Marin School Closure Would Hit Latinx Students Hard, Group Says

NOVATO, CA — A Novato group is pushing back against the possible closure of an elementary school, a move it says would disproportionately hurt the city’s Latinx community and some of its poorest residents.

Save Lynwood School formed to put public pressure on the Novato Unified School District not to shutter a school that is among three elementary schools the NUSD is targeting for closure on the recommendation of a volunteer committee. La Sutton and Rancho Elementary are the others.

The group’s message: “Do not destroy us.”

The group says Lynwood has the district’s highest percentage of students from Spanish-speaking homes and a one of the highest rates of families that qualify for free and reduced cost student lunches.

It would also breach the district’s long-term commitment to its only dual immersion program, the group says.

The group has posted a Change.org petition to advance its cause that as of Thursday afternoon had garnered 1,750 signatures.

“Lynwood students would be hit hardest if our school is closed,” the group wrote in its post.

“The data is clear. 195 Latinx students in the District will be displaced. 110 English-learning students will be displaced. The 68% who cannot afford a District school lunch will be displaced.

“The committee needs to be inclusive and aligned with the District’s claimed Values of Innovation, Equity, Caring, Inclusion and Collaboration.”

NUSD Superintendent Kris Cosca told The Marin Independent Journal that Lynwood’s closure wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of the immersion program, noting that the district trustees would have the authority to relocate it.

“NUSD is fully committed to provide excellent academic programs for its students of all ages and will explore every opportunity to do so within its budgetary constraints,” Cosca told the publication.

The Save Lynwood School group says the impact of closing the school would have a devastating impact on its young learners.

“Student success, especially with already marginalized learners, is delicate — with any small crack, it can shatter. Extra steps to getting to school, combined with the loss of your community, all without knowing the same level English as your peers, is not some small drop that makes a small crack.

“It’s throwing a student’s potential for success off a cliff.”