Manny Barbara, right, and new Alum Rock Superintendent. German Cerda discuss plans to transition the district to fewer schools.
Photo by John Fensterwald/EdSource
Takeaways From Manny Barbara’s school-closure playbook:
- Allow plenty of time; let the closure process play itself out.
- Create a fully representative advisory committee without board members, and protect confidential discussions.
- Celebrate the closure of a school with a community event.
- Principals must take the lead to welcome parents, students and staffs to their new schools.
Alum Rock Union Elementary District in East San Jose was out of time. By last fall, it had spent down most its savings; enrollment, more than 16,000 K-8 students in the early 2000s, had dropped to 7,300 and was headed to under 6,000.
The state was threatening to take it over.
With more than two-thirds of its 21 schools at less than 50% capacity, the…
