St. Louis Public Schools could close over half of its buildings prior to the 2026-2027 school year, according to a new proposal set to be presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday.
A presentation from architecture firm Cordogan, Clark and Associates suggests SLPS shutter 37 of its 68 schools, citing declining student enrollment and costly repairs to the district’s many aging buildings.
The report does not identify which schools could be closed.
The firm estimates it would cost the district over $1.8 billion to repair and maintain its schools — a number that is projected to grow since the May 16 tornado damaged a dozen schools.
Seven of them will not open in time for the start of the school year on Aug 18.
The district is also projected to lose about 30% of its student population due to migration trends and decreased childbirth rates over the next decade.
The proposal will be presented during a public work meeting on Tuesday by Superintendent Millicent Borishade and representatives of the firm to the school board.
As a part of the “Reimaging SLPS” initiative, the district has been holding information sessions around the firm’s preliminary findings around demographic trends in the city and region over the last couple of months.
SLPS tapped Cordogan, Clark and Associates to conduct a utilization and demographic survey of the district last year.
The findings have shown that the majority of the district’s schools, which were once designed for a population of over 100,000 children, have an average utilization rate of 52%.
The study also notes that the average age of a building in SLPS is about 79 years old.
Borishade has said in previous public meetings that she has not made any final decisions about which schools the district may permanently close.
Any decision from the district would require approval from the school board.
SLPS Board President Karen Collins-Adams said in a statement that she would like the district to focus first on getting students and families ready for the first day of school, which is four weeks away.
“Our immediate time and energy must stay focused on finding and communicating with as many tornado displaced families and teachers as possible, providing clear information to get students to school and providing teachers with what they need so students can begin to learn on August 18, 2025. We have to remain focused,” Collins-Adams said.
SLPS has the most schools in the greater St. Louis region and last closed schools in 2021.
Dorothy Rohde-Collins oversaw the school closures as SLPS board president and studies school closures as a Ph.D candidate at St. Louis University.
She said she’d like the district to table conversations about school closures and focus on the back-to-school season and transportation, especially after the May 16 tornado.
“Why can't you adapt to the current context, which is [that] a major disaster happened here just a couple months ago. Why wouldn't that be enough to put a pause on things?” Rohde-Collins said. “We do need to close schools, but we don't have to do it like this. We can do it in a way that is responsive to the effects of the tornado.”
The report projects the district could see a drop in enrollment of up to 2,000 students this school year. District officials have said enrollment numbers are in flux after the tornado, but are hopeful that students will return.
The majority of the suggested closures are among the 42 elementary schools the district currently operates. The proposed plan would bring that number down to 15 schools, eliminating many neighborhood schools.
The plan also suggests closing five of the 11 middle schools and five of the 10 high schools.
This story has been updated to include a comments from SLPS school board President Karen Collins-Adams and former board President Dorothy Rohde-Collins.
This story has been updated to reflect new information in the report from Cordogan, Clark and Associates. It now recommends that SLPS close five high schools.
