California district will close elementary school near site of 2010 natural gas explosion

The San Bruno Park (Calif.) district will close an elementary school where many families who lost their homes in a natural-gas pipeline explosion in 2010 sent their children. The San Francisco Chronicle says the school board voted to close Crestmoor Elementary School at the end of the school year.The district wanted to close Crestmoor last year because its enrollment of about 175 students was too small. But protesters argued that losing the neighborhood school would be a double whammy for children who had also lost their homes in September 2010 when a utility's gas transmission line exploded. Officials decided they would keep the school, if voters approved a tax increase. A 58 percent majority voted for the tax, but the measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass.