Zuckerberg-backed Bay Area school to lay off 147 as it shuts down

A tuition-free school founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan in the East Bay will lay off nearly 150 employees as it prepares to shut down this summer, according to a state filing.

The Primary School in San Leandro submitted a notice to California's employment department on April 15, stating that 147 employees will be laid off effective June 12 as part of a permanent closure. The campus is located at 750 Fargo Ave. in San Leandro.

The filing offers the clearest picture yet of the scale of job losses tied to the school's planned shutdown, which was announced in 2025 but has drawn renewed attention as the end of the academic year approaches.

Founded in 2016, the Primary School was designed as a tuition-free model serving low-income families, combining education with health care and social services.

Backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, it operates campuses in East Palo Alto and San Leandro and serves about 550 students.

The closure is expected to displace hundreds of children and has already begun to strain nearby public school systems.

In San Mateo County, the Ravenswood City School District is preparing for a surge of new students from the East Palo Alto campus. District officials have warned that the shift could create "an immediate crisis" without additional space, according to ballot materials supporting a proposed $70 million facilities bond.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has said it will commit $50 million to support families affected by the closures in East Palo Alto, Ravenswood and Menlo Park's Belle Haven neighborhood.

The layoffs come amid a broader pullback from some of the couple's education-focused efforts. Earlier this year, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative cut about 70 jobs in Redwood City as it narrowed its focus to artificial intelligence-driven biomedical research.

School leaders have said they will provide transition support to families as operations wind down at the end of the school year.

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