School closures—commonly touted as a financially responsible strategy to right-size cash-strapped districts—often do not improve districts’ financial standing, according to a new study out of California.
Even worse: Any money actually saved from closing a school building is largely offset by funding lost when affected students withdraw from the district to attend school somewhere else.
The study, led by Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, examined school closure data across California between 2011 and 2019.
It adds to a growing body of research that suggests the seemingly simple rationale that operating fewer school buildings lowers districts’ expenditures is not so clear-cut. And it comes out at a time when districts across the country confronting dwindling enrollment and uncertainty about future funding from state and federal sources have released plans to downsize their physical footprint.
“The assumption is just so baked into the logic of closure decisions that it’s assumed closures will save money, so it can be really hard for leaders to combat that thinking. This is a really important piece of evidence as districts navigate these conversations and decisions,” said Mara Tieken, a professor of education at Bates College in Maine, who has studied the effects of school closures. She was not part of Pearman’s new research.