Over spring break, Burlingame Bay Academy parents received a phone call announcing the closure of the program at Burlingame, meaning their children would need to relocate to Hillsdale or Mills High School. The Bay Academy program serves students requiring supplementary educational support. According to San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) Superintendent Randall Booker, the decision was made to improve the quality of education for Bay Academy students.

“By placing the Burlingame-based classes on campuses that already host multiple Bay Academy classrooms, we will create more robust, connected program sites,” Booker said, as quoted in the San Mateo Daily Journal.

Nina Berkovitz, whose son Zane is a student in the Bay Academy program, said the lack of communication and the abruptness of the decision were reckless.

“It was discriminatory. I thought it was careless, thoughtless. Wrong on so many different levels, and there was no way I was sending Zane to Mills,” Berkovitz said. “They would never have done that with a GenEd population. To think that our kids could be so easily moved around was just horrible.”

Families and community members voiced their concerns by sending emails to the district, including to Director of Special Education Rochelle Hooks, and by attending the April 16 board meeting.

“We reached out to our friends and to our families and to our kids, doctors, to their therapists, to their friends at Burlingame, and we asked them to please reach out to Superintendent Booker and to Dr. Hooks and to the school board to let them know how detrimental this move would be to our students and to Burlingame at large,” Nina Berkovitz said. “I think we had probably 40 people and 17 speakers who spoke to the board and spoke to Superintendent Booker about what this would do to everybody.”

Senior Scarlett Gemmer is enrolled in Unified Physical Education (P.E.) alongside Bay Academy students, an inclusive program that brings together students with and without disabilities. Gemmer is also the president of Best Buddies, a club that works to foster connections with Bay University, a program for students with special needs who have graduated from high school. Because the class is small, Gemmer said she formed close connections with the Bay Academy students and heard their perspectives on the district’s initial decision to transfer the program.

“I talked to a lot of the kids about it when they first found out, and they were all just sad to be leaving their friends,” Gemmer said. “Also, it’s just less convenient having to go further for school, so I’m glad that it was retracted.”

According to Unified P.E. teacher Malcolm Davis, the change would have been especially problematic for Bay Academy students who may have difficulty adapting to new environments.

“Being a student who has special needs, or that is maybe neurodivergent, it can take longer than somebody who is considered to be gen ed, for them to get acquainted to a new space,” Davis said. “So having already taken a long time to get acquainted to Burlingame High School, trying to now have them go to another school would have been something that definitely would have had its major challenges and issues. So I definitely understand the reasoning behind why people were concerned.”

Freshman Bay Academy student Zane Berkovitz said he likes the Burlingame Bay Academy program and would feel sad if he were forced to relocate. According to Berkovitz, he has made connections during his time at Burlingame, including his work as the team manager for the football team.

According to Bay Academy teacher Patrick Meyers, on April 21, just three weeks after parents were told about the relocation to Mills and Hillsdale, Booker retracted the decision.

“While our original intent was to strengthen program access and opportunities for students, I recognize that the value of an established, supportive community is equally important and must be carefully weighed,” said Booker in an email to the parents, according to Nina Berkovitz.

Instructional Aide Steve Meyer, who uses sign language to communicate with nonverbal or hard-of-hearing Bay Academy students, said he agrees with the district’s choice to retract its original decision.

“There’s a proper process for things like this, and the decision to move them was made with not enough input from the community,” Meyer said. “They heard the awesome, inspirational stories of parents and students from inclusion. I believe they made a wise decision to keep the program here.”

*We reached out to Superintendent Randall Booker for comment, but he did not respond to our inquiries.

This story was originally published on The Burlingame B on May 5, 2026.