{"id":6562,"date":"2026-08-09T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562"},"modified":"2026-08-09T11:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:09:00","slug":"broken-trust-san-jose-unified-parents-say-district-fell-short-after-closing-campuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562","title":{"rendered":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

When San Jose Unified School District decided to shutter five elementary schools earlier this year, officials made several promises to ensure a smooth transition for families with students set to attend new campuses.<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: How do we bar our longtime friend from playing with us?<\/a><\/p>\n

They pledged guaranteed transportation, priority waitlists and transparent communication \u2014 commitments, some parents say, school leaders did not keep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge disconnect between the actual experience that parents are having and the district articulation of what they\u2019re doing,\u201d said Emma Strong, a parent at Walter L.\u00a0Bachrodt Elementary School.<\/p>\n

The concerns come as students begin a new school year, with relocated students returning to class earlier this week at their new schools.<\/p>\n

In an effort to address a 20 percent decline in district enrollment since 2017, school leaders in March approved the \u201cSchools of Tomorrow\u201d closure of five elementary schools \u2014 Terrell, Canoas, Lowell, Gardner and Empire Gardens as well as the relocation of the Hammer Montessori magnet program at Galarza to Gardner Elementary. The consolidations were expected to impact 1,665 students and reshape neighborhoods across the district.<\/p>\n

Families and staff fought the plan for months, worried that the closures would disproportionately affect minority, low-income and special education students and harm all students\u2019 academic and social well-being. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and State Sen. Dave Cortese also urged the district to reconsider.<\/p>\n

But supporters assert the consolidations offer equitable resources and instruction to all students in the district and a better working environment for educators and staff.<\/p>\n

San Jose Teachers Association President Renata Sanchez said the consolidations provide teachers with more support and smaller classes, and additional resources like counselors and visual\u00a0and performing arts instructors. It also gives students a more diverse learning experience, she added.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen students are with the exact same cohort of peers as they move through grades, that can actually lead to both social and disciplinary issues,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cSo mixing up students \u2026 helps to spread out students\u2019 needs, both their academic and social-emotional needs, so that everyone can have stronger instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the consolidation, the district made several commitments to parents, students and staff to ease the transition. They promised increased funding to closing and receiving schools, no-cost access to afterschool programs for affected families, as well as employee job guarantees and a one-time payment of $1,500 to impacted workers to ease their transition to a new work location.<\/p>\n

Transfers<\/h4>\n

The district also said that students from closing schools would get priority for intradistrict transfer requests to another San Jose Unified elementary school \u2014 subject to availability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAvailable space is not just the physical space of the school site,\u201d said the district\u2019s manager of special projects, Ben Spielberg, at a June 26 board meeting. \u201cIt also is related to the staffing at the school site that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Spielberg said about 66% of impacted families agreed to attend their new assigned school, while about 381 families requested to go to a different school. Of those families, the district accommodated 69% of the requests, while about 118 families were not transferred to their preferred school, Spielberg said.<\/p>\n

He said the majority of the 118 requests that were not accommodated were for campuses that typically have a waiting list \u2014 like Willow Glen, Booksin and Merritt Trace elementary schools, the district\u2019s magnet schools and schools in the Almaden Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the schools that are wealthier and have much higher white and non-minority enrollment,\u201d said Strong, the Bachrodt Elementary parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve really botched the waitlist,\u201d said Travis Curran, a parent of two Reed Elementary school students. \u201cWhat basically happened is that when people were trying to apply to get into schools in the more affluent areas or the more highly regarded schools, those were basically just flat no\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transportation<\/h4>\n

San Jose Unified also promised bus transportation to students from closing schools who live outside the walk zone \u2014 a 1.5-mile radius \u2014 of their new campus for the entirety of their elementary school experience, subject to annual review by the district\u2019s school board.<\/p>\n

But parents said transportation was only guaranteed for families who agreed to attend their new assigned school, not those who requested an intradistrict transfer.<\/p>\n

Jenna Minter said when the district voted to close Terrell Elementary School, she had 12 days to choose between moving her first- and fourth-grade children to their new assigned school, Rachel Carson Elementary School, or requesting a transfer to another school.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes August 9, 2026: Anna Kendrick, become the master of your destiny<\/a><\/p>\n

