About: Dilworth Elementary is a public school in Cupertino Union School District (CUSD), located on Strayer Drive in San Jose. This is a highly rated Blue Ribbon school which also serves the needs of special needs kids via our SDC program.

Problem:

An email was recently sent to the CUSD board which explains a lot of this along with the relevant data - Letter to CUSD Board

1. From 2010 to 2019, Dilworth had among the most stable enrollments in all of CUSD. Over the span of a decade, not counting Alternate Schools, Dilworth had the 4th most stable enrollment amongst CUSD Neighborhood schools. In other words, in comparison to the rest of CUSD, Dilworth enrollment was pretty stable over the course of the decade.
2. From 2019 to 2021 (2021 is the upcoming school year), Dilworth enrollment has been cut by 34%. In just 2 years! This is the most decline amongst any elementary school in CUSD.

3. We know that Dilworth has had strong waitlists. This is based on anecdotal information from the community, as well as data from CUSD saying that the waitlist just for K this upcoming year was over 30 (more than enough to open another K class). We also know that students in 1st and beyond are being denied admission and told they are on a waitlist.

4. So the question is: what prompted the drop in the classes from 2019 to 2021 and the decline in enrollment? How did CUSD artificially cut Dilworth enrollment by 34% in 2 years, when we were stable for a decade prior to that?

5. CUSD has told us that there were declining enrollment trends in the area around Dilworth. So we plotted (Letter to CUSD Board) the schools in the area around Dilworth south of Bollinger. The trend from 2010 to 2019 is clear - only Dilworth and the 2 alternate schools (Murdock-Portal and McAuliffe) had fairly stable enrollment across the decade, plotted by year, the other two did not.

6. When we add in the data for 2020 and 2021 (upcoming school year), it becomes much more clear what CUSD has done to Dilworth enrollment (Letter to CUSD Board).

Conclusion: The only way to interpret this data is that CUSD has identified Dilworth for closure, and they are now systematically suppressing enrollment, and taking us down to an unsustainable size, to then make the claim for closure. They have taken a site that had amongst the most stable enrollments in CUSD over a decade, and they have slashed enrollment by 34% in JUST 2 YEARS! This means that our children attending Dilworth have fewer peers to bond with, teachers have fewer colleagues to collaborate with, and overall morale and sentiment is horrendous. Also, CUSD is risking de-stabilizing our amazing SDC program and thereby impacting the kids that are enrolled there. We have had massive staff attrition over the past 2 years. All while Alternate schools in our area continue to thrive!

What is the Ask from the Dilworth community?

1. Re-open the second K class
2. Restore Dilworth to 2019 enrollment count.

By signing the petition, you are supporting this ask that the Dilworth community is making of CUSD.

Thank you!