Alameda Unified Board Votes To Phase Out 3 Grades At Bay Farm School

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA -- At its most recent public meeting, the Alameda Unified Board of Education approved a proposal to phase out the middle grades (6-8) programming at Bay Farm School, a K-8 program on Bay Farm Island.

The process, which the board approved Feb. 15, is expected to begin in August, when a sixth grade class will not be enrolled at the school.

Current 8th graders in the program will finish the year at Bay Farm, and 6th and 7th graders will be given the opportunity to complete their middle school years at the Bay Farm campus during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, according to the school district.

"The district decided to phase out the program, rather than ending it completely, in order to provide stability for the middle schoolers currently enrolled there," the school district explained in a statement, adding that the decision is" emblematic of the pressures California school districts continue to face given the persistent underfunding and the ongoing declines in enrollment," both locally and across the state.

Since its inception more than 10 years ago, Bay Farm School’s middle grades program has had difficulty enrolling students in numbers that would maintain its enrollment and has experienced serious attrition in grades 7 and 8, when significant numbers of students choose to leave Bay Farm to attend one of our other public middle schools, according to the school district, resulting in lower class sizes relative to elementary and middle school classes across the district.

Revenue saved from phasing out the middle grades at Bay Farm School is expected to be redirected to programs that benefit more students and families across the district, including:

• Full day kindergarten.
• Adding specialist staffing to elementary schools so struggling students can receive extra help without missing grade-level instruction.
• Maintaining and possibly expanding counselor staffing at AUSD’s middle and high schools.

“As a parent I know too well the feelings that come with the potential, and at times real, loss of programming, staff, and services,” Board President Heather Little said. “But this was an issue that we could not afford to continue kicking down the road, not if we want to ensure we have a functioning district that best serves all our students, with teachers who are fairly and well-compensated, and with core programming and structures in place that will help address the historical and current inequities that exist within and throughout our district.”

The school district has said that it is committed to supporting the roughly 50 families who were intending to enroll in the 6th grade program at Bay Farm next August at the district’s three other middle school options in Alameda. The district is expected to send them more information soon to help them learn about other middle school options in Alameda and help support their students in making a transition.

More information on the context for phasing out the program is available in AUSD’s FAQs About Bay Farm’s 6-8 Program.