Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Florida districts plan more school closures. Researchers call for caution.

tampabay.com · 15dShare

The big story: As Florida school districts confront shrinking enrollment, the idea of closing and consolidating schools continues to gain traction. The Pinellas County district, for instance, closed two campuses this year with officials planning to announce another round in early September. Miami-Dade County district leaders recently released a list of 27 schools under consideration for changes , the Miami Herald reports. Some scholars who study school closures have raised questions whether such moves will save money as intended. “Common ‘neutral’ design principles — such as prioritizing schools for closure based strictly on low enrollment or academic underperformance — fail to produce equitable outcomes and — often — do little to advance fiscal goals,” Francis Pearman of Stanford University and Michael Chrzan of the University of Maryland co-wrote in a recent working paper published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Pearman told NPR over the weekend that much of a school

First report: More school districts are shrinking. New research asks whether closures work — npr.org, 16d