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Henderson Unveils Updated School Closure Plan, and Spares Five Schools
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson today presented the final list of schools she wants to see closed, sparing five of the 20 schools that made her initial list released to the public in mid-November. In presenting the new list, Henderson said she listened to community concerns while remaining convinced that more appropriately enrolled schools would allow the school system to more efficiently use resources on instruction.
Under her revised plan, Ward 2's Francis-Stevens Educational Campus and Garrison Elementary, both of which saw parents organize to keep the schools open, will be spared the axe. So, too, will Johnson Middle School and Malcolm X Elementary School in Ward 8 and Smothers Elementary School in Ward 7. Henderson suggested last month that she would be amenable to keeping some schools open.
Francis-Stevens will merge with the School Without Walls to become a full-service Pre-kindergarten-Grade 12 school, while recent U.S. Census data and enrollment commitments from parents helped save Garrison. Johnson will remain open because of capacity concerns raised by parents (Henderson said that if it was closed, Ward 8 students would be limited to two middle schools), while Malcolm X will partner with a high-performing charter school and allow neighborhood students to enroll as a matter of right. Smothers, she said, is seeing steady enrollment and a high utilization rate.
In speaking about why she chose to remove those schools from the list, Henderson said that parents had helped make the case for them to stay open.
"I went into this knowing that school consolidations are treacherous territory. But I have to say that I have been humbled and inspired by people's commitment to DCPS and trying to help us get to what is right for as many families as possible," she said.Parents and activists spoke out at two D.C. Council hearings and a series of ward-based community meetings late last year. Parents of students from Francis-Stevens, Garrison and the five Ward 7 schools on Henderson's initial list also launched social media campaigns, testified in large numbers and produced plans to grow enrollments.
Still, 15 schools will close —13 at the end of this school year, two the next—though Henderson said that she had listened to community concerns in devising specific plans for some of them.
MacFarland Middle School in Ward 4 will be shuttered, but instead of being absorbed by Roosevelt High School, students will be sent to other middle schools in the ward. As for Davis Elementary, Kenilworth Elementary and Marshall Elementary—the first two in Ward 7, the third in Ward 5—transportation will be arranged to take students to receiving schools. During the community hearings, parents said they were concerned that their children would have to walk further to get to school.Henderson also said the CHOICE Academy, which serves students on long-term suspension, would not be consolidated with Cardozo High School in Columbia Heights, but rather with the Emory Professional Development Center, which is used by DCPS teachers and principals.Other schools that will be closed include Sharpe Health in Ward 4; Spingarn High School, Spingarn STAY and Mamie D. Lee School in Ward 5; Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson and Prospect LC in Ward 6; Winston Educational Campus and Ron Brown Middle School in Ward 7; and Ferebee-Hope Elementary School in Ward 8. This will be the second round of closures in the last five years; in 2008, then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee shuttered 23 schools.
Opponents to school closures have argued that they don't save significant amounts of money and drive students out of the public school system, effectively ensuring a downward spiral for a school system that had been bleeding students until two years ago. According to some researchers, 3,000 students left DCPS altogether after the 2008 round of closures.
Still, Henderson argued this morning that closing under-enrolled schools and putting the under-utilized buildings to better use would allow her to better use limited resources. As part of the plan unveiled today, Henderson promised improved core instruction, including a focus on literacy; better options for art, music and physical education; more foreign language offerings; and fully-staffed libraries.
And though she studiously avoided quantifying the savings from closing schools over the last two months, today Henderson finally put out a number: roughly $8.5 million would be saved in staffing costs alone. (She said $20 million would be saved from closing 15 schools, while it would cost $10.9 million to send students to receiving schools.) Earlier this week the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute said that closing 20 schools would essentially be a break-even proposition in the first year; the 2008 round of closures cost much more than expected.
Henderson is briefing members of the D.C. Council at 1 p.m., and parents are being informed of the plans. Mayor Vince Gray will have to sign off on the plan before it's official, and then Henderson can turn her attention to what may be a bigger fight: the redrawing of school boundaries and re-configuring of feeder patterns.
UPDATE, 1:10 p.m.: In a statement, Mayor Vince Gray said he stood behind Henderson's plan.
"Although school consolidations are difficult, I am confident that the decisions the Chancellor announced today will ultimately help strengthen D.C. Public Schools, speed education reform and—most importantly—guarantee our children are getting the resources they need for the world-class education they deserve.
I appreciate the Chancellor's hard work in not only formulating a consolidation plan that made sense, but also listening attentively and working collaboratively with affected parents, students, educators and neighborhoods. From day one, the Chancellor said this would be an open and inclusive process and that she would listen with an open mind. Today's decisions demonstrate that she was true to her word.
With this difficult process behind us, I hope we are now able to move forward together as a city united in the important task of continuing to work toward the day when our traditional public schools are the finest in the nation."Contact the author of this article or email tips@dcist.com with further questions, comments or tips.__
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