East Bay district to phase out grades 6-8 at one school

By Keith Burbank
Bay City News

ALAMEDA (BCN) — Bay Farm School will not enroll any sixth-graders beginning in the fall as Alameda Unified begins phasing out middle school grades there.

The school board approved the plan on a 4-1 vote, with school board member Gary Lym dissenting.

The district is phasing out grades sixth through eighth at the K-8 school mainly because of declining enrollment and the subsequent financial repercussions.

About a dozen people spoke during the public comment portion of the board meeting Tuesday, asking the board to delay the reconfiguration for a year or two.

Some were dismayed by the way the district seemed to spring the proposal on them.

“There is a rupture of trust happening in our small AUSD community,” said Erica Hartono told the board.

Board members and Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi said the issue has been discussed for many years.

But advocates for Bay Farm’s middle school grades argue that many did not know a proposal had been made to eliminate the three grades.

“We owe the community an apology for the absence of sufficient communication on the proposal to phase out the Bay Farm Middle School program beginning in August of 2023,” Scuderi wrote to families on Jan. 12.

“While we have long contemplated this issue internally, our external communications have been lacking and for that, I will take responsibility,” Scuderi said.

At least two board members said they needed to make tough decisions such as the Bay Farm School reconfiguration.

“I was elected to make these hard decisions,” said board president Heather Little.

Administrators pointed out that the district is not closing Bay Farm School, just eliminating the middle school grades.

Scuderi and the board want to be equitable in delivering school services to the community. The board approved a statement last year that defined equity in part as “the allocation of resources based on need and support for each student’s success.”

That is different than equality, which means providing the same amount of resources per student, according to the district.