Minter said she requested to transfer schools but ultimately decided to keep her children at Rachel Carson Elementary, because the school start time aligned better with her work schedule. But because she applied for an intradistrict transfer, Minter said she lost her opportunity to apply for priority busing, despite living 1.6 miles away from her children\u2019s new school.<\/p>\n

Minter said she was able to request busing over the summer and was alerted that her children\u2019s bus passes were available to pick up the day before the first day of school.<\/p>\n

But when she went to pick up the passes, Minter said she realized they were Valley Transportation Authority bus passes. After more research, Minter said she realized her six- and nine-year-old children would need to leave an hour before school started to make class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just mind-blowing,\u201d Minter said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to put my six-year-old on public transportation, especially almost an hour before school starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seth Reddy, the district\u2019s chief business officer, said Thursday that the district offers Valley Transportation Authority passes for some students, usually older, who live outside of the walk zone of their school, but the district doesn\u2019t have the resources to bus. Reddy said it\u2019s always a family\u2019s choice whether to request a VTA pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t just be like they were being assigned to a VTA pass and that\u2019s the only option that they have for transportation,\u201d Reddy said. \u201cFor our students that were affected by Schools of Tomorrow, they will not be offered VTA. They will be provided San Jose Unified transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minter said Thursday that Reddy reached out to her later that day to alert her that the VTA passes were an error and her children will be able to use San Jose Unified bus transportation starting Friday. She said Reddy also told her the district\u2019s transportation department would investigate whether any other families received the VTA passes in error.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy trust with the district is zero,\u201d Minter said. \u201cThe vote to close five schools with such huge percentages of low-income students, making resources harder for those students \u2014 that does not reassure me that they have the best interest in mind for a lot of the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coordination<\/h4>\n

Maeve Naughton, a parent of a former Terrell student, called district communication and planning \u201cdisappointing,\u201d pointing to delayed bus schedule routes and a poorly timed first-through-third-grade meetup at Rachel Carson Elementary for the schools\u2019 new and returning students.<\/p>\n

Naughton said as students arrived for the meetup at the school\u2019s blacktop, the district began filling in a hole on the blacktop from a tree that had been removed earlier in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the lack of communication between the departments within the school district and the lack of communication with parents,\u201d Naughton said.<\/p>\n

Reddy acknowledged at the June 26 board meeting that while the district has worked hard to ensure smooth school consolidation, that doesn\u2019t negate parents\u2019 individual experiences, which may have been different.<\/p>\n

In an interview Thursday, he said the district is focused on regaining families\u2019 trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cConversations about school consolidations, attendance boundary changes, relocating programs \u2014 those are understandably really challenging and hard and cause worry, frustration, anxiety,\u201d Reddy said. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on upholding those commitments, delivering on all of them because the actions speak louder than words and that\u2019s how we will rebuild the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for some San Jose Unified parents, the damage is done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no trust in them at all,\u201d said Terrell parent Naughton, who\u00a0said she was planning to leave San Jose Unified after leaders voted to close her school and four others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough choice not to leave,\u201d Naughton said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to give Nancy (Albarr\u00e1n) more fodder to say, \u2018another student has left the district, we have to close more schools next year.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Naughton said her son, Gio, was devastated in the spring to say goodbye to his school and some of his classmates who would not be transitioning to Rachel Carson Elementary.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut about two weeks ago, we were in the car and out of nowhere he says, \u2018Mommy, I can\u2019t wait to go to Carson \u2026 because I get to make new friends,\u2019 Naughton recalled. \u201cI\u2019m trying to have an open mind. Change is always hard, but this will work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more SF Giants\u2019 Chapman could be facing season-ending surgery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Jose Unified pledged guaranteed transportation, priority waitlists and transparent communication to families from closing schools \u2014 commitments parents say leaders didn’t keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBroken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"San Jose Unified pledged guaranteed transportation, priority waitlists and transparent communication to families from closing schools \u2014 commitments parents say leaders didn't keep.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562\"},\"wordCount\":1497,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562\",\"name\":\"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6562#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest","og_description":"San Jose Unified pledged guaranteed transportation, priority waitlists and transparent communication to families from closing schools \u2014 commitments parents say leaders didn't keep.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses","datePublished":"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562"},"wordCount":1497,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562","name":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-09T11:09:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6562#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}