Oct. 22, 2026
The San Lorenzo Unified School District’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee chose its leaders and reviewed California’s open meetings law during its first organizational meeting on Oct. 21 in the District Board Room.
Aisha Knowles was approved as chairperson. Knowles is a district homeowner and an elected trustee on the Alameda County Board of Education. Jody McCarthy was approved as vice-chairperson. McCarthy is the parent of a Washington Manor Middle School student and works as the coordinator of student support services for the Castro Valley Unified School District.
The San Lorenzo Unified School District (SLZUSD) School Board approved the committee’s membership on Oct. 19. The 20-member committee includes District families, students, employees and residents. All but one member attended the first meeting. About 30 family and community members also attended, including several who have volunteered to serve as alternate members if current members cannot attend meetings regularly.
The School Board voted on June 2 to create the committee. The decision followed recommendations from a Declining Enrollment Task Force, which met throughout the 2025-26 school year to study the District’s ongoing loss of students, mostly because there are fewer children within its boundaries.
The task force, which also included family members and employees, recommended that the District consider closing schools to address the financial and facility-related effects of declining enrollment. It also urged the District to do more to attract new students and encourage families to remain.
The advisory committee’s main job is to identify schools it may recommend for closure to the School Board. The Board will decide whether to accept those recommendations. Any school closures would not happen before the 2028-29 school year.
Dr. Roberto Perez, assistant superintendent of Business Services, reviewed the District’s 15 active school sites. He shared information about current enrollment, the number of available classrooms and how many students each school can serve.
Dr. Perez also explained possible guidelines the committee could use when considering school closures. These include schools with long-term low enrollment, how close schools are to one another, the condition of school buildings, student achievement, transportation effects and the money the district might save by closing a school.
Amanda Savage, an attorney with the F3 law firm that advises SLZUSD, explained California’s public meetings law, known as the Ralph M. Brown Act. The law requires public access and transparency at meetings of certain government bodies. It also sets rules to prevent voting members from discussing public business privately outside allowed meetings.
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19, from 5 to 8 p.m., in the Board Room at 15510 Usher St. Members will review the current makeup of schools’ student populations, along with an analysis of how many students the schools can serve.
Additional meetings are scheduled for Dec. 16, Jan. 20, Feb. 10, March 17 and April 21. All are open to the public and will begin at 5 p.m. The later meetings will include discussion and a vote on recommendations. Because more people may attend those meetings, they will likely take place at a larger location, to be announced. Additional information about the committee is available here on the District website.
SLZUSD Superintendent Dr. Daryl Camp and Perez thanked committee members for agreeing to study possible school closures or consolidations. They encouraged members to approach the work seriously and keep an open mind, even when decisions might affect them personally. He also stressed that members need to attend meetings regularly.
Dr. Camp told committee members that information shared at meetings is “meant to give you a comprehensive viewpoint about schools and school operations and our District, and then you’re supposed to bring your own experience into the room and collectively make a recommendation.”