No, I wasn't serious about arson
Any irreversible commitment not to reopen will suffice
Between April 2005 and January 2007, SFUSD closed nine schools: William De Avila Elementary, Cabrillo Elementary, Golden Gate Elementary, John Swett Elementary, Treasure Island Elementary, Luther Burbank Middle, Gloria Davis Middle, Benjamin Franklin Middle, and Enola Maxwell Middle. In 2004-05, those nine schools between them had 2,230 students.
Today, only Cabrillo and Treasure Island sit empty1. The Chinese Immersion School is at De Avila. Creative Arts and Gateway Middle are both at Golden Gate. Civic Center Secondary is at Swett. Jordan High is at Burbank. KIPP SF College Prep is at Davis. KIPP SF Bay Academy and Gateway High are at Franklin. SF International High is at Maxwell. In 2023-24, those nine schools between them had 2,741 students.
Nine schools closed because of declining enrollment but those nine school buildings now contain 500 more students than they did before the schools closed.
That’s not all. SFUSD constructed an entirely new school, Dianne Feinstein Elementary, on the site of the closed Parkside school. When City College opened its Chinatown / North Beach campus, it gave up its lease on the old Hancock School building at 940 Filbert and that became home to New School of San Francisco. Feinstein and New School have another 827 students between them.
In the 2010s, SFUSD merged Buena Vista elementary and Horace Mann middle school and the combined school was based at the Horace Mann campus. Bryant Elementary moved from its building into the vacated Buena Vista building. And then Mission Preparatory opened in the vacated Bryant building. This is not an argument against charter schools per se. That Mission Prep can attract 490 students to a space where SFUSD could attract only half indicates that it is doing a good job.
If overcapacity in schools is a problem, and declining enrollment just accentuates that problem, then closing schools is only a temporary solution because the buildings will soon be reopened, either by charter schools or the district itself2. While calling for a “careful arsonist” was my tribute to Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, a permanent solution does require an irreversible commitment not to reopen schools after they close. Arson is not necessary. Sending in the wrecking crews would suffice. So would selling the sites or signing long-term leases for them.
Cabrillo is used by SFUSD for Professional Development. Treasure Island was offered as a site to KIPP Bayview Elementary.
Refusing to lease to charter schools is not an option. Districts are legally obliged to make space for them if space is available.