Should San Juan Unified Consider Closing Low-Enrollment Schools?

The San Juan Unified School District has fewer students than it has had in more than a decade, and in the past 10 years the district has closed more than 10 schools.

Later this month, the district's board of education will discuss whether more under-enrolled schools should be considered for closure or new uses, or whether the district should wait after until a facilities master plan is completed this fall.

"We’re not to the point of any form of recommendation or solution at this point," district spokesman Trent Allen said in an email. "The May 28 item is just an opportunity for the board to look at process and timeline."

He stressed that not all under-enrolled schools are shuttered or merged.

"We have existing board policy that sets lower limits on school size," Allen wrote. "Typically when schools have approached that limit we’ve looked at consolidations, closures or other options. For example, in the case of Thomas Edison Elementary, we instituted a dual-language immersion program which has taken off and required us to move the school to a larger campus and change it into a K-8 rather than an Elementary."

The San Juan Unified School District Board of Education will discuss the item on May 28.