job or pay from an impacted school. However, the district projects it will save $1,475,000 annually in facility costs at the campuses that will stop operating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Jose USD\u2019s enrollment challenges come as the entire state grapples with declining enrollment driven by decreasing birth rates and high costs of living, the district said in September. Districts nationwide are also beginning to make serious decisions about school closures tied to declining enrollment<\/a>, as seen lately in Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas. <\/p>\n

Recommended Reading <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was originally published on K-12 Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[27851,81683,88,90,89,86405,17257],"class_list":["post-244835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-board-of-education","tag-elementary-schools","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-school-closure","tag-school-closures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244835","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=244835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}