In October 1960, the area now covered by the CVUSD contained about 9,900 students, and was served by 13 elementary schools, two junior high schools, and one high school. The large enrollment even prompted the construction of a second high school, Canyon High, which opened in 1964. As the population aged, enrollment plummeted, bottoming out in the mid-1980s at around 4,400 students.
Between 1976 and 1984, CVUSD sold off five school sites: Parsons, Sydney, Upper Redwood, and Norbridge Elementary Schools, and A.B. Morris Junior High. Three other schools, Stanton, Clifton and Independent elementary schools, were closed but were (thankfully) retained and later reopened for different uses as enrollment grew.
In 2015, CVUSD again has around 9,300 students and is struggling to fit those students into a much smaller set of aging facilities, many of which are need of repair after years of deferred maintenance. According to CVUSD’s April 2014 Facilities Master Plan, CVUSD’s facilities are in need of $63,150,509 of improvements, “which is comprised of modernizations, technology needs and additional classroom spaces.” Unfortunately, there is very little available land in Castro Valley to build additional schools. That is partially due to Parsons, Sydney and A.B. Morris being demolished and redeveloped into housing. A prime example is A.B. Morris.
What happened to A.B. Morris?
A.B.Morris Junior High was the largest of CVUSD’s former properties, located on the west side of town, just off of Parsons Avenue. Declining enrollment resulted in its closure in 1976. It sat vacant and used only for storage until 1979, when it was put up for sale. It continued to fall into disrepair and was finally sold in October 1983. The site was sold to the lone bidder for $2,650,000 and was quickly redeveloped into 100 single family homes.
A.B. Morris Jr. High in the 1960’sThe footprint of A.B. Morris today.
At the April 3, 1979 CVUSD Board Meeting when the site was first put up for sale, Board Member Sam Mediati had some insightful words on the plan. He said that the sale was a “sad commentary” on the district’s inability to maintain the school and criticized the district for lack of foresight saying that the school may be needed in the future. As reported in the Daily Review Newspaper at the time, Mediati said “In 10 to 15 years, the school could be invaluable to the school district and the community.”
In the end Mediati was outvoted 4-1 by the rest of the Board. In closing, Board Member Larry Todd commented “I can’t see where there’s going to be a use for it (the school) down the road in 10 years, 15 years, 50 years.”
As it turns out 36 years later, we can see a use for it after all.
In a future post we will tell you the whole story of the drama and details of the great Castro Valley School District reorganization of the late 1970’s – early 1980’s.
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Great information, thanks.
I know CVUSD is serious about issuing general obligation bonds to pay for improvements because a pollster called me the other day asking my opinions about which arguments for and against these bonds were most persuasive.
I have heard good things about the new superintendent, but it’s hard to shake the impression I’ve gotten over the last couple of years that the district has been in administrative chaos and it makes me wonder how well they will manage this process. CV School district administrators in my brief experience seem to want to make decisions in a vacuum then announce what they have decided as a fait accompli.
They don’t seem to want input from parents I can tell you – note for example that you have to wait until the very end of the School Board meetings to make a public comment – very inconvenient for those of us with young children or jobs that start early in the morning.
Public comment for non-agenda items was moved towards the beginning of meetings earlier this year.
As a former (ahem) student body president of AB Morris, I’m a little biased. But what the hell was the school district thinking? The two middle/junior high schools they have now are WAY over on the east side. AB Morris should have been kept as a junior high. People can be so stupid and are so lacking in foresight. I don’t get it.
In Castro Valley, 27% of homes are considered multi-unit housing and are part of the 15,367 multi-unit housing homes in Unincorporated Alameda County that are at risk of being exposed to secondhand smoke. Castro Valley is part of Unincorporated Alameda County, where a resident’s best bet for living in a …
When you consider how this location is a gateway to this community, how poorly conceived this intersection is, and the increasing traffic along 580, it is fair to question the wisdom of placing a new drive-thru restaurant here.
