Exclusive Data: Thousands of Schools at Risk of Closing Due to Enrollment Loss
www.the74million.org
Districts from Philadelphia to Los Angeles have large numbers of schools that lost at least 20% of their students during the pandemic.

Districts from Philadelphia to Los Angeles have large numbers of schools that lost at least 20% of their students during the pandemic.

Days before Christmas, the school board in Jackson, Mississippi, voted to close 11 schools and merge two more — a drastic move that parents in the district had long feared. Some on the list have lost 30% or more of their students since 2018.

Despite the district’s high poverty, Superintendent Errick Greene said he could no longer afford to staff social workers and counselors at schools with long stretches of declining enrollment. Many older buildings were falling apart. It made no sense, he said, to have plumbers and HVAC technicians “racing hither and yon across the city” each morning to keep them running.

“Should we really be investing this money in these school buildings if they’re at best at half capacity?” he asked.

Such questions are weighing heavily on district leaders throughout the country. Fresh from the academic struggles that followed the pandemic, and with federal relief funds soon to run out, they now confront a massive enrollment crisis.

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A shorter student roster each year might not make headlines, but it could serve as a harbinger of things to come, Goulas said. Administrators in shrinking schools often must merge classrooms, eliminate jobs or rely on donations to save popular sports or music programs.

  • @MicroWaveOPEnglish
    7•11 months ago

    Here’s an example in California:

    Because of its size, California has the most schools where enrollment loss hit at least 20% during the pandemic — over 1,400. High-priced areas like Silicon Valley reflect a host of recent demographic trends, including record-low birth rates and a limited housing market. Other families left districts during school closures for private schools and charters. All of these factors add up to fewer school-age children attending traditional public schools.

    • RedFox
      1•11 months ago

      20% during the pandemic

      This I can understand, though I know people’s views on pandemic/isolation are varying. I don’t think enrollment data during that time should skew or influence current trends though.

      I’m not in the education field, but unless I’m missing something, I don’t think it makes sense to talk about low attendance rates and closing school based on pandemic attendance. I see these comments supporting lower attendance now, so I’m curious what those figures are.