Over the past month, a group of parents, grandparents, and community members under the name The Communities One Project has rallied to keep Paul Laurence Dunbar School in the Jeff Vander Lou neighborhood open. Dunbar School was one of six St. Louis Public School buildings slated to close in January, when the SLPS Board voted to downsize due to the relatively low student population across the district.
The Communities One Project, as stated, wants to keep Dunbar open in particular due to its role within the Jeff Vander Lou community. They note that it is part of the “trifecta”—an area in which Dunbar Elementary, Vashon High School, and William J. Harrison St. Louis Community College are all in walking distance, meaning that students growing up in the area are able to remain within their own community for their entire education should they choose to do so.
The school, originally known as Glasgow School, was built in 1912 as a whites-only elementary and middle school. As the demographics of the neighborhood changed, though, the then-superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools declared that the school would be turned into one for Black children in 1933. The building was renamed after famous African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Another school that was slated for closure in January, Sumner High School, was granted a temporary reprieve during the same St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education session in which the vote to close Dunbar and 5 other schools was passed. On Tuesday evening, the board voted that instead of closing, Sumner would be turned into an “arts and activism” themed school and would stay open if its enrollments and GPAs increase significantly in the next 3 years.
At that same meeting, however, Superintendent Adams said that Dunbar would have a different fate: the only conditions under which it would stay open would be as a host to a virtual school. That would mean that the building currently known as Dunbar School would still have students in attendance, but those students would be taking virtual classes and using the building more as a location at which to sit with their computers.
Board member Susan Jones asked about the possibility of keeping Dunbar as a virtual school, and noted her desire that it keep the name of Paul Laurence Dunbar. “We would like to see the community continue to be able to use the building for after school types of programs,” Adams said. “And it is possible that kids who are virtual might come to the building, say, one day a month.”
Dunbar parent Jerrica Harris said in a press release from the Communities One Project that part of Dunbar’s appeal is that she can walk her two young children — a first-grader and a pre-k student — to school each morning. “Closing Dunbar, to me, would be a mistake,” she said. “How can you close down a great place where memories have been made down generations?”
Members of the Communities One Project assert that with the new pandemic stimulus plan, funding from the Missouri lottery, and the fact that SLPS is currently on sound financial footing, there should be no reason to close the schools. They also note that Dunbar in particular is 0.6 miles from the new National Geospatial Intelligence Agency site in North City. Miguel and Carla Alexander, leaders with the Communities One Project and proprietors of Miss Tillie’s Corner, a local history organization for children, worry that, “should Dunbar close, there goes the neighborhood. The NGA will take over the neighborhood.”
26th Ward Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard has endorsed the project’s call for Superintendent Adams to take more community input and reconsider Dunbar’s closing. “These schools have anchored our communities [and] attracted families and businesses that have boosted the local economy,” she said in a Feb. 5th letter to Adams. “It is important that we keep neighborhood cohesion, trust, and families connected with teachers…I respectfully request that you reconsider your position regarding this matter.”
There are currently about 150 students enrolled at Dunbar, including pre-kindergarten students and elementary school students.
“School is out in May,” Carla Alexander said. “A lot of people are thinking oh, these schools are closed. But they’re not closed yet. And we’re asking the board to reconsider. We’re going to fight this as best as we can.”