Pomona Unified staff asks board to consider consolidating underenrolled schools; Armstrong Elementary singled out

Superintendent Darren Knowles told the Pomona Unified School District board on Jan. 21 that falling enrollments, local birth‑rate trends and per‑pupil operating costs have pushed the district to prepare consolidation recommendations.

“We are asking the board … to consider the consolidation of Armstrong,” Knowles told trustees during an information-only staff report that reviewed enrollment decline, facility capacity and criteria developed by a community committee.

Knowles said the district has been tracking steep declines statewide and locally, cited birth‑rate and capacity figures and said operating a small campus can exceed $18,000 per student. He described the committee’s criteria — site capacity, facility condition, capacity utilization, proximity to adjoining districts and operating costs — and…