The Long Beach Unified School District is officially moving forward with the closure of Hudson Elementary at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
The board passed the closure plan at their Nov. 6 meeting with four votes in favor and one against. Student board member Alana Arroyo’s preferential vote was in favor.
The district’s facilities team presented research on the school’s dwindling enrollment numbers and capacity usage at the Oct. 16 meeting. Hudson Elementary enrolled 231 students this academic year and projected data predicts the enrollment number will continue to decline to under 200 next year and remain that way for the next couple of years. Since state funding is directly tied to enrollment, low enrollment limits the amount of resources available for students.
Students will be transferred about half a mile down the street to Garfield Elementary School. Board member Maria Isabel Lopez, who voted against the plan, expressed her concern about transportation options to Garfield. She said public transit may not be suitable for younger students.
“My ‘no’ vote really has to do with the fact that I strongly believe our families, especially in the West Side, may need transportation from Hudson to Garfield,” Lopez said.
Superintendent Jill Baker said while the district is in conversation with families, school bus transportation is not currently being considered. She added that approximately 30% of the students currently attending Hudson already live near Garfield Elementary.
“Once we have all of the data, there will be a consideration for if there’s a need for a crossing guard to get across Santa Fe and we’ll look at the data of where those families live,” Baker said.
Students in Hudson Elementary’s special education program will be transferring to Bixby Elementary and will continue receiving transportation. Data gathered shows most students in the special education program reside in different areas across the district and not necessarily strictly the Hudson residential area.
The board also approved the consolidation of the attendance boundary of the two schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. This means that any family living in or moving into the new consolidated boundary will enroll in Garfield moving forward.
However, families with students currently enrolled at Hudson have the option to fill out an individualized school of choice application that would allow them to rank the top schools they would prefer over Garfield. Based on their Individualized Education Plan, students with disabilities can request a different special education program than Bixby’s and will continue to receive transportation.
The district said it will continue to be in conversation with Hudson Elementary families and staff to ensure a smooth transition.
“We’re not talking about closing this school for another seven or eight months, and a lot can be learned during that period of time,” Board Member Doug Otto said. “I feel confident in what we do and how we do it, that we will find good solutions to this.”
