Are School Closures Imminent for San Bruno?

Last week's brought up a number of issues, and each candidate gave voters a different glimpse of how each person would govern if elected to the board.

However, while the $40 million bond measure and Superintendent David Hutt were hot topics during the debate, other issues were raised.

Today, I'd like to take a poll about one of the many hot-button topics that was briefly raised during the forum: school closures.

With preparing to be converting into a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade school next year, the district has been pondering what to do with all of the elementary schools when they lose their sixth-grade classes.

The district over the summer to keep all of the district’s elementary schools balanced, and the board is expected to discuss the results of the study in January.

Apparently, a draft report of the school boundaries study has been released that proposes closing two schools in the district.

Someone asked the candidates at the forum whether they supported that proposal. Candidate Chuck Zelnik said the plan didn't make sense but that changing the elementary schools to K-5 grades could help the district get out of program improvement status. The school district entered program improvement status for the first time this year because schools failed to have a certain percentage of students score at a proficient level or above on annual tests.

Incumbent Kevin Martinez said closing schools might have to be a possibility but that the district would have to take a hard look at the tradeoffs.

What do you think about the candidates' positions?