School Closed

1st Day of Schools: “The day when the countdown to the last day of the school begins.”

What is a sure-fire way for a school district to unsettle its constituents, raise anxiety, and cause panic across the system? Raise the question of school closures. Although one of the most dreaded topics for district staff and constituents alike, closing schools is often considered when districts face the fiscal impact of declining and/or low enrollment and/or under-achieving schools. This approach to pursuing fiscal stability may seem straightforward and simple but often results in the destructive displacement of the district’s most vulnerable students, namely those who are Black or brown and/or from under-resourced communities.

The decision to close schools is never an easy one and districts often approach the task with the intent of engaging in a fair, and transparent decision-making process to determine which schools to close. Rarely does the intent align with the reality of the outcome. More often, these processes are dominated by parents with means (assuming that they send their children to public schools)and who know how to access decision-makers and those in positions of power. They mobilize immediately contacting district, city, and state officials.They engage attorneys and advocates, launch massive email and letter-writing campaigns, pack School Board Meetings, and use every means at their disposal to ensure that all are aware of their outrage at the injustice. The end result— the district reconsiders or finds a different approach and schools in their communities are rarely closed.

After countless participation in Board Meetings to express a variety of equity issues, I am concerned that the governance practices that focus on “student outcomes” are resulting in victim, shaming. The most problematic in school closure decisions is the way that they “blame and punish the victim.” The problem of underachievement is not the fault of the students who attend these schools. Yet, it is the students who suffer the most from school closure decisions. The impact of school closures is disproportionate and skewed to negatively impact low-income communities of color where families may not be as quick to voice their dissent and/or are unable to galvanize mass support. School closures to address issues of poor academic outcomes overwhelmingly impact students in these communities where low socio-economic status and low academic achievement intersect. When schools in these communities close, families who have the least access to reliable transportation have to figure out how to get their children to school on time and may have to travel a considerable distance to do so. Oftentimes this impacts attendance and participation. In fact, San Francisco has one of the highest truancy rates in California, with 29 percent of students missing school without an excuse. The national average is 11%, and California's average is 24%, clearly showing an attendance crisis right now!

When schools in these communities close, students lose access to after-school activities in their neighborhoods. Even when transportation is provided, they may need to sustain commutes to and from school which makes participation prohibitive. Parents of these students also find their participation impacted for similar reasons. Transportation challenges make it difficult for them to participate in parent conferences, volunteer, on field trips, and serve on parent committees and organizations such as School Site Council and English Learner Advisory Council (ELAC) and other school-based activities.

As school buildings in these communities remain unopened and unused, they become an additional“eye-sore” as grounds are unkempt for extended periods of time and buildings fall into decay and disrepair. This is a signal to communities that the district is unwilling to invest in their children's success. Why should children play around closed schools when other children across town have beautifully painted schools with school gardens? When districts seek to maintain unused facilities costs are incurred begging the question of how much money is really being saved.

Instead of closing schools, districts need to reframe the discussion to encompass the consideration of equity. Schools that are low performing need more highly skilled and culturally responsive teachers and school leaders, more resources, more accountability, more interventions, and more quality instructional time. Instead, and more often, they receive less. Less skilled leaders, fewer resources, fewer interventions, and less quality instructional time lead to less accountability. If we as a society are interested in addressing the issue of underachievement in public schools, school closure is not the answer.

“Closing down schools is a terrible idea because it does not have a positive outcome on  BIPOC, low-income students, students who either play sports, working, students who have disabilities, and students who have other responsibilities.” Thailyah Miller, Community Development Associate