Cargill’s plan to create an extension of Redwood City on the current salt ponds has
caused uproar in the community. Almost every major environmental group has come out
opposing the 1400 acre plan. Local and state agencies, four neighboring towns, and community
members have also expressed concerns. One local agency that is worried about the Cargill’s
development plans is the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD).
With space for anywhere from 30 to 45 thousand residents the Cargill development will
put even more strain on an already stressed public school system. Cargill claims that they will
build as many as four elementary schools and one middle school to accommodate the population,
but high schools are not mentioned. Currently in Redwood City, about 20% of the population
is between the ages of 5 and 18. Apply that percentage to the amount of people that the new
development would bring in, and you have 9,000 new kids in our schools. That is up to 2,700
seats filled in our high schools, seats that the SUHSD doesn’t have.
A spokesman for the Sequoia Union High School District explains that “this project, if
it moves forward, could have significant impact to Sequoia High School in terms of increase
student enrollment.” Sequoia High School has recently experienced a jump in enrollment, with
the freshman class being twice as large as the senior’s. This is in part due to neighboring high
schools meeting their enrollment limits and sending the surplus to Sequoia. With an extra 2,700
students, the school would pass its enrollment limit, leaving thousands of kids without a school.
Cargill has not yet addressed this problem.
-Brandon Whiteley
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