Viewpoints: Sac City board needs to take districtwide view of school closings
A lot has been said in recent weeks about potential school closures in Sacramento.
For too long, the Sacramento City Unified School District has ducked this issue, but we cannot afford to continue to do so. Several factors including declining enrollment and dramatic change in our state's economic landscape have significantly altered the way school districts across California are financing local education, and SCUSD is no exception.
Unfortunately, this discussion often turns parochial, with elected board members focusing more on how such decisions affect their political prospects than how they affect the bottom line of the district and the well-being of our students.
Closing schools in our neighborhoods is never easy. These decisions carry with them impacts that go far beyond dollar savings. Among other things, boards must consider the length and safety of the routes students will take to get to school should their neighborhood school be closed. This hits