News & Insights

Studies Underway To Determine How Best To Move Forward With The Right Programming Mix To Benefit Students

The Redwood City School District (“RCSD”), located in the San Francisco Bay Area, serves approximately 7,700 K–8 students across 16 elementary and middle schools. But those numbers are declining, and the district is having to respond quickly and strategically in the face of a forecasted $10M operational budget shortfall over the next three years.

When RCSD originally called in B&D in 2016, the plan was to complete a typical modernization project with B&D providing implementation services. Between gentrification, rising housing costs, and the impact of charter schools taking away as many as 1,000 students from the enrollment area, the district has been facing significant budget reductions. B&D recommended pausing modernization projects, taking a step back, calling in a demographer, and then rethinking the entire program—because we all recognize the problem of modernizing a facility only to close it when there are not enough children to fill seats. In the case of RCSD, the district may consolidate or repurpose campuses.

To help RCSD stave off the worst impacts of a declining budget as it tackles a necessary compression, B&D has begun advising the district and conducting a variety of studies. Those studies might include:

• An enrollment analysis
• A facilities assessment
• A capacity analysis for each site
• A forecast of what modifications can be made to each site to accommodate changes in enrollment
• An analysis of the district’s geography (including availability, access for students to travel, etc.)
• An analysis of specialized education programs (e.g., language immersion programs)

B&D will provide options and recommendations to help RCSD bring its sites up to a fuller capacity. B&D will also manage the design of the eventual projects, to aid RCSD in making smart investments.

The issue of compression is not unique to California’s Bay Area. Housing inventory has become inaccessible for young families across the country. Meanwhile the conversation about how charter schools impact the system continues. Programs responding to compression are difficult, but they are navigable. RCSD, fortunately, is now on a path to success.