Vaughn, 2015
The fate of a 1920s school building continues to be weighed by Accomack County officials after nearly a decade of discussion.
The Accomack County School Board in recent years has used the former Accomack Primary School mainly for storage — but at least one county supervisor, retired educator Jack Gray, would like to see it renovated and used for school administrative offices.
The Broad Foundation, 2009
This is a guide for school district operators considering school closures to address significant budgetary challenges. Note that this tool was not designed to assist with school closures as part of a periodical closing and opening of schools for academic performance, though a subset of the strategies may still be applicable.
This guide describes first what it takes to go through the school closure process; second, the do’s and don’ts of school closures—some major risks and mitigation strategies other districts have identified; and finally, the detailed steps a district must take to decide upon and conduct school closures.
Engberg, Epple, Gill, Sieg, Zamarro, & Zimmer,
Closing schools is one of the most controversial decisions a district can make. Nevertheless, urban districts across the nation are closing schools due to declining enrollments, and federal policy is promoting school closure as an important strategy to deal with chronically lowperforming schools. The recent upsurge in school closings has given rise to concerns about the impact on student achievement, neighborhoods, families, and teaching staff.
Charter school closure, though sometimes challenging and emotionally charged, is an essential aspect of the charter school movement. The purpose of this Issue Brief is to provide a practice-oriented resource for authorizers and other charter school stakeholders to navigate the closure process after the decision to close a school has been made.
Howley, Johnson, & Petrie, 2011
Arguments for consolidation, which merges schools or districts and centralizes their management, rest primarily on two presumed benefits: (1) fiscal efficiency and (2) higher educational quality. The extent of consolidation varies across states due to their considerable differences in history, geography, population density, and politics. Because economic crises often provoke calls for consolidation as a means of increasing government efficiency, the contemporary interest in consolidation is not surprising. However, the review of research evidence detailed in this brief suggests that a century of consolidation has already produced most of the efficiencies obtainable. Research also suggests that impoverished regions in particular often benefit from smaller schools and districts, and they can suffer irreversible damage if consolidation occurs. For these reasons, decisions to deconsolidate or consolidate districts are best made on a case-by-case basis. While state-level consolidation proposals may serve a public relations purpose in times of crisis, they are unlikely to be a reliable way to obtain substantive fiscal or educational improvement.
National Association of Charter Schools Authorizers, 2010
Closing a failing charter school is difficult, but it can be done. In fact, it has been done hundreds of times across the country. However, if you are on the staff or the board of a charter school authorizing agency that is facing a closure decision, the fact that other authorizers have closed schools may be of small comfort. You are facing a daunting collection of academic, financial, compliance, legal, political, philosophical and personal information. Some of that information will suggest that you take bold action to close the school; other information may suggest more cautious strategies. Many authorizing staff and board members end up feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Those feelings themselves often lead authorizers to become cautious and to keep a failing school open.
State Board of Education, North Carolina, 2008
The following procedure is intended as a guide to be used when school closing is contemplated, and upon which local board policy may be based. The procedure is presented in a sequential manner; however, its sections may be used separately or together as local conditions require. It is primarily intended to identify the various kinds of information to be considered, as well as the particular processes to be undertaken by the local board of education prior to closing a school.
The Rural School and Community Trust, 2002
Few states have pursued consolidation of rural schools more aggressively than West Virginia. With the promise of broader curriculum and huge tax savings, the state has closed more than 300 schools, one in every five, since 1990. In 2002, the Charleston Gazette investigated the outcomes of the state's consolidation efforts in the series, "Closing Costs." Its authors, reporters Eric Eyre and Scott Finn, won the 2002 Education Writers Award for best series for a newspaper with circulation under 100,000 and the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Education Reporting.
California Department of Education
The decision to close a school is anguishing. It profoundly affects parents, neighborhoods, communities, district personnel, and, of course, students. It affects relationships, routines, and cherished territorialities. In short, it alters not only district operations but also lives.
A decision not to close a school, however, amidst circumstances of declining enrollment and economic necessity, can be imprudent. And while the immediate effects of closing a school may be painful, the long-term effects can be beneficial to everyone.
Indeed, the process of closing a school is difficult, but if done correctly, it becomes less difficult. This "Closing a School Best Practices Guide" (CASBPG) will hopefully make the process easier.
The CASBPG is divided into five chapters:
McMillin, E. (2010). According to an American Association of School Administrators survey, 6 percent of school districts closed or consolidated schools during the 2008-2009 school year, double the rate of the previous year. Another 11 percent were considering school closings or consolidations in 2010-2011.
GW is committed to digital accessibility. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the Accessibility Feedback Form.
