Any school closures in SLPS will not take this years lower enrollments into account, because district leaders expect many of those families to return next fall, particularly in the primary grades. PublishedJanuary 12, 2021 at 5:13 AM CST. The citys school board voted 4-3 after more than two hours of debate to close a smaller list of schools than it considered late last year. ST. LOUIS, Mo. For more than a year SLPS has debated closing buildings because of a drop in enrollment, Jury awards former police sergeant $300K in lawsuit against St. Louis, Jury awards former ESOP president $300K in lawsuit against St. Louis, St. Louis police: Suspect shot by officer after SWAT pursuit ends in Jennings. St. Louis 38 Sponsored By. Seriously underwater., Brothers who did everything together, fashionista among victims in fatal St. Louis crash, Arch Madness: 2023 MVC Basketball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times, TV info, St. Louis man charged in quadruple fatal crash; police say he ran off with his license plate, Centene expects to lose millions of Medicaid customers beginning in April, Neman: Missouri womans saga of trying to find common sense at Walmart, I can still hear the roaring of the engine, says father of teen maimed in downtown St. Louis. Students in the Brooklyn - Lovejoy District 188, East St. Louis District 189, and. The Mayor of the City of St. Louis also has an important role to play in reforming our tax incentive system. Under the original proposal, nine buildings will close after this school year: Clay, Dunbar, Farragut, Ford, Hickey and Monroe elementary schools; Fanning middle; Northwest and Sumner high schools. Get more: Fox 2 news st louis school closings View Schools . Many of these schools have been on the (closure) list before. SLPS Announces 2021 Educators of the Year! the first African-American high school west of the Mississippi River. A . Copyright 2002-2023 Blackboard, Inc. All rights reserved. For Sale: 3 beds, 3 baths 1927 sq. Photo by Jon Gitchoff, Rodney Bufford and Jennifer Bufford, both of St. Louis, attend the Sumner High School 140th Anniversary Gala at Chase Park Plaza on Saturday, June 20, 2015. Ryan was an education reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. This version, initially created by the Restart Task Force, picks up where the initial Restart Plan left off last year and provides the details on how we plan to start school at this time. This is the disclaimer text. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH RESOURCES - Click here for a list of materials that includes those focused on general behavioral health needs for children, families, and schools after a traumatic event. Community activists and nostalgic alumni are pushing back against closing more than 10 St. Louis Public Schools buildings throughout the city. Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org. The proposal is modeled . If they mean we get a nurse in every school, Im for that. - Managing Editor, St. Louis Business Journal. There is also increasing scrutiny on incentives given to developers, which reduce the property tax revenue that goes to the district. Six schools will close after this school year: Clay, Dunbar, Farragut and Ford elementary schools; Fanning middle; and Northwest High School. The school opened in 1875 as the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi. Today, it has 200 students, and its football program folded last year. Additionally, as the Board of Aldermen works to create a strategy for tax incentive allocation, we need a Mayor who is not only willing to work with the Board on developing this strategy, but also who is willing to use the veto pen when and if subsidies are granted that are in violation of this plan. Photo by Jon Gitchoff. A decision on the future of Sumner High School will be made in March. Adams presented his recommendation to close four high schools, one middle school and six elementary schools to the School Board Tuesday. Even with the consolidation, SLPS will be spread across more buildings than suburban districts with similar numbers of students. Clevelands high school program shares the old Southwest High School at Kingshighway and Arsenal with the Central Visual and Performing Arts program and is not slated to move. The two city officials joined teachers union and school district leaders Monday at the kickoff event. (KMOV) - The sights and sounds of winter are inching closer by the hour, as school districts across the metro dust off their learning plans for when winter weather strikes. The school board is expected to hold a special meeting Dec. 15 and to vote on the consolidation plan. The school once housed more than 1,000 students and was a football power in the 1970s and 80s. In addition to low enrollment, other factors in the recommendations for closure include a schools physical condition and neighborhood population trends. By comparison, Rockwood has 22,000 students in 31 schools, Ferguson-Florissant has 11,000 students in 24 schools, and Hazelwood has 18,000 students in 29 schools. The district started work in February to solicit community feedback on the future of the district. