LAUSD begins to make the case for school closures, with many questions yet to be answered

The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking the first steps to reshape the country’s second-largest school district and the education of more than 300,000 students.

More than 40% fewer students attend LAUSD schools than in the early 2000s, yet the district operates nearly the same number of campuses.

“Our goal is not just to have fewer schools,” said Superintendent Andrés Chait during a September board meeting. “Our goal is to have stronger schools.”

LAUSD concluded the first round of public meetings Monday in a process that could lead to a board vote on school closures within the next year. And under growing scrutiny from state and L.A. County officials, district administrators are also considering a series of budget cuts that could lead to the elimination of thousands of jobs to avoid running out of money.

Gates Street Elementary parent Maria Tellos attended a community meeting at Roybal Learning Center Monday.

“I want to see accountability from LAUSD,” Tellos said. “I want to ask questions and see what their answers are.”

But at this point, the district doesn’t have answers to many of the questions Tellos and others are asking about which schools could be closed and when — and that’s by design.

“Right now it's about just establishing the ‘why.’ Like, why do we even need to have this conversation?” said Pedro Salcido, a deputy superintendent, at the start of the meeting.

The district’s budget problems

The decision to close schools is among the most controversial and emotionally charged decisions a district can make. School closures can displace students, shutter community gathering places and fan outrage from families, community members and alumni.

The district started its campaign — “Stronger Schools Together” — with a series of in-person and virtual community meetings across the district.

LAist attended Monday’s meeting, which was targeted toward families in the eastern part of the district and a virtual meeting on Oct. 7 for those in the south.

In both, the district outlined the factors officials say are at the root of its upcoming decisions.

LAUSD enrolled more than 700,000 students in the early 2000s. The short-term solutions to overcrowding included building temporary classrooms (called bungalows) and operating more than 200 campuses year-round.

The district asked voters to approve more than $20 billion in bond funding between 1997 and 2008 — paid back through property tax increases — and built 131 new schools.

By the time the last school opened in 2017, enrollment was already falling.

Declining birth rates, Southern California’s high cost of living for families and competition from publicly funded charter schools mean fewer students attending LAUSD schools. More recently, the district has linked widespread and sometimes violent immigration enforcement actions to a decline in students who are new to the country or concerned about the safety of themselves or family members.

In the last decade, statewide enrollment has decreased by 8%, about 500,000 students, according to the most recent data from the California Department of Education.

What happens when schools lose students?

In California, enrollment drives school funding and helps determine the resources a school gets, including teachers and other support staff. And that means schools can lose resources as a consequence of enrolling fewer students.

For example, small elementary schools may not have enough students to fill each grade level and may have to combine two grades into a single classroom.

Smaller high schools may not be able to offer as many electives or advanced classes where students can earn college credit and bolster their applications to competitive schools.

The district outlined some scenarios for reducing the number of schools:

• Merging schools, including some that already share a campus, into a single school
• Closing a school and repurposing the campus

The next step in the process is for the district to seek more community input and create a framework for evaluating which schools would be targeted for closure or consolidation.

What information will be used to make decisions?

The school board would need to vote to approve the framework and any recommended closures.

In a September school board meeting, Chait said that any school identified for potential closure would be notified at least one academic year before shutting down or merging with another campus. However, Chait said there could be an exception for school communities actively seeking consolidation.

At this same meeting, district staff presented the plan for closures and consolidations; board members’ reactions ranged from enthusiastic to unhappy.

“I’m excited we’re getting started on this,” said Tanya Ortiz Franklin, a board member who represents District 7, from South L.A. to the harbor area. “As hard as it’s going to be, I know it’s important.”

Ortiz Franklin was also one of several board members who raised concerns that schools serving low-income, Black and Latino students could be disproportionately targeted for closure or consolidation.

Research shows school closures can have a negative impact on students' academic outcomes in the short term and beyond graduation — and these closures have often disproportionately hurt Black and Latino students.

“It’s been mostly vulnerable communities that have been historically disadvantaged, that have suffered school closures,” said Karla Griego, a board member who represents District 5’s Northeast and Southwest L.A. neighborhoods. “So this doesn’t make me happy, and I’m going to be very honest.”

It’s also unclear how much money — if any — might be saved if LAUSD closes schools.

The district’s $3.5 billion budget-cutting plan outlines $30 million in savings from school consolidation starting in the 2028-29 school year. But the money saved from campus closures could be lost again by students leaving the district as a result of the shutdowns, according to a Stanford review of California public school data between 2011 and 2019.

‘We just don’t know’

At Monday’s community meeting at Roybal Learning Center, about a dozen community members were outnumbered by district staff in a room set up for more than 100. A district spokesperson said in a statement that more than 1,400 people attended the eight meetings spread across L.A. Meetings targeting the Eastside had the lowest participation.

Tellos, the Gates Street Elementary parent, is part of Reclaim Our Schools LA, a coalition that advocates against privatizing public education. She said the recently announced federal immigration enforcement crackdown in California deterred Eastside families from attending.

Tellos said she hopes future convenings will be held at more local schools where families feel safer gathering.

“It just feels very overwhelming to think that our schools could no longer be there,” Tellos said. “We just don't know what's gonna happen.”

An LAUSD spokesperson said in a statement that the district will hold more informational sessions through November, with more in-depth meetings in the late fall and winter.

Jewel Brown, principal at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, said she was leaving the meeting with a “sense of urgency” to figure out how to shield her campus from potential cuts.

“This feels almost like the greatest budget deficit that I would say I've navigated through in my 25 years of experience [in LAUSD],” Brown said. “I'm worried, but I also know I just need to equally be prepared.”

Kimberly Soto, 16, a junior at Roosevelt High School who’s part of an activism club called Students Deserve, was one of the few students at the meeting.

She left with a long list of questions about what life on a consolidated campus would be like: How will students get to school? Will the hallways be crowded?

“I want to get more students involved in, like, knowing what's happening also so they could have a say,” Soto said.

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