San Jose district closes three schools because of dwindling enrollment

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Families in one southern San Jose school district are coming to grips with the news that three of their schools will be closing, part of a consolidation plan to deal with dwindling enrollment.

In a special board meeting on Wednesday, the Oak Grove School District voted to close Del Roble, Glider and Miner schools effective with the 2018-2019 school year.

In the past months, parents have been weighing in on the proposal to close schools in the district.
The board says the decision to close the schools came after lengthy deliberation and with great reluctance-- but in the past few years the district has seen the number of students drop-- losing about 1,000 students in all.

The board is set to have another meeting on March 1, members hope to have a lot of the details about which students will be attending which schools made by then.

In the past, parents have expressed concerns about the drive time to take their children to those schools that are still open within the district.

The superintendent Jose L. Manzo notified families on Thursday in a statement that reads in part: “Our schools have a long and excellent tradition of providing a high quality education to our students through strong instructional programs and community involvement. This same quality of education will be evident in the new school communities that emerge. However, I also understand this will take time and that a profound sadness will be felt with the closing of schools.   We are all committed to doing all we can to make these changes as smooth as possible.”

The district says it will be sending additional information home with students Friday, with more detail about the school closures.