A change is coming, yet again, for St. Louis City Schools.

The St. Louis Public Schools Special Administrative Board has approved the plan for school reconfigurations, building closures and the school calendar for the 2008-2009 school year. Three schools including Mitchell, Gunlach and Wilkinson Early Childhood Center will close while Lyon and Blow will be consolidated to create one school.

The recommendations were made by Superintendent Diana Bourisaw at March 10th’s board meeting. The plan calls for the reopening of one school and the closing of four others. Several elementary schools will also be affected, being restructured to preschool through grades fifth or sixth.

In a release from the district Bourisaw said the changes address concerns “voiced by our parents, students and community members.” She said the changes will improve facility usage and will enhance the district’s “academic offerings” and continue have “environments conducive to learning.”

The plan is the result of several community forums held by the district during February and March where Bourisaw listened to public comments and concerns before submitting her recommendation to the board.

According to a press release from St. Louis Public Schools the changes include:

The consolidation of Lyon with Blow to create a kindergarten through eighth grade program.
The reassignment of Mitchell students to Hamilton and Ford
Reassigning Gundlach students to Ford, Lexington and Laclede
Wilkinson Early Childhood Center will move to Roe
Carver will become an elementary school

Schools slated to be reconfigured are:

Henry, Mason, Shepard and Monroe will change back to preschool through sixth grade
Hamilton and Oak Hill will be preschool through fifth grade again
Hodgen will expand to preschool to sixth grade

School calendar changes include:

The first day of school will take place during the third week of August, this year being August 18
Next year the regular school year will increase from 175 to 176 days, comparable to other school districts
The calendar will also include six built-in snow days, allow for school exams to happen before winter break, to extend winter break and include a heat advisory plan

Looking for a 100-year old school building? It’s a buyer’s market!

On February 27th, St. Louis Public Schools put seven previously closed, vacant schools on the market. As the St. Louis Business Journal reported today, the asking prices for the schools total more than $7 million.

The listed the schools are:

• The Old Hodgen School at 2730 Eads Ave.
• Jackson School at 1632 Hogan St.
• Eliot School at 4242 Grove St.
• Central High School at 3616 North Garrison Ave.
• Hempstead Elementary at 5872 Minerva Ave.
• Garfield School at 3200 Texas Ave.
• Euclid Branch at 5057 Ridge Ave.

Hilliker Corp. and Linda M. Walsh Real Estate LLC are marketing the schools for the school district. “This offering provides a rare opportunity for redevelopers and users to have a choice of large, historically and architecturally significant structures located throughout the city of St. Louis,” said Hal Ball of Hilliker Corp told the Business Journal.

According to district officials, all of the buildings have been vacant for at least three years and represent just a fraction of the vacant buildings owned by the district. “We do have approximately 20 buildings that are vacant,” Kruger told the Journal, “although not all of them will be considered for sale.”

The Special Administrative Board of SLPS approved the sale of the schools in January. News of these school listings comes as discussion continues on yet another round of school closings. Read our previous report on town hall meetings where parents and community members gave feedback about the possible closings.

The current recommendations for school closings have been reevaluated in the context of those public comments. New recommendations for closings and consolidations will be announced Monday, March 3, and Tuesday, March 4.

In the meantime, you might consider investing in one of the beautiful 40 bedroom, 5 bathroom, possible summer homes, with convenient locations throughout the city.

St. Louis Public Schools has announced that revisions to the administration’s recommendations for school closings and consolidations will be announced next week.

Superintendent Diana Bourisaw will lead two town hall meetings to unveil the recommendations she says are a direct result of the feedback received from parents, teachers and students during the community forums held this month. Public comments will be heard following the presentation.

Dates, times and locations:

Monday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 North Jefferson Avenue

Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m.
Roosevelt High School, 3230 Hartford Street

Public comments may be submitted online at www.slps.org, by calling (314) 331-6100, or by writing to: Operations Division, St. Louis Public Schools, 801 N. 11th St., St. Louis, MO 63101.

At yesterday’s town hall meeting on the latest proposal to close more schools in St. Louis City, Deanna Anderson, St. Louis Public Schools’ Director of Operations, began the meeting by assuring everyone that no final decision had been made yet on closing any schools.

“Nothing has gone to the board…” said Anderson repeatedly during the meeting. That’s true. No final decision has been made… yet. This series of public meetings are being held to allow parents and the community to discuss the reconfiguration and consolidation plans currently on the table.

Anderson presented a slideshow with key points from the Administrative Facilities Committee and reasons for why its members believe reconfiguration and consolidation of schools would be beneficial to the SLPS.

According to SLPS, the current capacity of the district is 43,343 students. However, actual enrollment was only 28,570 as of November 2, 2007. The average SLPS building is at just 66% capacity. The goal of the District is 88% or higher.

Closing schools and relocating more students into the remaining buildings would allow more funds to be used on education, rather than aging buildings. Over the last ten years, enrollment in city schools, as well as the city the population as a whole, has continued to decline. “It is not economically feasible for the district to remain at this level,” Anderson told the small crowd of approximately 20 people at Lexington Elementary last night.

According to Anderson, the current proposal of consolidating seven elementary schools (Gundlach, Lyon, Mark Twain, Meramec, Mitchell, Shenandoah, and Simmons) would save an estimated $3 million dollars each year, which doesn’t include the one middle school (Blow) and Early childhood center (Wilkinson) that is also being considered for consolidation. In addition, Anderson also argued that “capital cost avoidance from the consolidation of seven schools is approximately $21.3 million dollars.”

Initiatives towards better security and safety were also discussed last night. Under the proposal, there will be increased security patrol within city schools and surrounding neighborhoods through a partnership with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Gang Unit and Juvenile Division. Students, staff, and employees will be made aware of safety and security issues.

New configurations are being recommended as well. Possibilities are Carver will re-open, Henry, Mason, Shepard, Hodgen, and Wyman will return to PS-6th grade, Hamilton and Oak Hill will return to PS-5th grade, and Northwest will return to 8th-11th grade.

Near the end of the meeting, the audience was reminded again that all of the school closings were just recommendations and that nothing had yet been sent to the board.

For a listing of upcoming meetings on these proposed closings, visit the St. Louis Public Schools website (www.slps.org).