Chaos at California school district as six schools threatened with being shut down

Six elementary schools in Ventura Unified School District are being threatened with closure due to steep enrollment drops, underutilized classrooms and tens of millions of dollars in deferred facility maintenance.The district’s School Closures Advisory Committee, formed in January 2026, has recommended Lemon Grove, Mound Elementary, Poinsettia Elementary, E.P.Foster Elementary, Sheridan Way Elementary and Junipero Serra Elementary are shut before the upcoming academic session.The move has stirred up concerns among parents and the committee received 33 public comments with different worries during the Oct.

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Never miss a story Tanya Toutz-Hager, a second-grade teacher at Lemon Grove Elementary School, had asked the committee during the Jun.8 meeting to consider how school closures could affect access to Title I services and create additional challenges for low-income families who may need to travel farther to attend school.Darcy Duffy, a district parent, had also raised concerns during a Mar.

19 meeting about potential school closure timelines, enrollment data, facility capacity, and special day class program adjustments.According to the committee’s draft report, accessed by the California Post, Lemon Grove K-8 School requires an estimated $19.7 million in facility needs while the campus is projected to leave nearly half of its permanent capacity unutilized.The school enrolls just 72 students in grades 6 through 8—the lowest among the district’s K-8 campuses.Mound Elementary School, another school headed towards closure, is the district’s only choice-only school without neighborhood boundaries.Mound draws students from surrounding campuses experiencing enrollment declines, primarily Elmhurst, Juanamaria, ATLAS, and Poinsettia.T...