Sacramento district may close 4 schools

FromThe Sacramento Bee: The Sacramento City Unified School District is scheduled to decide this week whether it will close four elementary schools and a high school. the fate of Genesis High School, and Thomas Jefferson, Alice Birney, Mark Hopkins and Lisbon elementary schools hangs in the balance. The campuses slated for closure are operating below capacity and expect their enrollment decline to continue over the next five years. If the board approves the closings, the campuses could shut down at the end of the school year.

FROM NOVEMBER 2008: The Sacramento City Unified School District has arrived at a threshold that other urban, slow-growth districts have crossed recently: closing schools, consolidating campuses and renting out district property. A budget crisis, built-out neighborhoods and stagnant enrollment have pushed the district to explore how to cut costs and get more out of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property. The district faces a budget shortfall of at least $7 million in the 2009-2010 school year.Read The Sacramento Bee article.