San Diego Unified officials recently revealed their inability to determine the student capacity for district-run schools, a critical issue as enrollment numbers continue to decline.
For the past decade, schools in San Diego County, particularly San Diego Unified, have experienced a significant drop in enrollment, attributed to declining birth rates and the region’s high cost of living.
In fact, San Diego Unified lost nearly 14,000 students, marking a roughly 13 percent decline. This trend has raised concerns about long-term effects on educational institutions.
As part of an inquiry into the impact of these drops, questions surfaced regarding the number of underenrolled schools in the district. Understanding which schools are underenrolled could help identify those that may face potential closure if trends continue, an issue that the district publicly claims is not currently on the horizon.
To assess underenrollment accurately, it is essential to establish how many students each school can accommodate.
However, repeated requests for this information were met with vague responses from district officials.
Marceline Sciuto, executive director of operations support for San Diego Unified, issued a statement indicating that determining school capacity is not a straightforward process. Instead, it depends on various factors, including the range of offered programs such as athletics and after-school care.
Capacity calculations occur on a school-by-school basis, and officials only assess this when necessary, such as when adding new educational programs or responding to charter school requests for facility usage.
Ultimately, Sciuto confirmed the absence of a districtwide capacity report, stating that producing such extensive information would exceed the available staff and resources.
This revelation leaves many questioning how a district with an annual budget of nearly $2 billion cannot compile data on its schools’ capacities.
Board President Cody Petterson echoed some caution regarding the request for comprehensive enrollment analysis. He acknowledged the complexities involved and emphasized the constrained capabilities of staff following last year’s budget cuts, which mainly impacted central office positions.
Yet, it is notable that other, larger districts have managed to conduct similar evaluations. For instance, Chicago Public Schools oversees more than 500 schools and found that around 30 percent are at least half-empty, with 47 schools serving fewer than one-third of their potential enrollment.
Despite these numbers, officials in Chicago do not appear to be taking action concerning the severely underenrolled institutions.
The issues around underenrollment in schools are not simply administrative; they have significant financial implications. Despite being unpopular, school closures may be an unavoidable response to the financial burdens of maintaining underenrolled schools.
These facilities still incur fixed costs for personnel and maintenance, yet they lack the economies of scale needed to distribute those expenses effectively, resulting in inefficient use of funds.
Investigative work by ProPublica and Chalkbeat revealed stark figures in Chicago, where the cost per student averaged about $18,700 districtwide. However, in some of the most underenrolled schools, costs soared to as high as $93,000 per student.
Such instances illustrate the consequences of having schools that serve very few students, which directly impacts the allocation of resources available across the district.
While the $93,000 per student case represents an extreme outlier, it is indicative of a trend. In San Diego Unified, various schools have also experienced severe declines in enrollment, leaving some to serve nearly half the number of students they did a decade ago.
This ongoing enrollment decline, stemming from a combination of demographic shifts and economic pressures, raises critical questions about the future of district schools.
District officials must navigate these challenges, balancing the educational needs of students with practical financial considerations.
As they face this situation, the extent of underenrollment and the potential crisis it may represent remain unclear.
Despite the lack of insight into exact figures, the imperative remains for officials to address these challenges proactively, as the educational experience of students and the employment of district staff depend on making informed, pragmatic choices in the years ahead.
The unresolved query lingers: just how many schools are underenrolled in San Diego Unified? And to what extent will they continue to face these challenges?
image source from：voiceofsandiego