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Jordan Walker slugs two home runs amid spring surge, Win a Midday Makeover from Studio STL and West County, Hold my beer its time to sign up for the St. Patricks, Tims Travels: Dreaming in silestone and slabs its, Downtown is turning green for St. Patricks Day Parade, The 7brew Crew brings kindness, joy and of course,, Freshen up finds: Give your skin a slug-hug, What the Cluck! St. Louis schools slated for permanent closure during historic enrollment decline. City residents are lucky to have beautiful old school buildings designed and built as palaces of education, said school board president Matt Davis at a kickoff event held Monday at Patrick Henry Elementary School downtown. I think there are clearly systemic equity issues within our city that we have a role in rectifying, but if we continue to operate as many schools as we have, I dont know how we fix this, said board President Dorothy Rohde Collins. LOUIS, Mo. Most of its 68 buildings are less than half full, and several schools have fewer than 200 students enrolled. St. Louis Public Schools moved forward with a plan Tuesday night to reduce the number of schools in the district, deciding to close at least eight schools but giving three other schools a reprieve. The high school has 193 students this year, in a building that famed architect William Ittner designed to educate 1,100. At Clay Elementary in the Hyde Park neighborhood, the districts smallest school with 128 students, 2% of students tested proficient in English and 4% in math. The district started work last February to solicit community feedback on the future of the district. As a Board of Aldermen we must take responsibility for our role in creating the conditions that lead to school closures through the over use of tax incentives. Click here to check on the latest weather conditions. If you dont use it, the Bb footer will slide up. By consolidating, each school and every student will benefit.. Today, just over 21,300 students are spread across 68 buildings, some more than a century old and in poor structural shape. Seriously underwater., Brothers who did everything together, fashionista among victims in fatal St. Louis crash, Arch Madness: 2023 MVC Basketball Tournament bracket, schedule, game times, TV info, St. Louis man charged in quadruple fatal crash; police say he ran off with his license plate, Centene expects to lose millions of Medicaid customers beginning in April, Neman: Missouri womans saga of trying to find common sense at Walmart, I can still hear the roaring of the engine, says father of teen maimed in downtown St. Louis. Stay up to date on life and culture in St. Louis. With more than 60 school options, SLPS has the right school for every student in St. Louis. The FOX 2 newsroom is working to cover the traffic disruptions, school closings, and winter weather impacting the region. As an elected official who, even as a vocal critic of our tax-incentive system, has voted for more tax-incentives than I should, and as former proponent of the charter school system, Im am not too proud to admit my own role in perpetuating this crisis. The naval training academy housed at Cleveland could be relocated, Adams said. First, while I understand that these proposals to close schools seem abrupt to some, the first time that Dr. Adams discussed the potential closure of Fanning Middle school, located in Tower Grove South, with me and with our community, was nearly two years ago. Taking responsibility for our own complicity is the first step in moving forward. Over the past decade, enrollment in St. Louis public schools has dropped from about 60,000 students to around 45,000, Superintendent Kelvin Adams told the school board. A group of kids enters the Sumner High School building on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, shortly after dismissal. Stay up to date on life and culture in St. Louis. By enabling our district to go paperless, Peachjar helps us save thousands of trees each year. Having fewer buildings to maintain will increase per-student funding, Adams said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. There are 20 SLPS buildings plus its downtown headquarters on a list of surplus properties, most of which are listed for sale. In 1967, St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) enrolled 115,543 students; today it is under 20,000. The district regained full accreditation in 2017 and returned to local control under an elected board two years later. It was interrupted by the pandemic and the plans release delayed. The St. Louis Archdiocese is pushing back plans to close some elementary schools under its All Things New initiative until the 2024-2025 school year. Adams said the district will be able to accommodate a high, high number of those faculty without having to cut jobs. Right now the City strategy for development and incentive use is largely developer driven, and the concept of Aldermanic Courtesy means that it is looked down upon to vote against tax-incentives in other wards. Adams would not say in an interview if any of the nearly two dozen conversations hes had with elected officials, churches and community groups since have persuaded him to spare any of the schools. Several closed SLPS schools sit vacant around the city. The closures are an effort to put more funding toward support services and academics, rather than facilities costs, as the district continues to lose students and operate half-empty buildings. Im not naive to the differences in future prospects for redevelopment of vacant school buildings on the Northside versus neighborhoods like Tower Grove South that have hot housing markets. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue, Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. The schools that remain open, Adams said, could offer more advanced courses and extracurriculars. Photo by Jon Gitchoff, From the left, Donald Williams, Angela Jones and Flint Lloyd Jr., all of St. Louis, attend the Sumner High School 140th Anniversary Gala at Chase Park Plaza on Saturday, June 20, 2015. There are already 18 buildings on the list. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Jordan Walker slugs two home runs amid spring surge, Win a Midday Makeover from Studio STL and West County, Hold my beer its time to sign up for the St. Patricks, Tims Travels: Dreaming in silestone and slabs its, Downtown is turning green for St. Patricks Day Parade, The 7brew Crew brings kindness, joy and of course,, Freshen up finds: Give your skin a slug-hug, What the Cluck!