Facing costly repairs, District takes aim at empty seats

The School District says it must "begin reducing the number of 'empty seats' through building closures, program consolidations, and co-location."

The District says these 11 factors will guide its decisions:

• Educational planning guidelines
• Utilization and facility condition
• Enrollment trends
• Adaptive reuse
• Parent and community feedback
• Charter schools
• Neighborhood considerations
• Historic preservation
• Accessibility to programs
• School performance
• Transportation

The District offers these reasons to close and consolidate programs:

• "Program enhancement - better populated schools can yield greater academic program offerings and opportunities for students.
• "Resource efficiencies - better utilization of staff and specialists to support teaching and learning & support services for students.
• "Program realignment - improve access by eliminating redundancy; repurpose available resources for emerging and unique programs of study.
• "Service alignment - improve maintenance and custodial services; prioritize capital schedule & expenditures; revise transportation services."

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