IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) -- As parents and school staff gathered to fight for the future of three South Bay Union School District elementary schools, board members on Wednesday night unanimously voted to move forward with the closure of at least one the schools.
Board members voted 5-0 to shut down Central Elementary School by the start of the 2026-27 school year. Declining enrollment and potential budget issues were cited as reasons behind the decision to close the school.
Meanwhile, Berry Elementary and Sunnyslope Elementary -- two schools that were part of the district’s initial plan of closures -- will remain open for now after the original proposal was amended.
“This plan is based on projections, and that's why we intended the plan to have flexibility for the board to be able to pivot … if the data changes,” a board member said.
It was a step to move forward with what much of the community had been dreading for the last year and a half.
Before the special board meeting was in session, and even during the meeting, numerous teachers, parents, and even students packed inside making their voices heard one last time.
Among them was Ana Barnes, a school site council chair at Sunnyslope, who made a final plea to keep their schools open.
“It’s barbaric,” Barnes said.
While an active community member and chair, Barnes also has a son who attends the same school she attended when she was young in Imperial Beach.
But Barnes said a lot of her worries surround future generations.
“It may not affect him directly, but there's other communities and we're speaking on behalf of not just ours -- I don't think closing schools is something that we want to do,” Barnes said.
A sentiment echoed by so many in the community of the direct impact on students.
“When they close the schools, they are going to overflow students to where there is space, so we know that means that students might not be at the same school with their siblings,” said Vanessa Barrera, the president of the Southwest Teachers Association in the South Bay Union School District.
“We know that that means that the class size at the other schools, or where they're going to go is going to be impacted and that means that it's going to be larger class size, which means less individualized attention per student,” Barrera added.
Board members are expected to meet quarterly to discuss progress on the updated consolidation plan and will continue after the closure of Central Elementary School, to see if the other school closures will be necessary.
