TK Student Enrollment Estimated to More than Double in 3 Years

Castro Valley’s youngest students are expected to increase in numbers as a new state law takes effect, even though the district’s enrollment has held quite steady overall in recent years, according to a consultant’s report presented to the  Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Directors on January 19.  

Rob Murray of Sacramento-based King Consulting told the Board they had a different challenge than many California school districts, which were slowly losing enrollments before COVID brought big enrollment losses for many. He said many of those other districts would like to have Castro Valley’s situation.

Murray said that Castro Valley’s enrollment has increased or decreased by only around 300 students a year in the last 10 school years. Any school district sees families moving in and out, but he added that families with young children have continued to move into Castro Valley Unified. 

Expect to see more Transitional Kindergarteners in the years ahead, though, he said. This is because California now requires all districts to provide schooling for all children slightly too young to attend kindergarten and has lowered the age at which they are eligible.

There are 146 transitional kindergarten students in Castro Valley this school year, Murray said.  There will be an estimated 367 by the 2025-26 school year, and 445 by the 2029-30 school year.  Another part of his presentation showed that this rise would be comparable to the current enrollment of a medium-sized Castro Valley elementary school. 

However, many transitional kindergarten students would have enrolled without the law change, and all the transitional kindergarteners would be regular students the following year, Murray said.

Still, the bottom line is that somewhat more space will be needed at district elementary schools to accommodate them.

Murray suggested building some new classrooms or relocating existing support services that currently use classrooms at elementary schools, making those classrooms available for students.

Board members asked a few questions about the data and vowed to discuss the report further at workshop sessions. 

The board heard from two other consultants, Foresight Planning and Development and Ruhnau Clarke Architects, about possible facilities updates and suggested new buildings across the district. Kristen Rose from Foresight and Roger Clarke from Ruhnau Clarke stressed they were not making proposals but ideas the board could consider when deciding how to spend future district money on facilities.

The CVUSD forecasting is done regularly as part of the district’s Facilities Master Plan, according to Sharon Trieu-Quince, district facilities director. She said that the district reviews its plan every five years, and it would have happened sooner were it not for the COVID pandemic.

Suggestions by the consultants ranged from improving school entranceways for safety and for the community to easily locate the front door, to more emphasis on integrating indoor and outdoor spaces for instruction, to new classroom buildings and a new, larger gymnasium at Castro Valley High School.