Dive Brief:
- St. Louis Public Schools is considering closing up to a third of its schools — 22 out of 62 total, according to a preliminary proposal released by the district on June 29.
- The initial closure plan, which St. Louis Public Schools emphasizes is not a final recommendation, comes as the district reports a significant drop in enrollment over the past three decades. Specifically, the number of its enrolled students sharply declined by 58.5% — decreasing from 43,284 in 1991 to 17,981 in 2025.
- The district is currently engaging with community stakeholders to discuss its preliminary proposal. The district will present a final recommendation to the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis in August.
Dive Insight:
St. Louis Public Schools released this latest closure proposal with multiple scenarios almost a year after the district introduced the idea of closing over half of its schools — just months after families were displaced from damaging tornadoes that struck the city in May 2025.
When proposing the larger scale closures last year, the district estimated an enrollment low of 15,400 by the 2025-26 school year. However, in its latest proposal, the district said it had 17,981 students in 2025 and still expects 16,723 students for 2026–27.
The board did not act on the 2025 proposal as it navigated leadership turbulence and tornado recovery efforts, The St. Louis American reported.
The district’s recent proposal is part of a long-term strategy, known as Future Ready SLPS. The plan currently suggests three potential options for “organizing schools, grade configurations, feeder patterns, specialized programs, and districtwide support sites.”
Model A would maintain a traditional district portfolio, in which school buildings are configured by typical grade levels as pre-K-5 elementary schools, 6-8 middle schools and 9-12 high schools. Model A would still reduce the total number of schools from 62 to between 42 to 47.
Model B would add pre-K-8 schools into the district and maintain other traditional elementary, middle and high schools. That plan would reduce the number of schools to between 43 to 46.
Model C — which proposes the fewest number of schools between 40 to 42 — would form more pre-K-8 schools with fewer separate middle school configurations.
The plans are estimated to reduce the number of certified teaching positions from 1,575 to as low as 1,481. The district, however, said that it would only cut already vacant roles or those filled by long-term substitute teachers.
The proposal is expected to save the district between $16.6 million to $17.9 million in staffing costs and between $2 million to $13 million in transportation costs, according to the preliminary proposal.
Many school districts nationwide are grappling with the same difficulties faced by St. Louis — of operating undercapacity school buildings while confronting declining enrollment and oftentimes big budget deficits. The challenge is ultimately leading to more school boards approving school closure and consolidation plans.
St. Louis Public Schools’ proposal to close up to 22 schools would be one of the largest closure plans to be approved across the nation within the past year. In another sweeping closure plan, Ohio’s Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s board approved in December to close 29 schools after the district reported a 50% drop in enrollment over the past two decades.
