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SAN FRANCISCO – J. Eugene McAteer High School, an educational dumping ground where poorly performing students often were assigned, will close permanently at year’s end. 

Enrollment at the campus has declined over the past five years and graduation rates have suffered as well, according to the school district. 

“It got a reputation over the years of being a school that was underperforming,” San Francisco schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman said Sunday. “I think, in the end, people who felt emotionally abut McAteer closing felt it was in the best interest of the children.” 

The school district’s Board of Education voted 4-1 in favor of the shutdown at its meeting held Feb. 26. 

The underlying performance numbers at McAteer tell the story of school where few students wanted to be and most of them failed to keep up academically: 

• Over the last five years, enrollment has declined more than 50 percent. 

• Over the last four years, the graduation rate dropped from 95 percent to 87 percent. 

• In each of the three years that the state has measured schools on their Academic Performance Index, McAteer received a rank of one – the lowest ranking on the ten-point scale. 

And the district acknowledges that many of the students at McAteer were placed there in the middle of a school year because of discipline problems at other campuses. 

Ackerman said it became a fairly common practice for other schools to funnel poorly performing students and children with special needs to the McAteer campus, rather than equally distributing those students to several campuses in the district. 

“We’re now looking at making sure every high school gets its fair share of all students, and students with special needs in particular,” Ackerman said. 

About 75 McAteer teachers also will be placed at other campuses within the district. No layoffs were expected. 

The school’s principal, Patricia Fioriello, said the decision to close McAteer was met with mostly heavy hearts around campus. 

“Emotionally, it has not been easy for some of our students and staff,” Fioriello said. “Emotions aside, we all know and for the most parts the students know, this decision will reap great educational rewards for our students, especially as we implement a plan for mentors and tutors for the students who need that support.” 

McAteer students were told to list three campuses they would like to attend for the 2002-03 school year and will be granted one of those choices, Ackerman said. 

The district considered keeping a special senior class together for one last year, but a survey of 174 juniors found that just 40 were in favor of such a plan. 

Of the 850 students currently enrolled at McAteer, only 15 percent originally listed the campus as their first choice to attend.