District Recommends Closure of James W Marshall Elementary Among 10 Others

Nearly a year after Trustees from Sacramento City Unified School District voted to close one school due to diminishing enrollment, 11 more have been optioned for closure for similar reasons, according to a SCUSD announcement.

The announcement came Wednesday afternoon. In it, SCUSD officials made recommendations for school closures that will be discussed by the Board of Education at its meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17. Among the schools under discussion include Rosemont's James W Marshall Elementary School.

According to the release, "to 'right-size' SCUSD, which has too many schools serving a declining number of students, staff is recommending the closure of 11 dramatically under-enrolled elementary schools."

Schools on the list are:

1. Fruit Ridge
2. James W Marshall
3. Washington
4. Tahoe
5. C.P. Huntington
6. Susan B. Anthony
7. Bret Harte
8. Joseph Bonnheim
9. Mark Hopkins
10. C.B. Wire
11. Maple

This list was determined by evaluating enrollment at these campuses versus capacity, according to the release, and the 11 schools slated for closure are all operating at less than 50 percent of capacity.

The under performance is being characterized as a drain on resources from other students and other schools. District-wide, SCUSD elementary schools operate at just 56 percent of capacity, according to the release.

In the release, officials made the following statement:

Closing schools is a difficult and painful process and SCUSD will make every effort to ease this transition for impacted families and staff. Right-sizing is the right move financially and it benefits students by reducing the number of split-grade classrooms, concentrating needed resources on fewer campuses and increasing safety at campuses.

The Board of Education is scheduled to discuss right-sizing at its meeting Thursday and individual community meetings will be held at all 11 sites prior to the Board taking final action on Feb. 21.