Arts and culture leaders pen letter in support of sparing Sumner High School from closure
The St. Louis board of education will vote Tuesday on a proposal to close 10 schools, including Sumner, the first African-American high school west of the Mississippi.
Sumner High School, ca. 1908
On Tuesday, members of the St. Louis board of education will vote on a proposal to close 10 schools within the school district. On December 1, St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams recommended a consolidation plan that would close the following: Clay, Dunbar, Farragut, Ford, Hickey, and Monroe elementary schools; Fanning Middle School; and Cleveland, Northwest, and Sumner high schools. Enrollment numbers, the conditions of school buildings, and neighborhood population were factors in recommending the schools' closing. A group of arts leaders, however, have signed a letter expressing support for keeping Sumner High School, the first African-American high school west of the Mississippi.