Vallejo schools celebrate fiscal milestone, but possible school closures loom

VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Unified School District took a major step towards achieving financial independence and stability by paying off a $60 million receivership loan from the state after 20 years this summer, but school closures could still be on the horizon for the district.

Newly hired superintendent Rubén Aurelio told the Vallejo Sun in an interview that the district still has to make budget cuts and is considering school closures because it’s been losing enrollment, which brings in funds.

“Paying off the loan is great news,” Aurelio said. “However it does not mean we’re now free to do as we wish. We’re still in the process of right-sizing a district that has been in declining enrollment for decades.”

The district has long struggled to balance its budget. In the early 2000s, district leaders almost bankrupted the district by overestimating enrollment figures while underestimating salary expenses. So the state bailed the district out with a $60 million loan in 2004. From that year until now, the district has lost about half of its enrollment.

In response to the dramatic enrollment decline, the district announced late last month that it is forming a committee to study whether to close schools or sell off district property. Already the district has closed eight schools since the state bailout and sold off several properties. It also hired a consultant to determine if any closures would adversely impact any demographic group or geographic area. 

According to the district, eight schools could possibly be impacted by closure or consolidation plans. 

The 2004 bailout came with the requirement that the district’s Board of Education surrender much of its power and that the state and the county oversee the district’s dealings. The district had no decision making powers over its facilities until 2008, and no fiscal control over the district until 2013. 

The district also had to pay the state millions of dollars each year. In total, the district has paid the state back $60 million plus about $8.5 million in interest. 

But even though the district has paid off its debt, it’s still under oversight. State Trustee and Fiscal Advisor Melvin Iizuka was hired in summer 2013 and has attended each school board meeting since. He advises the board and has had the power to veto decisions it makes. Although there’s no immediate plans for him to stop overseeing the district, Aurelio said the goal is for him to leave and for the district to gain more independence.

“Right now Melvin Iizuka is our backstop in case we go down the wrong path,” Aurelio said. “Once we prove what we need to prove, he’ll be out.”

Iizuka told the Sun that ultimately the county and state superintendents, along with the president of the state Board of Education, will determine when he’ll depart. But he’s optimistic that could happen soon.

“I can see that the district will be fully independent and not need my services in the near future,” Iizuka said.

Iizuka also said he thinks the district has made “sound financial decisions,” that are “not always easy to make” under his watch that have included “adjustments for a reduction in revenues” due to declining enrollment.

Those difficult decisions have included the board itself deciding to close schools for the first time ever. Since 2004, the state forced the closure of five schools, and the board had no legal power to stop them. Other district schools now operate within four of them. For example, right after Hogan High School closed in 2011, Hogan Middle School started operating on its former campus. The district leases the campus which used to house the shuttered Farragut Elementary School to the city.

Vallejo’s Board of Education attempted to stop the closure of Elsa Widemann Elementary by denying the charter network ELITE Public Schools a petition to allow it to open and take over Widemann’s campus. But the County Board of Education overturned that decision, which allowed ELITE to open and forced Widemann’s closure.

By the summer of 2020, the school board itself voted to close Beverly Hills Elementary and Franklin Middle Schools.

The district has also sold or leased some of its property. Last year, Solano County bought the old Beverly Hills Elementary School site from the district for $2.8 million, and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District signed a 30-year lease that allows it to use the schools, gym, and two portable classrooms at the shuttered Franklin Middle School site. In 2022, the district sold four Little League baseball fields to a residential developer for $8.2 million. 

The district is now considering closing more schools, and selling or leasing more district property.

On Aug 31, the district announced it is forming a 7-11 Committee, a state mandated committee that must have between seven and 11 community members and be formed before a school district can sell its property or lease it for more than 30 days. The call for applicants said the district “must consider closing and consolidating school sites to reduce annual operational costs.”

Aurelio told the Sun that district leadership wants to have the 7-11 Committee seated by mid to late September so that it can provide the board with a recommendation by December. 

