Character is what you do when no one is looking; luck is what happens when the world is not fair. That may be the best way to sum up the unfortunate closing of a tuition-free school founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan in the East Bay. According to a state filing, the school, once envisioned as a proof of concept for a new kind of education, will lay off nearly 150 employees as it prepares to shut down this summer. The Primary School in San Leandro submitted a notice to California’s employment department on April 15, stating that employees will be laid off effective June 12 as part of a permanent closure.
The school had positioned itself as a sanctuary, one that aimed to make education holistic by combining classroom learning with healthcare, mental health support, family coaching, and community engagement under one roof. But less than a decade after it was founded in 2016, the institution will now displace hundreds of children, lay off 147 staffers, and, as collateral damage, put added pressure on public systems that will have to absorb those students, shared San Francisco Chronicle. Still, the school did record meaningful wins over the past decade. In one annual report, it said 90% of students had a well-child visit in the previous 12 months, while 79% had a preventive dental visit. About 58% of students also received individualized education programs or other specialized support.
The initiative also went far beyondMark Zuckerberg’s billions. A qualified pediatrician, Priscilla Chan, who co-chairs the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, was the driving force behind the vision, teaming up with educator Meredith Liu to rethink education and health together. One Chronicle report noted that the school’s annual cost in fiscal 2022-23 was about $12.4 million, or roughly $28,000 per student. The same report said contributions dropped from nearly $8 million in 2022 to just over $3.7 million in 2023, suggesting that, at least in part, this became a sustainability problem. While the exact reason for the school’s closure remains unclear, it has said that transition support, along with a $50 million commitment to affected communities, will be provided over five years.
