Concerned families, teachers, and community members packed the house at the San Jose Unified School District’s community meeting Tuesday evening after receiving news last week that up to a third of its elementary schools may be shuttered due to a 20 percent drop in enrollment.
As Bay Area News Group reports, the San Jose Unified School District created a “Schools of Tomorrow” committee last fall consisting of parents, district staff, school employees, and educators to come up with a plan to address the loss of almost 6,000 enrolled elementary school students since 2017. As KTVU reports, the committee will be considering school sizes, programming, and staffing when weighing its decision, which could include the closure of up to nine schools, consolidations, or boundary changes.
Per Bay Area News Group, more than 250 attendees showed up in person at the San Jose Unified School District office Tuesday evening, filling the meeting and overflow rooms to capacity with some gathering outside the building, along with 1,000 additional people attending the virtual livestream. Parents were reportedly given three options to consider Tuesday, which consisted of differing choices regarding which schools would be closed or consolidated…