Vallejo school board to close 2 schools amid budget cuts; more closures to follow
The board of the Vallejo City Unified School District decided on Wednesday night to close two schools amid a budget shortfall, the district said.
Closing the two transitional kindergarten through eighth-grade schools -- Mare Island Health and Fitness Academy and the Loma Vista Environmental Science Academy -- is an attempt to shore up a $36 million budget shortfall over the next two years, according to the district.
The closures are part of a plan to shave $12.8 million off the budget for the 2025-26 school year, including $7.4 million in staffing reductions.
The decision to close the Mare Island Academy was unanimous, with one board member voting no on the Loma Vista closure. The board will also move Vallejo Charter School to the Mare Island campus beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
"The decisions we made tonight were incredibly difficult, and we do not take them lightly," board president John Fox said in a statement. "We understand the impact this has on our students, families, and staff, and we are committed to supporting them through this decision."
Discussions about closing the schools have carried on for months and generated pushback from students and families, but ultimately the board finalized the cuts Wednesday.
According to Vallejo Superintendent Ruben Aurelio, the district needed to cut the $12 million to remain solvent.
The district cites a "steady" decline in enrollment as a key factor in the budget deficit. According to data on its website, enrollment stood at 14,183 students in the 2014-15 school year but had dipped down to 9,856 students by the 2023-24 school year.
The district also cites socioeconomic changes in Vallejo, such as lower birth rates, higher housing prices and a sharp rise in the cost of living, making the city a tough sell for people with children.
Despite the closures, VCUSD still projects a $36 million structural deficit over the next two years, "making further reductions unavoidable," the district said in the statement Wednesday night.
This will mean more school closures and staffing cuts. Those talks will start in April.
