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7-11 Committee Meeting No. 3 Recap: 7-11 Committee Advances School Closure, Surplus Recommendations

7-11 Committee Meeting No. 3 Recap: 7-11 Committee Advances School Closure, Surplus Recommendations
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7-11 Committee Meeting No. 3 Recap: 7-11 Committee Advances School Closure, Surplus Recommendations
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7-11 Committee Meeting No. 3 Recap: 7-11 Committee Advances School Closure, Surplus Recommendations

VALLEJO, Calif. - The 7-11 Committee met Monday night for its third session, which included a legally required public hearing. Members continued developing a recommendation for the governing board that ranks schools for potential closure and proposes designating four school sites as surplus.

The committee's final recommendations and the report will be voted on at the next meeting on Aug. 11 and presented to the board on Aug. 20.

Based on a range of data and community input, the 7-11 Committee ranked schools in the following order of consideration for closure:

  1. Lincoln Elementary
  2. John Finney Education Complex
  3. Steffan Manor Elementary
  4. Pennycook Elementary
  5. Cooper Elementary
  6. Federal Terrace
  7. Highland Elementary

The committee also drafted messages to explain the ranking, including the following: keep the Lincoln literacy program intact and move the entire program somewhere; relocate the John Finney programs to another site and explore the John Finney site for future middle school use; close Steffan Manor and consolidate students to Pennycook, using Steffan Manor as a new home to other programs.

To provide flexibility for future use, the following sites have been designated as surplus in the draft:

  • Federal Terrace Elementary
  • John Finney Education Complex
  • Cooper Elementary
  • Highland Elementary

This designation would allow the board to lease, sell, or repurpose those sites in the future.

During the public hearing, families shared heartfelt input:

  • Defense of neighborhood schools like Lincoln, Federal Terrace, and Cooper.
  • Concerns about transportation burdens if schools close.
  • Fears that vacant campuses may lead to blight.
  • Praise for unique programs like Deaf/Hard of Hearing (Pennycook) and early childhood (Federal Terrace).

The committee will hold its final meeting on Monday, Aug. 11, to finalize its report to the board. Community members are encouraged to attend and participate. The committee will present its final recommendations and report, including closure rankings and surplus property designations, to the board of education at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 20. The board will make final decisions on school closures and consolidations by December 2025, which will take effect for the 2026-27 school year.

All meetings are open to the public and will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the VCUSD District Office Board Room, 665 Walnut Ave., Vallejo. Public comment is welcome on agenda items.

The following day, the District posts video recordings of all committee meetings on its YouTube channel.

Please visit our Roadmap to Resizing web for ongoing updates and additional information.