heart of the neighborhood

By Ramon Quirarte

In the east side of San Jose there is an elementary school called Kennedy Elementary School which has become the home of many students and parents including the teachers and staff. Kennedy has a very warm and welcoming community that allows new families to enroll their kids into Kennedy.

Recently there were meetings in the FMSD district in which they talked about closing schools due to budget cuts and in that list among other elementary schools is Kennedy Elementary School which is at risk of closing. Many families were concerned upon hearing the news since many families have their children attending that school. Many staff members are also concerned as they will have to look for work elsewhere after working there for so many years, an example of a staff member would be Jeff Carver a teacher at Kennedy Elementary who enjoys what he does at Kennedy and thinks of it as his home.

Jeff Carver: Kennedy ​is. ​I ​have ​been ​at ​Kennedy ​longer ​than ​I've ​lived ​in ​any ​place ​in ​my ​life. ​So ​this ​really ​is ​my ​home ​and ​this ​is ​my ​heart. ​This ​is ​kind ​of ​the ​center ​of ​my ​whole ​world. And I ​don't ​look ​at ​my ​students ​as ​just ​​students. ​you ​know, ​when ​they're ​with ​me, ​we ​kind ​of ​live ​together ​and ​I ​feel ​like ​we're ​a ​family. ​So ​that's ​what ​it ​means ​to ​me. ​It's ​my ​home ​and ​it's ​my ​family.

 As a former student at Kennedy Elementary I had the chance to interview Jeff Carver, one of my teachers from when I attended there and I was able to ask him a few questions revolving around this topic including how he feels about this situation.

Jeff Carver: Well, for me, this has ​been ​my ​home for, ​for ​almost ​30 ​years, ​so ​it ​would ​be ​a ​very, ​very ​sad ​thing ​because ​I ​love ​​the ​school ​and ​the ​people ​I ​work ​with, ​and ​especially ​the ​kids ​in ​the ​community. ​but ​also ​that ​means ​that ​I ​would ​have ​to, ​you ​know, ​if ​they ​closed ​Kennedy, ​if ​I ​work ​another ​couple ​of ​years, ​I ​still ​have ​to ​move ​to ​another ​school ​and ​maybe ​teach ​another ​grade ​level, ​which ​is ​not ​a ​horrible ​thing. ​But, ​it's ​an ​uncomfortable ​feeling ​after ​working ​in ​one ​place ​for ​so long.

The news raised concern among the community and many started to ask the FMSD district board on what their plans were for Kennedy, the district board started to hold meetings with the schools communities to talk about what their plans were in the future. They discussed how they would have to close 3 or more schools which alerted many communities as they now knew that 3 or more schools were guaranteed to close. 

The district board decided to close 3 schools since they were on a $25 million deficit. The district board has had to make many cuts in order to save money but are now resorting to closing down schools since many take up a lot of money and have low enrollment which is a problem at Kennedy. Ever since Covid hit, Kennedy started losing more students and the school stopped gaining new students which is causing a problem with the district board.

Jeff Carver: The ​main ​reason ​that ​they ​were ​thinking ​about ​closing ​Kennedy ​is ​because the ​district ​has ​a ​$25 ​million ​deficit. And, they ​needed ​to ​close ​five ​schools.

I personally think it's wrong of the board to close schools because those schools have become a home to the staff and children who attend there. I have made a lot of memories at Kennedy Elementary and hearing that it has a chance to close is upsetting as I have a lot of great memories I've made there with friends and staff. Every experience I had there was great, the staff was great and the students were all friendly and welcoming to anyone who attended there.