Last place. Second-to-last. Third-from-last. No matter what districts the team at St. Louis University鈥檚 PRiME Center put St. Louis鈥� school enrollment up against, the city stayed at the bottom.
鈥淲e were kind of shocked going through it to see such a consistent result,鈥� said Evan Rhinesmith, the center鈥檚 director of research.
St. Louis Public Schools has an average of 308 students in each of its 71 schools currently, according to the analysis. Include the city鈥檚 36 charter schools, and it鈥檚 313 children spread across 107 schools. Twenty-six schools in the district are .
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The district once educated 115,000 students. Today, its enrollment has fallen to about 21,000. While it鈥檚 been closing schools for decades, enrollment has yet to bottom out.
鈥淚 think an important piece of the story is that the school closures and school consolidation conversation is not new,鈥� Rhinesmith said. 鈥淭he infrastructure was meant for a larger district and unfortunately, we're not at that point anymore.鈥�
The PRiME Center, which studies education issues in Missouri, against the state鈥檚 other school districts, as well as major cities around the country and other comparable districts.
Compared to the 20 largest districts in Missouri, St. Louis has the fewest students in its buildings. Same goes for comparing St. Louis to 77 of the nation鈥檚 largest urban school systems. When the center expanded to the 247 largest districts from all 50 states, SLPS was 245, beating out only school systems in Alaska and Wyoming. The average number of kids in school buildings was usually twice the size of St. Louis鈥� enrollments.
Sending students to school buildings with so many empty classrooms dramatically increases expenses.
鈥淭he costs are just much higher on a per-pupil basis when schools are small,鈥� said Lina Bankert, from Bellwether Education Partners, a think tank and consulting firm.
But closing schools to maximize dollars and efficiency isn鈥檛 a simple task.
鈥淐losing a school, it's fraught, it is a tough, tough decision to make, it goes beyond just what logic or numbers might tell you,鈥� Bankert said. 鈥淎nd there's so much emotion, connection to the community and legacy that often needs to be reckoned with as well.鈥�
With fewer buildings to keep open, schools can afford more elective courses, programs and support staff. .
St. Louis Public Schools will close eight buildings at the end of the school year after district officials initially proposed closing 11. Community pushback was 鈥檚 potential demise. According to the PRiME Center, closing the eight schools will increase the district鈥檚 average building enrollment by 27, to 335.
Bankert argues that the needs of kids and community should be strongly considered when discussing school closures. But at some point, it鈥檒l just be too expensive to keep the lights on.
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