According to Aurelio, the district has hired an outside agency, Total School Solutions, to perform an equity impact report to determine if any closures would adversely impact any demographic group or geographic area. The district's call for applicants states the equity report will be focused on Loma Vista Environmental Science Academy, Steffan Manor Elementary, Mare Island Health and Fitness Academy, and Pennycook Elementary. It also stated that the district may relocate Vallejo Charter School.

Additionally, district spokesperson Celina Baguiao told the Sun three more schools “could potentially be impacted” by the committee: Federal Terrace Elementary, Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy, and Cooper Elementary.   

The district opened applications for the committee on Aug 31. At that time, the district sent out a call for applicants to faculty and families of the eight potentially impacted schools, posted the call to their website, and put out a press release. Aurelio spoke about the call for applicants at a school board meeting on Sept 4. Applications were due the next day, on Sept 5.

Associate Professor of Education at Cal State University Sacramento Frank Adamson expressed concerns to the Sun about the relatively short time period the district opened its call for committee applicants. 

“While I don’t know any specifics about the VCUSD situation,” Adamson wrote in an email, "a six day long call for a committee so severely limits the opportunity for community voice that the lack of process becomes instead a method of obfuscation.”

District spokesperson Celina Baguiao told the Sun the district had originally intended to have a ten-day call for applicants, but it was reduced to stay on track with its planned timeline.

In an interview in mid-August, before the committee plans were announced, Board President Latyna Young said that “closing schools is not particularly high on the priority list.” But on Wednesday, Young told the Sun, “my position has changed.”

“Keeping this district financially solvent now that it has just paid off a $60 million loan is a priority,” she wrote in an email. “That means giving the superintendent the okay to start the process of forming a 7-11 Committee to consider possible, key word possible, closures of schools.”

In a candidate interview with Dean Hodges in late August, before the 7-11 Committee plans were announced, Hodges told the Sun he thought closing schools could “be more harmful than helpful” because it could drive students out of the district entirely, furthering enrollment loss. Hodges, who is running unopposed, is slated to take office as a school board trustee in December.

Vallejo Board of Education Trustees Glenn Amboy, Carlos Flores, and John Fox did not respond to requests for comment. Vallejo Education Association President Kevin Steele did not respond to questions about the union’s position on possible school closures.

Aurelio said that the board isn’t obligated to accept whatever recommendation the committee makes, even if they recommend that any schools are closed. The board is just required to consider any recommendation.

“Nobody likes school closures. That’s the last thing we want to do because of the impact that can have on a community,” Aurelio said. “But we were given direction to shake every tree and look under every rock. So we’re looking at every option to be sure we’re being fiscally responsible given the size of our district.”

The call for applicants attributes the district’s enrollment loss to “rising housing costs, smaller family sizes, and increasing school choices,” and says that enrollment loss has been occurring in districts nationwide. 

Over the last decade, California and Solano County and neighboring districts have faced enrollment loss, but Vallejo’s has been more extreme than most. California’s non-charter school enrollment has dropped about 10% statewide. Solano County, excluding Vallejo, has dropped about 4%, while the bordering district Napa Valley Unified has dropped about 7%. Meanwhile, Vallejo City Unified School District has lost about 30% of its enrollment.

Despite years of enrollment loss, Aurelio told the Sun he’s optimistic about the district’s future. He emphasized schools that offer specialized learning, such as Cave Language Academy, which fosters bilingual literacy skills by teaching in both English and Spanish, and Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy, which teaches leadership skills through project based learning and collaborative activities.

During the Sept.4 board meeting, Aurelio spoke about how State Superintendent Tony Thurmond had visited Glenn Cove Elementary school which was “prompted by the progress Glenn Cove has been making with English learning students.”

Last year, more than 26% of Vallejo School District students were classified as English language learners. Aurelio said the district intends to put a lot of resources into supporting them.

“There’s significant pride in our schools from teachers and staff,” Aurelio said, “and a significant will and want to improve."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the start date for state Trustee Melvin Iizuka and the name and title of Associate Professor of Education at Cal State University Sacramento Frank Adamson.