You can view the above update in Spanish here. 

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Brief Overview

Newark has more building needs than bond dollars to fix them. We have more elementary school campuses than we have students to fill them. So staff have recommended merging two pairs of elementary schools – and investing $70m of our bond dollars into each of those campuses to rebuild them.

The recommendation:

• Birch Grove Primary (BGP) and Birch Grove Intermediate (BGI) would merge into one school, with a rebuilt campus at BGP.
• Lincoln and Schilling would merge into one school, with a rebuilt campus at Schilling.
• Coyote Hills and Kennedy would not change.

At the 10/6 Board meeting, staff will be making a recommendation but no votes will be taken.

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Detailed Overview

Why we're considering this now

We have fewer students. A decade ago, NUSD served about 6,000 students. Today we serve about 4,200. Our high school classes are also bigger than our elementary classes. That tells us enrollment will keep slowly declining unless we bring families back.

We believe larger elementary schools better serve students. Our average elementary school has about 350 students. The state average is about 440. Small schools have real strengths – everyone knows everyone. They also have real trade-offs. More combo classes. Teachers with nobody at their grade level to plan with. Fewer enrichment activities. And when there's only one class per grade, a class with 22 boys and 6 girls stays that way. Right now we believe larger schools could improve the learning environment.

Inaction is costing us. With 5% inflation, we lose over $10m annually of purchasing power on our $205m Measure O bond. Our 2019 facilities master plan, adjusted for today's construction costs, identified about $700 million in needs. We don't have enough to fix everything - and waiting means we have less money to improve our schools.

 

Why these schools

As part of the Superintendent's listening campaign, combining these two pairs of schools kept coming up. When we spent time analyzing the data, the data reinforced the community's intuition. California lays out for districts considering school closures. Those include facility condition, capacity, special programs, traffic, transportation, student demographics, and the effect on the surrounding neighborhood. Then we added the factors we heard from the community: school size, keeping a school within reach of every neighborhood, and not spending bond dollars on buildings we can't fill.

The data also suggests that four elementary schools strikes the best balance for the long term. It brings our average school to about 500 students, or roughly three to four classes per grade. That's the range we've heard most often from staff and families. It leaves room to grow, and it keeps schools spread across the city. Going to three schools would leave parts of Newark without a school nearby.

 

How we would do it

How we do this matters more than anything else. The recommendation is built on a few principles:

• Merge and rebuild. Every merger comes with a new campus.
• No layoffs. Staff would move with their students. We'd accept being overstaffed for a while and let natural attrition bring us back into balance.
• Keep communities whole. Schools merge together. Students aren't scattered. Catchment zones would be merged together - not sliced and diced.
• Honor traditions. Over the coming years we'll work with the school communities to keep what makes each school special, and build new traditions together.
• Give early notice. Families and staff deserve time to plan – this winter, not next spring.

 

What it could mean for your school

These timelines are approximate. They depend on Board approval, design, and state approvals.

Schilling: Schilling families would feel this the most. Schilling would move to the Lincoln campus first – as early as fall 2027 – while its own campus is rebuilt. The combined school would move into the new Schilling campus around fall 2031. Some current Schilling students would move without ever attending the new school. Current TK and kindergarten students would move twice.

Lincoln: Lincoln would stay on its campus and welcome Schilling, with added classrooms. Most current Lincoln students would finish elementary school at Lincoln. Current TK and kindergarten students would likely finish at the new Schilling campus.

BGP: BGP would move to the BGI campus – as early as summer 2027, but more likely summer 2028 – while its campus is rebuilt. The combined school would move into the new BGP campus ~4 years later. Most current BGP students would move to BGI on their normal schedule. Current TK students would move twice.

BGI: No current BGI student would change campuses. BGI would add classrooms to welcome BGP.

Coyote Hills and Kennedy: No changes. We'll continue to address critical repairs.

In the meantime, campuses would feel fuller, with more students sharing playgrounds, fields, and multipurpose rooms.

 

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Frequently asked questions

Is this about saving money? No. Once you account for students we may lose during a transition, the savings are small – and could turn into a cost. We're doing this because it's the right size and shape for our schools over the long term.

Is this based on test scores? No. We did not look at school performance when choosing which schools to merge. We're planning buildings that will serve Newark kids for decades.

Why not reopen Snow or Musick? Both have sat empty for years. Rebuilding them would cost much more than rebuilding a campus we use today. The Board has directed staff to explore leasing Snow.

What happens to the Lincoln and BGI campuses after the new schools open? That hasn't been decided. Neither campus would be empty until around 2031 and 2032. We're starting with Snow, and what we learn there will shape what comes next.

Why start with elementary schools instead of NMHS or the middle school? Both schools need serious investment. We did look at putting most of the bond into Newark Memorial. However, a few factors made it more logical to invest in elementary schools. 1) High school projects can be extremely expensive; it's possible to spend the entire bond at NMHS and not have folks feel like we built a new school. 2) High school projects are extremely complex - we want to rebuild our muscle on building schools before tackling our largest school. 3) NMHS has received real new investment (e.g. the stadium, the STAR Lab) more recently than the elementary schools overall.

What about special education programs? BGI, BGP, and Lincoln each have a special day class today. Those programs would continue in the merged schools. After-school programs are expected to stay in place.

What would the merged schools be called? We know that merging traditions is the hardest part of mergers. We want to work with each school community in a respectful, thoughtful, and paced way on the best way to integrate these communities -- including names.

Will this fix all of our facilities? No. Even with this plan, we'll still have significant needs at Coyote Hills, Kennedy, Newark Middle School, and Newark Memorial.

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