In February, the School Board adopted a policy giving itself wide latitude to close schools for academic and non-academic reasons. The only brake is the district’s desegregation consent decree, which averts closing schools when integration would be reduced. However, the decree could be lifted as early as 2006.
Reasons for closing schools:
Poor academic performance (a year or more on probation)
Poor physical condition
Underutilized space
Converting to a charter
Changing educational focus
Reassigning school faculty, staff