View of the inside of Parker Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The school has been permanently closed by the Oakland Unified School District but parents are occupying the building. Bay Area schools have experienced the third largest decline in student enrollment in California over the past 10 years, as families left high-cost coastal areas for more affordable inland cities and states, new data shows.
Data from the state education department and demographic projections from the state indicate the region by 2033 will see an even larger loss, a 14% drop from current enrollment — bigger than the state’s projected 12% decline. California leaders and experts said the statewide drop in student enrollment was less than projected and reflects a return to slower, pre-pandemic declines. The state’s Department of Finance had initially projected a loss of about 41,000 students.
“I am very grateful to see this exciting outlook for our earliest learners,” Tony Thurmond, the state superintendent of public instruction, said in a news release announcing the data.