Shuttering Schools in the Gateway City
School District Viability and Black Community Relations After Mass K-12 School Closures in St. Louis, MO
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11257008 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ebony M Duncan-Shippy (Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO), Ebony M Duncan‐Shippy (Washington University in St. Louis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 223-249 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Peabody Journal of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0161-956X • E-ISSN: 1532-7930 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0161956x.2023.2191569 |
| OpenAlex | W4368375052 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 25 |
Since 1990, over 40% of schools have closed in the St. Louis Public Schools District (SLPSD) because of steep enrollment decline. Tracing educational trends over 30 years, I examine when, where, and why K-12 public schools closed in St. Louis in order to highlight the social conditions and policy decisions that contract contemporary urban education. I ask: What key social factors influence K-12 school closure patterns in St. Louis, Missouri? This mixed methods study summarizes analyses of data from the U.S. Department of Education, the St. Louis Public Schools District, and local news coverage to describe trends, determinants, and consequences of K-12 public school closures in St. Louis, Missouri (1990–2020). Findings demonstrated that closures in the city district were concentrated in majority-Black neighborhoods, with limited evidence of benefits to youth and communities. Findings also indicated that attempts to create educational change through the desegregation transfers program, charter school expansion, and administrative restructuring all triggered waves of closures. Drawing from community relations perspectives, I interpret mass closures as racialized policy practices that strain Black community relations and contract city districts. I argue that recurrent closures undermine youth and community development and disengage Black communities in ways that threaten district viability. Conclusions weigh whether the closure practices in the district have caused irreparable damage to Black community relations or if new policy objectives can foster long-term growth
Charter · Closure (psychology · Desegregation · Pedagogy · Political science · School district · Sociology · St louis · Law · Public Administration · School Choice and Performance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
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Disrupting peace/provoking conflict
Closing and Opening Schools
Closing schools in a shrinking district
Turnaround” as Shock Therapy
Ecologies of Collective Parent Engagement in Urban Education
Organizational “Failure” and Institutional Pluralism
Typologizing School–Community Partnerships
A Pillar of Strength
The Upside to One Urban District’s School Closings
The Impact of School Closures on Equity of Access in Chicago
Predicting School Closures in an Era of Austerity
Confidence, Trust and Respect
Decoupled or doubled? Evaluating geospatial dispersion of student-resident displacement by school closure
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |