Rock Creek Elementary is closing as of January 11th due to Auburn Union school district’s $3 million budget deficit.

Recently the Auburn Union School District had a meeting at town hall to decide what school to shut to save money. They decided in a 3-2 vote that it would be best to close Rock Creek Elementary. 

“I understand the district’s perspective as far as the school is really old and it can’t really be expanded for the amount of kids that are there.” said Placer High teacher Christy Dyer.  “The bulk of the students live within walking distance from that school so how’s that going to affect them when there are no buses?” 

It has been an extremely difficult decision for the school board as Rock Creek elementary is a tight knit community with many students attending that walk to school from nearby Auburn Greens. Although some parents felt this was the best decision, there were many more who did not understand why Rock Creek was the one selected to close.

“I was kinda surprised when I heard about it considering how many kids go to the school,” stated Noelia Santa Maria, a senior at Placer High and a former student of Rock Creek. 

Many families that attend Rock Creek are low income families meaning families whose yearly income is between 50-80% of the area median income level. As a result, many families may have a difficult time finding a new school to attend that fits the families budget. One of the biggest hurdles is transportation.

Almost all Rock Creek students walk from home to school so now they have no way to get to a new school because most of their parents cannot drive them. There is also a bus issue in the Auburn school district so these students cannot take the bus to another school either. 

Auburn Elementary is the closest school to Rock Creek and there are still many unanswered questions such as whether there is enough room for students at Auburn Elementary, and what will happen to all the teachers who are at Rock Creek.  Will teachers be laid off or will they be moved to Auburn Elementary as well?

There are still many unanswered questions that are hoped to be answered soon.