DPS does the math on school closure (MI)

April 20, 2011

Detroit — Stan Johnson is principal of an aging Detroit school that’s long on maintenance needs and short on students.

Hutchinson Elementary, built in 1916 to accommodate 744 children, has just 369 students and is one of many half-full buildings in Detroit Public Schools slated to close this June as the district tries to shrink a $327 million deficit.

Emergency Manager Robert Bobb plans to shut Hutchinson and six other schools in June, plus an eighth building next year. He’s offering 18 schools to charter operators, with plans to close any schools that aren’t taken in June.

It’s simple math: The district spends more than it takes in, and it’s time to right-size the buildings with enrollment.

Though he doesn’t like it, Johnson said he realizes the district’s predicament. “I truly understand what is going on an d what is going to happen,” he said. “You can’t operate at full cost with low capacity. This has been going on for years.”

Schools have many needs

Besides low enrollment, Hutchinson and the other schools on the chopping block are plagued by low academic performance, costly upkeep needs and high operating costs.

Data from DPS about each of the affected buildings make it clear that consolidation may continue for years, as the cost to educate children in underoccupied buildings doesn’t add up.

In some cases, DPS schools spend double or triple the district’s $7,500 per-pupil grant from the state. DPS, which has 141 schools, spends an average of $9,181 per student at underused buildings with full staffs.

At Hutchinson, the cost is $9,564 per student. At Moses Field School, DPS spends $19,683 for each of the 163 students in a building that was meant to house 293. The school is slated to close in June.

At some of the buildings being eyed by charter operators, the situation is worse. At Breithaupt Career and Technical Center, the district spends almost $1.4 million on each of three students in a building that can hold 616.

At DPS’ Barsamian Preparatory Center, where expelled students can continue high school classes, the building could accommodate 244 students but has just 53 and spends $35,636 per child.

Enrollment has plunged

Steep enrollment declines have left the district’s schools with empty classrooms. Every year, thousands of students leave for outside schools, and the city lost 25 percent of its population in the past decade.

Enrollment in DPS has fallen from 168,000 students in 2000 to 73,000 today. According to projections, DPS will lose 2,000 to 6,000 students per year through 2016, when enrollment is estimated to bottom out at 50,617.

Sc hool officials say decisions to close DPS buildings are based on some 40 factors, including student safety, in terms of passage to/from schools over major freeways and roads, and potential conflicts across neighborhood lines, said Steve Wasko, DPS spokesman.

“Many factors vary wildly across our schools …,” he said. “We have closed 59 schools in two years and 100 schools in the last decade. Closures have attempted to keep pace with the population loss.”

State education officials say DPS spends more per student than it takes in with local, state and federal sources. According to data from 2009-10, DPS took in $12,750 per student and spent $14,028. “The reality is they have to balance their budget,” said Jan Ellis, Michigan Department of Education spokeswoman.

Bobb’s Renaissance 2012 plan, with its mix of school closings and charters, is an alternative to the Deficit Elimination Plan he filed with the state this year. It calls for closing half of DPS’ 141 schools and swelling high school classes to as many as 60 students.

Under Bobb’s new plan, some buildings with low enrollment, high operating costs and infrastructure needs are being kept open because there are no nearby schools to serve the population, Wasko said.

O.W. Holmes Elementary and Middle School needs students, costly repairs and investment. But DPS officials left it and Mark Twain Elementary off the closure list because young students would have been miles away from a school.

The district has been holding presentation meetings where every school has 20 minutes to make the case to stay open. At a meeting last week, MacDowell Elementary — initially slated to be chartered or closed — was told that it will likely stay open after all, pending a site visit by Bobb.

“It is performing well academically and has tremendously strong community and alumni support. No final decisions have been made, but (Bobb) did tell the community that the decision is on hold,” Wasko said.

Parents worried

Parent Nicole Chapman is not holding out much hope for her son’s school, Sherrill Elementary, which is slated to close.

Chapman attended a school presentation meeting last week where school officials tried to convince Bobb to keep the school open. Sherrill needs $2.5 million in facility improvements and houses 449 students in a building with room for 853.

Chapman is worried about what will happen to her 6-year-old son, Jordan, if he sent to another school with unfamiliar teachers. Jordan, who is cognitively impaired, has improved his GPA from 1.6 to 3.0 at Sherrill.

“The teachers there are fantastic. They work with him every day. He has excelled at everything,” she said.

DPS’ Day School for the Deaf serves 49 students in a building designed to hold 140. Because the school requires a full staff of teachers, aides and administrators, its per-student cost is $33,398. DPS spends an average of $16,961 for each of its special education students.

The school is to shut in June. Its students will be sent to other schools where they can be accommodated.

‘Ridiculous to close it’

“Our building is great, in good condition. We have a small class. It’s one-on-one. It’s ridiculous to close it. There is no other deaf school,” said parent Danielle Clark, whose daughter attends the school.

Johnson, the 57-year-old principal at Hutchinson, says four generations of families have called the school home. He recently scaled the school’s roof to tar a leaky spot. He’s asking Bobb to combine his school and three buildings nearby in a new school to be built next year. He’ll make the proposal Monday at a school presentation meeting. Johnson knows it’s his last chance to save the school, which serves the neighborhood he grew up in and where his mother still lives.

“This is happening all over the country now,” he said. “Instead of fighting it, we need to ask them what we can do to assist you and give the children the best education.”