Students leave Dunbar Elementary School in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood. The school will close this spring.
St. Louis Public Schools moved forward with a plan Tuesday night to reduce the number of schools in the district, deciding to close at least eight schools but giving three other schools a reprieve.
The city’s school board voted 4-3 after more than two hours of debate to close a smaller list of schools than it considered late last year.
The closures are an effort to put more funding toward support services and academics, rather than facilities costs, as the district continues to lose students and operate half-empty buildings.
St. Louis Public Radio
Farragut Elementary School in St. Louis Greater Ville neighborhood is one of 11 schools in the city listed for closure last month. St. Louis Public Schools will present a possibly shortened list Tuesday.
St. Louis Public Schools parents will learn Tuesday evening if efforts over the past month to save any of 11 targeted schools in the city from closing were successful.
The St. Louis Board of Education will meet at 6:30 to hear and is expected to vote on an updated plan for consolidating buildings and resources across the shrinking district. By closing some of the district’s 68 buildings, the district’s leader contends, it will be able to provide more support services and better academic opportunities to students.