Which schools are affected?

Nearly all of our Pacifica elementary and middle schools will be affected:

  • Ocean Shore (OSS): The campus will be closed at the beginning of the new 2025-2026 school year. K-5 students will move to Sunset Ridge as a co-located school, and grades 6-8 will be merged with Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School.
  • Vallemar: The middle school (6-8 graders) will be merged with IBL at the beginning of the new school year 2025-2026. The Vallemar site will remain a K-5 school.
  • Sunset Ridge (SRE): The Sunset Ridge school will operate as is, but will receive an additional 270 K-5 students from Ocean Shore on the campus.
  • Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School (IBL): IBL will operate as is. Additionally, all 204 6-8 graders from Ocean Shore and Vallemar will be moved to the site and merged with IBL classes.
  • Cabrillo: Will stay as is. Will remain the only K-8 program in the school district.
  • Ortega: Will stay as is, a K-5 school.
  • Special Day Class (SDC): The PK-5 grades will move to Ortega and Sunset Ridge; and grades 6-8 will move to IBL, resulting in a two-track program. The preschool program will be reorganized into a morning and afternoon schedule.

Schools that are not directly affected could have fewer remaining spaces for enrollment than before.

Why does the District and Board want to close the Ocean Shore site and relocate Vallemar’s middle school?

The district and board want to reconstruct the schools because of a “structural budget deficit,” meaning ongoing costs (mainly staff salaries, benefits, and facility operations) outpace revenue. The district says closing Ocean Shore and dismantling two K-8 programs is the only way to balance the budget and avoid external state oversight. Furthermore, the district aims to achieve two additional goals beyond addressing the structural deficit: enhancing educational programs and ensuring compensation for teachers in the future. The district believes that closing Ocean Shore and relocating Vallemar’s middle school are essential steps toward achieving these objectives.

What’s happening?

On January 22, 2025, the Pacifica School District (PSD) Board voted to shut down the Ocean Shore School (OSS) campus, move its K-5 students to Sunset Ridge, and shift both Ocean Shore and Vallemar 6-8 graders to Ingrid B. Lacy (IBL). Essentially, this closes two of our three K-8 schools – leaving only Cabrillo K-8 open in the southern part of town. See the presentation that was presented during the January 22, 2025 board vote and video of the meeting.

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