East Bay arts school may be facing closure in June

SAN LORENZO, Calif. (KTVU) -- A high school in the East Bay specializing in the arts may be on the verge of shutting down at the end of the school year.

But some current and former students are stepping up to try and save the East Bay Arts High School near San Lorenzo.

When some students talk about the possibility of the school closing in June, they get emotional.

"When I first heard the news, I broke down," said student Jasmin Casteneda.

"I would not be where I am, this mature, if I had not gone to East Bay Arts High School," said fellow student Laura Velasquez.

The school is where students say they found the  courage to perform.

East Bay Arts is a magnet school that offers an arts curriculum along with college prep. But the school is on the chopping block. The San Lorenzo School District is facing a $2 million deficit.

"The current enrollment is 186 students. For the high school to be fiscally viable we're looking for 400 students," said Superintendent Fred Brill.
 
The school district says closing the school and moving the arts program to another high school would save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cinthya Torres graduated from the school six years ago and now teaches school in Oakland.

She and other alumni established a GoFundMe site to raise money to keep the school open. They also want to actively recruit students to get the enrollment up.

"We're not asking the district for money. We're not asking the district for more students. We're not asking the district to do any hard work. Everything we're doing, we're doing ourselves," Torres said.

"I would be losing my family, my second family," said Casteneda.

Students and parents plan to plead their case to the San Lorenzo school board at a public hearing next month. Then the board is expected to make the final decision in November.