US school closures rise as enrollment falls faster than schools close

Left · 2A total of 1,156 US schools closed during the last academic year, the highest number since the pandemic, according to an analysis of federal data by Big Local News at Stanford University. 1 2 Left · 2Cash-strapped districts are closing campuses to save money as US birth rates continue a multidecade slide and state and federal education funding dries up. 1 2 Left · 1Public school enrollment fell by more than 1.4 million students, roughly 3%, between fall 2019 and 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data collected by Stanford economist Thomas Dee and sociologist Jaymes Pyne. 1

Left · 2The number of schools has declined only to about pre-pandemic levels, which the researchers say suggests closures are lagging enrollment declines and that more painful financial choices lie ahead. 1 2 Left · 1Lower birth rates are the primary reason for the enrollment decline. A federal crackdown on immigration and the post-pandemic growth of private school vouchers and homeschooling have also contributed. 1 Left · 2Bellwether and WestEd estimated that declining enrollment could cost schools $11.5 billion a year in state revenue by 2030-2031, potentially prompting layoffs, program cuts and closures. 1 2

Left · 2Lydia Rainey of the Center on Reinventing Public Education said the situation is unlikely to improve: "States aren't about to open the coffers and swoop in with additional funds to save schools." 1 2 Left · 2Research shows closures rarely deliver the savings districts hope for, because busing, severance pay and security for empty buildings often absorb them. Closures can also set students back academically and make it harder to attract teachers. 1 2 Left · 1Closures can also trigger a downward spiral, as families leave for charter schools, private schools or other districts, which further erodes per-student funding. 1

Left · 2In Vallejo, California, the school district serves half as many students as two decades ago. Enrollment fell from nearly 18,000 in fall 2006 to about 9,300, according to the district. 1 2 Left · 2Vallejo has closed five campuses since 2025, a quarter of its schools, and has put up to a third of staff positions on the chopping block to help close a $36 million deficit. 1 2 Left · 1The district's troubles trace to COVID-19 relief money that had paid salaries and ran out early last year, plus falling enrollment, inflation and contractual pay rises. Schools were on average only 46% full, the district says. The state had kept Vallejo's finances under oversight until summer 2024, after a $60 million emergency bailout in the early 2000s. 1

Left · 2Superintendent Rubén Aurelio said closures are hard for families but necessary: "We're right-sizing a district that was built for significantly more kids," and resources must be concentrated to improve outcomes for the remaining students. 1 2 Left · 2Vallejo parent Kimberly Núñez-Brandão said families are "literally packing up their kids and moving away". She moved her older son to a charter school, and her daughter Penny's new teacher at Glen Cove Elementary had 32 students in his first class. In October the teacher resigned effective immediately, and the district said the school would use a long-term substitute for now. 1 2 Left · 1To hold on to students, Vallejo is renovating older campuses, plans a Tagalog-language school, has denied some transfer-out requests, and offers tours of its remaining schools. WestEd's Jason Willis credited the district for spreading cuts over several years. Some parents were unhappy about the renovation spending. 1

Left · 2Vallejo's vacant campuses are vulnerable to burglaries, forcing the district to spend more on security, said Marin Trujillo Cuevas, its executive director for operations. Large systems in Cleveland, Houston and Philadelphia are facing similar closures. 1 2