Disbelief, sad, heartbroken, inequitable, disgusted, unsure, concerned, and angry.
Those were all one-word responses given during a virtual meeting Monday night of approximately 100 people to discuss actions that activists and others feel need to be taken after Superintendent Kelvin Adams recommended the closure 11 St. Louis public schools. Seven of those schools are located north of Delmar Boulevard.
WePower, which hosted the meeting is an organization that works to engage communities for social change by providing education and other resources for activists, entrepreneurs and change makers. The organization’s school campaign “What’s Next SLPS?” calls on St. Louis Public Schools to consider closing schools differently and asked the question: “What would school closures look like if SLPS partnered with the communities most impacted by them?
The schools north of Delmar Boulevard recommended for closing are: Clay, Dunbar, Farragut, Ford and Hickey, all elementary schools; Sumner High School and Northwest Academy of Law High School.
The other schools on the list are: Monroe Elementary, just south of the Benson Park neighborhood; Fanning Middle School in Tower Grove South; Cleveland High School in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood and Carnahan High School in Dutchtown.
On Tuesday, the St. Louis Public Schools Board held a virtual town hall where Adams took questions from residents and board members voiced their thoughts.
Many of the questions centered on how the district would support displaced students, why certain schools were on the closure list and what would happen to the buildings, some of which are of historic, architectural value. Calls for a postponement on the board vote to close the schools, slated for Tuesday, Dec. 15, peppered the live chat throughout the evening.
Adams reviewed the criteria used to select the 11 schools — enrollment, building condition, capacity, impact on neighborhood and special program considerations. He then offered a list of upgraded services for students to assist with the closures, including a specialist to help the transition, an unspecified increase in school budgets, a full-time nurse, social worker, security guard and community specialist at every school.
“At the end of the day what we’re really talking about is additional services for students,” Adams said. “That’s really what this whole presentation is about, what this whole conversation is about. I said before, we really should be shifting the conversation from closing schools to providing greater services for our students.”
He said the closures are not necessarily a financial decision, but rather a decision to ensure students are getting the service they need. He did note, however, that the closures are happening due to the “constant disinvestment of city schools.”
Closures set for 2021-2022 school year
Adams also clarified that no school would be closed in the current school year. That would happen for the 2021-2022 school year, if the board votes to close them.
Board member Adam Layne brought up concerns spurred by past closures and requested answers to a list of questions that includes issues such as the financial ramifications of these closures.
“You talked about in our last meeting about not wanting to be just like what happened in 2009 and what happened before,” Layne said to Adams. “I think it’s important to say what is going to be different if you take the same approach. It’s not going to be different at all, but I would like to see what long-term sustainability looks like.”
The board concluded by scheduling an open meeting for Monday, Dec. 14, to review Adams’ answers to the questions Layne raised, including following up on the financial impact of the closures and to continue discussing the closures before the board votes Tuesday.
During the WePower meeting Monday, community members provided three alternatives to outright closing schools: co-location, or housing multiple school communities in one building; relocation, or moving schools out of aging buildings; and community use, housing both schools and other public services in school buildings to ensure the space is full utilities and kept up. They maintain the board has not listened to them or considered these options.
“After all these meetings they have had, they have not taken any of the public’s suggestions,” said Amanda Davis, “What’s Next SLPS” leader and WEPOWER member.
“So show us that you have at least heard us and taken some of our suggestions. We have asked them several times to partner with WePower and some other community leaders to see how we can better serve our children of tomorrow.”
Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush echoed that sentiment and expressed her support Tuesday morning.
“The students and families affected by the proposed closures deserve to have their voices fully heard at this point in the process,” she said in a news release. “Community members need adequate space and time to consider the new proposal and raise their concerns. I stand in solidarity with the parents, educators, and community leaders who have shared their anxieties around this rushed process.”