Before the List Goes Public: Leading the Conversation about School Closures

Before anyone in Los Angeles saw a list of schools that might close, the community got a history lesson. In a video shared with the LAUSD community, Superintendent Andrés Chait walked through the district's enrollment trend: more than 700,000 students in 2002-03, down to a projection of fewer than 400,000 today. It's the kind of message that doesn't make headlines, and that's the point. It sets the stage before the hard news arrives.

Los Angeles isn't alone. Portland Public Schools is considering as many as 18 closures, and Miami-Dade approved a plan to close or consolidate nine schools after enrollment fell 4% in a single year. For many districts, the question this year is no longer whether to have the closure conversation, but how.