San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) may need to close or rearrange elementary schools with small enrollment in response to an estimated $50 million school district budget shortfall this year, school officials said. Elementary schools with the fewest students appear on a list of about six schools — down from a list of 17— now being considered by the district for closure, said Linda Zintz, spokesperson for the district. Two beach-area magnet schools appear on the list released Monday, Jan. 19, while Bayview Terrace Elementary, 2445 Fogg St. in Pacific Beach, was removed from the list. Whereas magnet schools such as Barnard Elementary in Point Loma and Crown Point Elementary might have “killer conditions” that preclude closure, other schools throughout the district, including Sequoia, Cadman, Carver and North Park elementaries, have fewer than 400 students and appear on the updated list, Zintz said. Zintz said the committee recommended closing one school in each cluster area, which may be why Crown Point appears on the list instead of Bayview Terrace. The final decision, however, rests with the SDUSD board of directors. “It’s just a recommendation,” Zintz said. “Just because the [schools] are on a list, it doesn’t mean that any schools would be closed. There would definitely be more issues to look into if it goes to the board.” The Small Schools Committee is supposed to present the final recommendations for saving money during workshops tentatively set for Monday, Jan. 26 and Tuesday, Jan. 27, at a time to be determined this week, Zintz said. Meanwhile, the two magnet schools considered by the committee just started last year and have seen slight increases in enrollment since then, school officials said. If the magnet programs close, however, the action could threaten federal funding for all of the district’s magnet schools in 2011, according to a letter from the SDUSD Office of Magnet Programs. The government awards grants for magnet schools every three years. “We make a commitment every three years. If we close the [magnet] program before it’s completed, the federal government doesn’t look positively on that,” said SDUSD spokesman Jack Brandais. So would magnet status in and of itself prevent the district from shutting them down? “Not necessarily,” said Small Schools Committee Chair Jim Varnadore. The eight-member committee met with parents and community members at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St., on Monday, Jan. 19, producing the latest list. The committee looks at attendance, overall cost per student and academic performance — among other things — to determine options for recommendation to the school board. A decision is expected to be made and implemented by the fall. Barnard Principal Edward Park said his school and the new Mandarin Chinese magnet program there should remain untouched. The school, however, remained on the list this week. “I don’t speak for the school district,” Park said. “[But] I feel strongly confident that our effort and energy will not be wasted away.” Park came from the Los Angeles Unified School District last year to help administer the magnet program. Barnard had about 160 students then. Now it has about 190, he said. Although it’s growing, it’s still one of the most expensive schools in the district to run, with a budget of about $1.8 million, according to school officials. The school also received between $300,000 and $500,000 over the last two years to pay for the Mandarin Chinese magnet program. The federal grant money pays for teachers, equipment and other magnet program costs, Park said. But if the program goes away, the money slated for next year could evaporate. Crown Point Elementary in Pacific Beach, which also recently started the Suzuki violin magnet program, has also grown. School officials expected about 112 students this year but ended up with 259, according to school officials. Crown Point had a budget of about $889,000 last year, according to school officials. The magnet program was meant to attract more students from around the city and, according to Crown Point Principal Barbara Boone, the program does exactly that. She said she’s confident the district would keep the Crown Point Suzuki violin program where it is. “It’s my belief … that because we’re a magnet school that there is or should be a protection, but I can’t speak for the district,” Boone said. Parents, teachers and administrators from Bayview Terrace Elementary attended a committee meeting Monday, Jan. 12, at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St. Bayview Terrace teacher David Weaks said moving Crown Point’s students and not Bayview’s would impact the least number of students and staff. “[Administrators] will be placed, teachers will be placed somewhere … but the 300 [Bayview] students, where are they going to go?” he said. About 265 students currently attend Bayview Terrace Elementary. Discussions about the school’s closure included relocating 162 students to schools outside Pacific Beach. Most students would have been moved to Kate Sessions Elementary School, 2150 Beryl St., and Pacific Beach Elementary, 1234 Tourmaline St., according to SDUSD documents. Although Bayview Terrace isn’t large enough to support the growing Crown Point magnet program, a majority of Crown Point’s students could move to the nearby school, according to school officials. About 106 Crown Point students, however, would have to leave the beach-area school cluster, according to district documents. With all the talk about “hard data” and enrollment numbers, parents and some administrators recently reminded the Small Schools Committee about the many other functions the school sites serve. Bayview’s Family Resource Center, an on-site family resource center, offers referral services for counseling and medical paperwork and financial literacy workshops. It also focuses on preventing domestic violence and promoting nutrition. Samantha Hua, the center’s program manager, said it would also be very difficult for a lot of low-income families to cope with major changes. “Shutting down our school means closing our family resource center, which strengthens families,” Hua said. “Our program’s goal is to provide children and families the support they need to thrive, so that children can go to school ready to learn. This closure would be detrimental to many of our families.”