A Bay Area school district may close several campuses following a drastic decline in enrollment.
Hayward Unified School District announced that officials are considering shutting down 14 schools in Alameda County to remedy a $14 million budget shortfall, outdated facilities in need of over $900 million in repairs and a drop in student body.
The district will hold a series of virtual town hall meetings to discuss these closures and to receive community feedback.
"It's important to hear input of the community ー hear from staff, students and parents," HUSD Director of Public Relations Dionica Ramos said to KNTV.
The decline in enrollment over the past two years is due to changing demographics and the Bay Area's high cost of living, the district reported.
District facilities are able to serve over 28,000 students, but enrollment is project to drop as low as 16,600 students over the next few years.
"Nobody wants to close schools," Ramos said to the news station. "That is not anything anybody wants to be doing. It's really important we address these issues and that means making really difficult decisions."
Teachers in opposition of the closures have planned demonstrations to protest the district. On Friday, educators at Ochoa Middle School wore black "because black symbolizes death, and, to us, the district’s proposed closure of our beloved middle school is a death," teacher Jose Tañada said.
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