‘Not a fun experience’ for boards considering school closure

As a public hearing looms for the proposed closure of Stewart Elementary School in Lower Burrell, experts say boards should consider numerous factors before closing a building.

While school closures can be difficult, district leaders shouldn’t delay or avoid the issue, said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy.

Even hypothetical alternatives — like a tax increase or program cuts — to keep a school open aren’t desirable, she said. If schools remain open, the public’s resources are going to be stretched thin.

“It’s not a fun experience to close schools, so that’s not their first choice,” she said.

Burrell School District officials say they’re eyeing the closure of Stewart because of a decline in enrollment in an aging building. An architect gave the school district a $17 million estimate to renovate the 94-year-old building.

A few school districts have shuttered schools within the past years. Highlands School District closed Fawn Primary Center in 2019. Franklin Regional School District in Murrysville is in the process of demolishing the former Heritage Elementary School. Allegheny Valley School District closed Colfax Elementary in 2018 and plans for that building’s future are still being discussed.

All were part of reconfiguration plans in the districts.

Highlands still owns the Fawn property, said district spokeswoman Jen Goldberg.

“I don’t have a tally of savings, but some of that occurred with utilities and staffing,” said Allegheny Valley spokeswoman Jan Zastawniak. “The district has benefited by limiting the number of transitions for students, cost savings, programming and staff collaboration (or) cross grade-level efforts.”

Trend toward closing

Nationwide, there have been more school closures than openings in the past couple of years, Roza said. Common reasons for closures are declines in enrollment and being short on funds, she said. What contributes to enrollment decline, Roza said, are decreasing birth rates and students who left public school during the start of the pandemic and never returned.

“The country has seen a decline in student-age population,” she said.

Another part of that nationwide trend is that some districts used covid relief funding to stave off a probable school closure.

Inflation also contributes to financial woes in a school district, she said.

Roza recommends districts be transparent and communicate with families the reasons for a school closure.

“Generally, school closures aren’t viewed well,” she said. “So, usually, there is a back and forth so people can understand that.

“People have to understand what the trade-off is. … (Districts) should help the public understand the range of options.”

Complex decision

Mackenzie Christ, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, declined to comment on individual closures but said closings and reconfiguration are “incredibly complex and difficult decisions” because they impact virtually every aspect of district operations.

“School boards must take numerous factors into account when considering a school closure or reconfiguration, including enrollment levels and trends, academic programs and course offerings, age and condition of school buildings, transportation, staffing and finances,” Christ said. “A school board has to weigh all of those considerations in addition to the feedback from their students, staff, parents, constituents and taxpayers before making a decision.”