Inglewood parents concerned about potential school closures

As a mom, thoughts of school closures in Inglewood have Fre'Drisha Dixon heartbroken. However, as the lead of the Statewide Partnership for Local School Control, it fuels her fire. 

"it makes me feel like I have to fight even harder," she said.

Dixon is a legal professional who coordinated a coalition of parents and community leaders advocating for keeping Inglewood schools open. She said Inglewood Unified School District plans to close three more schools are set to close: Hudlow Elementary, Highland Elementary and the iconic Morningside High School. At last week's district board meeting, parents expressed concern about potential closures. 

Dixon said possible school closures are all about money and developing more in Inglewood.

"The Inglewood School district is the largest owner of land in Inglewood," she said. "Mayor Butts has a desire to turn Inglewood into an entertainment capital."

With the additions of SoFi Stadium and the Youtube Theater and the soon-to-be-opened Clippers stadium, Inglewood has grown significantly over the last decade. However, parents said schools are feeling the opposite effect, with four schools within the Inglewood Unified School District closing since 2019. 

The school board president said the decision to close schools did not come easily. It also said they have felt a significant drop in enrollment in the last 20 years. 

In 2002, IUSD had 18,000 students. In the next decade, they believe their enrollment numbers will drop by about 60% to 6,900 students. 

The district has not said it will be closing any schools, but that it will be making an announcement this week via Youtube. While FreDrisha awaits that announcement, she's hopeful, even authoring a bill called the California Public School Sovereignty Act.

"It feels like we're fighting Goliaths," she said. "I believe the people power and parent power will always win."