The Franklin-McKinley School District in San Jose will briefly delay its plan to close or consolidate school campuses to shrink the district’s $22.9 million budget deficit after a contentious three-hour school board meeting ended in a stalemate.
The decision — now expected in two weeks — comes as the district faces a financial crisis stemming from years of declining enrollment and budget challenges. Jason Vann, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, said Franklin-McKinley has discussed closing or consolidating schools for years, but was able to delay action due to temporary pandemic relief funding that has been “fully exhausted.”
Now, the district must identify more than $20 million in budget cuts before July in order to avoid running out of cash and handing over control to the county or state.
“If we don’t do anything right now, by January we will be bankrupt,” said board member Steven Sanchez. “We will not be able to pay our teachers by next January if we do nothing.”
Franklin-McKinley joins a lengthy list of Bay Area schools scrambling to repair school budgets as declining birth rates, the rising cost of living in the Bay Area and families leaving the region have exacerbated the financial hit of declining enrollment on school districts. California school enrollment dropped by nearly 15,000 students to 5.8 million students for the 2023-24 school year, marking the seventh consecutive year of statewide declines.
In December, Alum Rock Union School District in East San Jose announced plans to close or merge 13 schools by the end of next year to tackle the district’s $20 million budget shortfall. Oakland Unified is also considering merging 10 schools to close the district’s $174 million two-year budget deficit, while San Francisco Unified announced a plan in October to close 13 elementary schools and two high schools to balance its $113 million budget crisis. Hayward Unified and Fremont Unified also face steep budget cuts to balance shortfalls of $50 million and $35 million, respectively.
Franklin-McKinley serves more than 5,700 transitional kindergarten through eighth grade students in 16 schools. More than 70% of the district’s students are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged and 45% are classified as English language learners, according to state data.
In September, the district’s board of education voted to establish a committee tasked with identifying which schools to close or consolidate. That committee – made up of 22 parents, staff and community members – recommended closing at least three schools – Los Arboles Literacy and Technology Academy, Ramblewood Elementary and McKinley Elementary – with the potential of also closing Captain Jason M. Dahl Elementary, Santee Elementary and R.F. Kennedy Elementary.
The district’s superintendent, Juan Cruz, said the district also faces significant layoffs of teachers, support staff and administrators in addition to the staff of any closed campuses. Cruz said the school closures and consolidation would only amount to $5 million in budget cuts, while the rest would be personnel cuts. District staff said personnel costs make up about 75% of the district’s operating budget.
But community members pointed out that the schools identified for closure are in low-income areas and serve higher-need students who would be inequitably impacted, especially at the Los Arboles and McKinley campuses, where many families don’t have a car or access to transportation.
“We need more time. Other cities have closed schools to the detriment of the surrounding communities,” said Celeste Dolezal, a special education teacher at Dahl Elementary. “These are not questions that should be still unanswered at this, the eleventh hour.”
Senator Dave Cortese, who represents Santa Clara County, also implored board members to delay the decision on school closures until after the governor’s May budget revision, which will shed light on anticipated school funding and potential relief funding for local districts.
Ultimately, the board voted 3-2 to delay the decision.
“We have sought out financial assistance, we’ve looked at other options,” Sanchez said. “But the fact of the matter remains that we still have lost 40% of our enrollment since 2010. Over half of our schools are 50% used or less. This is something that is not sustainable.”