When it comes to closing a neighborhood school, shouldn’t the community have a voice? Yet here we are, facing the proposed closure of Ocean Shore School—a decision that was deliberately obscured from public view. The district buried this bombshell in a February 28th Budget Collaborative meeting—so quietly that most parents still don’t know their children’s school might close. There was no public announcement. No press release. No email to parents. Instead, this life-changing decision was slipped into a routine budget discussion, virtually ensuring it would go unnoticed by the community. This wasn’t just poor communication—it was a calculated move to avoid public scrutiny.
The cloak-and-dagger approach worked exactly as designed: months later, many families remain unaware their children’s educational futures hang in the balance. There have been no town halls, no community forums, and no opportunities for meaningful parent or teacher input. This isn’t just poor planning—it’s a complete departure from legal requirements designed to protect our community’s voice in crucial educational decisions.
California law doesn’t treat school closures lightly, and for good reason. These decisions reshape communities, disrupt children’s education, and can exacerbate educational inequities. That’s why the state mandates specific steps: forming specialized committees, conducting thorough community engagement, and analyzing impacts on our most vulnerable students. These aren’t bureaucratic checkboxes—they’re essential safeguards for our children’s futures.
Yet our district has bypassed these crucial steps entirely. Instead of forming the legally required 7-11 Committee—a specialized group designed to evaluate school closures with community representation—they’re relying solely on internal administrative decisions. It’s not just using the wrong tool for the job—it’s making decisions behind closed doors that should be made in the open.
Even more concerning is the district’s selective reading of their own demographic study. The King Consulting report actually recommends monitoring enrollment trends, not rushing to close schools. It doesn’t even account for upcoming mandated housing developments that will bring new families to our community. Are we making permanent decisions based on incomplete information, without any community insight?
Most troubling is the complete absence of an equity impact analysis. In an era where educational equity is paramount, how can we close a school without understanding how it will affect our most vulnerable students? The California Attorney General’s office specifically guided districts to conduct such analyses—guidance our district appears to be ignoring entirely.
This isn’t about opposing necessary changes. It’s about demanding the transparent, inclusive process that our community deserves, and the law requires. Our children’s education is too important for backroom decisions and hidden agendas. The district’s secretive approach isn’t just disappointing—it’s potentially illegal. California education code exists because previous communities learned the hard way what happens when school closures are rushed through without public input: fractured communities, displaced students, and decisions that look shortsighted in hindsight.
We’re not asking for endless delays. We’re demanding our legal right to be part of this process through:
- Immediate establishment of a proper 7-11 Committee with genuine community representation
- A comprehensive equity impact analysis shared with the public
- A new timeline that starts with community engagement, not ends with it
- Updated demographic studies that include all relevant factors and are openly discussed
Our school board has an opportunity—and an obligation—to halt this secretive process and start over with real community involvement. Taking time to do this right won’t just result in better decisions—it will restore trust and show our children that their education matters enough to warrant proper public discussion.
The choices we make about our schools today will affect our community for decades to come. Let’s demand the open, legal process our children deserve, not decisions made in shadows.
Crissie McBride, Pacifica
This post was also published in Coastside News as a letter to the editor on January 21, 2025.
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