ST. LOUIS 鈥 Thousands of children are unlikely to go back to schools across 最新杏吧原创 this month as the trend of declining enrollment is expected to continue.
The drop in students puts additional strain on districts with an increasing number of small schools. Last year, more than 1 in 5 elementary schools in 最新杏吧原创 city and county had fewer than 200 students, considered a benchmark for financial viability.
Of the area鈥檚 56 public high schools, only 22 had more than 1,000 students. There are 11 high schools with 400 students or fewer 鈥 one each in Brentwood and Valley Park districts; two in Ferguson-Florissant; five in 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools; and the charter high schools Lift for Life and Gateway Science Academy.
The number of small schools is growing in other American cities, including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Most of these urban schools were not originally designed to be small, and educators worry the coming years will bring tighter budgets.
People are also reading…
鈥淚 love small schools, but small schools are very expensive,鈥 Chicago schools chief Pedro Martinez told the school board there recently. 鈥淲e can get some really creative, innovative models, but we need the funding.鈥
Because school funding is determined by student count, small schools can struggle to pay for fixed costs 鈥 the principal, a counselor and building upkeep.
To address that, extra money gets allocated to small schools, diverting dollars from larger schools. The Chicago school district spends an average of $19,000 annually per student at small high schools, while the per-student cost at larger ones is $10,000.
In 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools, the budget per student is $17,075 at Ashland Elementary (enrollment 155) compared with $13,310 per student at Dewey Elementary (enrollment 386).
COVID-19 relief money is helping subsidize these shrinking schools. But when the money runs out in a few years, officials will face a difficult choice: keep the schools open despite the financial strain, or close them, upsetting communities looking for stability for their children.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge problem,鈥 said Bruce Fuller, an education researcher at University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be increasingly difficult for superintendents to justify keeping these places open as the number of these schools continues to rise.鈥
The pandemic has only worsened the downward trend in school population fueled by declining birth rates and an exodus of families from Black neighborhoods long plagued by disinvestment.
Some families frustrated by virtual learning switched to homeschooling or moved to neighboring counties with fewer restrictions. The state鈥檚 fastest-growing school district is now Troy, in Lincoln County.
Nearly every district in 最新杏吧原创 city and county has experienced a decline in enrollment since 2019-20, when schools moved to virtual learning after COVID-19 hit that spring.
Six districts or charter networks lost more than 10% of their student population since 2019, including Hancock Place, 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools and Valley Park, and charters Biome, Confluence Academies and 最新杏吧原创 Language Immersion School.
Only two districts, Bayless and Lindbergh in 最新杏吧原创 County, have surpassed their pre-pandemic enrollments 鈥 by less than 1% each.
Students are not fleeing to private or charter schools, either. The Archdiocese of 最新杏吧原创 has lost more than 20,000 students since 2000 and is expected to close multiple schools next spring.
Charter schools in 最新杏吧原创 are hosting an enrollment fair on Saturday, just two weeks before the start of the school year. The newest charter, , opened last year and is 50 students short of its projected fall enrollment of 232. The Arch Community charter school in Hyde Park neighborhood of north 最新杏吧原创 closed permanently this year with about 100 students.
As schools get smaller, districts have even more difficulty staffing every building with nurses, social workers and special education teachers. Very small schools offer fewer clubs, sports and arts programs. Some small high schools like Hancock Place and Bishop DuBourg have combined their football teams; others like Maplewood Richmond Heights have dropped the sport altogether for lack of players.
Still, small schools are popular with families, teachers and community members because of their tight-knit, supportive feel. Some argue districts should pour more dollars into these schools, many of them in predominantly Black neighborhoods hard hit by the pandemic. Schools can serve as community hubs and points of local pride even as they lose students.
Race also looms large. Nationally, schools with more students of color are more likely to be closed, and those in affected communities often feel unfairly targeted.
The prospect of closing schools is particularly fraught in 最新杏吧原创, where seven of its 68 schools were shuttered last year, all with a majority of Black students. The city school district is now down to 18,248 students in kindergarten through 12th grade from a peak of more than 115,000 in the late 1960s.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Updated at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1.