By JACQI LEYVA-HILL
Special to the NEWS
The future of one of the area’s most storied campuses, Rangerville Elementary School, will be discussed publicly next week, following SBCISD officials’ announcement of a community town hall to gather input from parents, staff, and residents.
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the Rangerville Elementary cafeteria at 17558 Landrum Park Road, San Benito. District officials say the purpose of the meeting is to allow stakeholders to ask questions, share concerns, and provide feedback about the campus.
SBCISD Director of Communication and Public Relations Luis D. Gonzales said the meeting marks the first step in a multi-stage process and that no final decision on the school’s fate has been made.
“The first step is to meet with parents, the board, and community members,” Gonzales said. “After that, the board will meet to consider the input from the initial meeting.”
Gonzales said several factors will be evaluated as part of the decision-making process, including the age of the facility, community growth, and other long-term planning considerations.
Any potential action involving the campus requires review by the school board of trustees after the public input meeting.
The district’s official announcement stated the town hall will provide an opportunity for the community to “provide input, share ideas, ask questions, and discuss the future of the Rangerville school community.”
The meeting comes amid questions in the community about enrollment and the long-term sustainability of the rural campus.
District officials have not publicly confirmed enrollment figures, but estimates place enrollment between 170 and fewer than 200 students. Other topics, such as staffing and potential impacts on families, may be discussed at the town hall.
The district encourages parents, guardians, and community members to attend and participate in the discussion. Additional updates will be shared after the meeting.
No formal board action on Rangerville Elementary has been scheduled at this time.
According to the 2024-25 Accountability Rating for the 2023-2024 school year, Rangerville Elementary reported 197 students. Of those, 62.9% were considered at risk of dropping out of school, and 33% were enrolled in bilingual and English language learning programs.
According to the report, as of the 2023-2024 school year, campus teachers had an average of 12.6 years of experience.
According to sources, SBCISD Superintendent of Schools Fred Perez, along with other district administrators, met with campus staff last week to discuss a potential campus closure.
Parents and other stakeholders are concerned that the student population will be split between the other “country” elementary schools, the closest of which is La Paloma, or AGL. Some parents consider other campuses within the San Benito City Limits too far and impractical to meet their needs.
As a result, some parents say they may transfer their children to another school district, further diminishing SBCISD’s student population.
Other Valley school districts have also struggled to maintain enrollment, as parents are enrolling their children in private and charter schools. Officials also cite immigration crackdowns, along with other sociological factors, as causes of the declining student population.
Meanwhile, residents, including Esther Rodriguez, have taken to social media to share their opinions on the campus’ possible closure.
“Rangerville Elementary is an amazing school! My children are third-generation alumni/and still attending,” she wrote. “The staff has always gone above and beyond. It was such a joy when my son had some of the same teachers I did. That in itself says something; if the teachers/staff stay in one school without transferring, it speaks about how great the community and workplace they are in.”
She went on to say, “It’s crazy to think they want to close it. If they close the school, will they add all these students to already at-capacity campuses so that teachers can pay less attention to them? I pray that they do not close the school. It would be a very sad day for the community if it did.”
Elisa Limon added, “Now the families with children there will have to find another campus, possibly farther away, which is inconvenient. They may have low enrollment, but they still have students in that area, closer to home.”
Johnathon De La Fuente wrote, “It’s a waste of money to close it down and not use it. Look at the old BC. It’s already falling apart and has asbestos. They barely want to fix the other schools, yet they have more than enough money to get a new scoreboard.”
Some of the campus’s earliest documents date the facility back to 1930.
For more information about the town hall, call the campus at (956) 361-6840.
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