The South Bay’s largest school district is losing students.
San Jose Unified School District officials on Wednesday will review a 200-page report on which neighborhoods are shrinking the fastest.
In 2016, about 30,000 students belonged to the San Jose Unified School District. By 2023, the district expects that fewer than 27,000 students will enroll – which is a loss of 3,500 students or a 12 percent drop, the report says.
The report indicates that the ever-rising cost of living in San Jose and the shortage of single-family homes are to blame.
While the heart of Silicon Valley is experiencing a construction boom, most of the new residential developments feature apartments and condos, best suited for smaller families or people without children, according to the report.
Empire Gardens in north San Jose is the part of the district projected to dwindle the most over the next seven years.
Funding is tied to enrollment, so the district is now trying to figure out what this will mean for neighborhood schools.
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It’s early in the process so a district spokesman said nothing – and everything – is on the table.
The most drastic option would be closing schools, followed by reworking boundaries. Teachers could also be laid off because fewer students translate to fewer classes.
The committee that will come up with an action plan will get its first look at the report Wednesday night.
A board-appointed committee has identified eight schools to move to the next phase of possible recommendation for closure: Miner, Anderson, Baldwin, Del Roble, Frost, Glider, Oak Ridge, and Santa Teresa.
On Dec. 4, the public is invited to provide input on the five schools identified in the South Region. Another community forum will be held on Dec. 11 for the public to provide input on the three schools identified in the West Region.
