ST. LOUIS — The Saint Louis Public Schools Board of Education is scheduled to vote on a consolidation plan Tuesday night that would close 10 schools.
The vote is scheduled to take place during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m.
SLPS Superintendent Kelvin Adams made a recommendation to close at least 10 schools during a meeting with the school board earlier this month. If approved, the closures would not go into effect until the 2021-2022 school year.
Adams said the plan would affect about 2,200 students but would save about $3 million in utility and transportation costs.
In February, the district's spokesperson Meredith Pierce said there are currently 68 school buildings and about 20,000 students enrolled.
“When you look at that ratio, that’s a lot of schools for that number of kids when you compare to other districts,” Pierce said in February.
Pierce added the majority of the district’s buildings are about 100 years old and are expensive to maintain.
Below are the schools included in the consolidation plan:
Elementary:
- Clay
- Dunbar
- Farragut
- Ford
- Hickey
- Monroe
Middle:
- Fanning
High:
- Cleveland (move JROTC program to another school)
- Northwest
- Sumner
Not closed but a transition:
- Carnahan (transition from high school back to middle school – initially opened as a middle school)
The district heard public comments on the plan during a virtual town hall last week.
Before the meeting, teachers and retired teachers who opposed the plan gathered with signs outside Clyde C. Miller Academy as school board members showed up for the town hall.
They criticized the district for holding the meeting during a time that the public couldn't show up in person due to coronavirus concerns. They also objected to the idea of funneling more students into fewer buildings while health experts stress the importance of social distancing.
