7-11 Committee Concludes First Meeting

On Monday, June 23,  the 7-11 committee—a group of independent, citizen-led body that evaluates district real estate assets in the wake of recent school closures and consolidation decisions.

Earlier this year, VCUSD’s Board of Education voted to close two schools for the 2025-26 academic year, launching the first phase of a broader consolidation plan designed to stabilize the district’s finances while preserving high-quality learning for every student. To ensure transparency and broad community input as the district reviews its real estate portfolio, the Board has directed staff to convene a second 7-11 Committee. This committee, named because state law requires seven to eleven members who collectively reflect the community’s diversity, is a crucial part of our commitment to involve you, the community, in these important decisions.

This initial session was procedural and informational, focused on orienting the committee to their responsibilities and the legal guidelines they must follow, including the Brown Act, Public Records Act, and Robert’s Rules of Order. The committee also reviewed the Education Code provisions that govern their work.

Sites Under Consideration

The committee was presented with seven school sites to be reviewed and rank-ordered for potential closure:

• Cooper Elementary
• Federal Terrace Elementary
• Highland Elementary
• John Finney Education Complex
• Lincoln Elementary
• Pennycook Elementary
• Steffan Manor Elementary

District staff asked the committee to consider whether Federal Terrace, Finney, Cooper, and Highland should be designated as surplus property.

When a school district declares a property surplus, it has determined that a particular piece of real estate, such as a school building or land, is no longer needed for current or anticipated school purposes. This declaration triggers a process for the district to potentially sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property. 

The committee will create a report with its recommendations and present it to the Board on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at a regular board meeting. Ultimately, the governing body will decide whether any schools are closed or consolidated by the end of the calendar year.

Committee Leadership

During the meeting, the committee unanimously selected Kimberly Marquez-Cortes as chair.

Key Topics and Transparency

The group began discussing initial focus areas and asked important questions about data access and timelines, particularly around the Equity Impact Analysis (EIA) required by Assembly Bill 1912. The EIA is a critical tool that helps the district understand the potential impact of our decisions on all students, particularly those from underserved communities. Staff clarified that the EIA and the 7-11 Committee’s work is moving forward in parallel, and they will share the EIA data with the committee to support transparent, informed decision-making.

What's Next

The committee will meet three more times:

• Monday, July 7
• Monday, July 28 (public hearing)
• Monday, Aug. 11
• Wednesday, Aug. 20 (final report presented to the VCUSD Board of Education)

All meetings are open to the public from 5 to 7 p.m. in the District Office Board Room at 665 Walnut Ave, Vallejo. Community members are welcome to attend and comment publicly on items listed on the agenda.

To view the entire meeting, please visit our YouTube page. The following day, all sessions will be recorded and available on our YouTube page.

They will present their final report to the VCUSD Board of Education on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, including a ranking for school closures and surplus property designations.

We remain committed to open communication throughout this process. Please visit our Roadmap to Resizing website for more details and updates about school closures and consolidations.