Parents Fight Strobridge School Closing
Parents and students from Strobridge Elementary School are protesting a September proposal by the Hayward Unified School District to close that school and a number of others. The school is just over the Hayward city line at 21400 Bedford Drive but serves many students living in Castro Valley.
Strobridge's parents and students staged a demonstration at the school last Friday, urging it to be kept open. An online petition protesting the closing of Strobridge, and several other schools have nearly 1,000 signatures at Change.org.
Some 400 parents, students, and community members turned out at a district-sponsored online meeting Monday night to urge that Strobridge and several other schools be kept open.
“It’s unfair,” said a parent to district officials at that meeting, beginning perhaps its most pointed comment.
“You’ve made the children cry and the parents sad,” he continued.
Strobridge is not the only school at risk. The Hayward Unified School District, struggling with a shortage of funds and declining enrollments, proposed closing a number of schools in older buildings that might need expensive upgrades soon.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne said people should remember three sets of numbers after the meeting. One is that the district has lost 5,500 students over the last 10 years, along with the state funding that comes with that many students. Another is that the school district faces a $14 million deficit next year. The third is that schools need $900 million in upgrades to stay open.
“We might have other options to deal with the $14 million,” Wayne said, referring to closing schools. “But our options to deal with the $900 million are much more limited.”
Strobridge Elementary—whose origins date back to 1955—runs at less than 50 percent of its theoretical student capacity. It also needs $27 million to upgrade facilities, according to the district.
The district proposes to transfer Strobridge students to Cherryland and Fairview Elementary schools, which are 1.8 miles and 2.9 miles away, respectively, according to Google Maps.
Cherryland and Fairview are far beyond easy walking distance for current Strobridge students, who would need to be bused or driven to school, according to Dr. Ann Maris, president of the Grove Way Neighborhood Association.
“I’m not sure that’s a safe walk for children, either,” said Maris. “When I was 13 years old and walking there, I had to rescue my 11-year-old friend from a man trying to pull her into a car after asking us for directions, and that was years ago.”
Hayward Unified’s “Operational Sustainability” proposal, which the district stresses is an initial plan pending public input, calls for closing Bowman, Eldridge, and Glassbroook Elementary schools, Faith Ringgold School for the Arts and Sciences, and Anthony Ochoa Middle School after the current school year.
Other facilities would be moved to new locations next year. There are additional school closures and relocations in subsequent years, according to the plan, posted on the district website.
The school board is holding a series of online public meetings, organized around which high school the elementary school currently sends children to, to gather comments and suggestions. The final school board vote on the proposal is Nov. 17.
The Hayward teacher’s union has urged slowing down the school-closing process.
In a statement, the Hayward Education Association said, “We need to create a pause button in order to meaningfully respond to the district's perceived budget woes so that they are not on the backs of our students and the people that provide direct services to the students.”
Hayward City Councilman Mark Salinas said, “Any time you close schools, it’s a multi-city issue.”
While it was a school board and not a city council issue, Salinas said he hoped the Hayward District would be in close touch with neighboring districts.
“Parents should be able to trust the process,” Salinas said, whenever any government has to make a decision about how best to use limited resources.