Solidifying Segregation or Promoting Diversity?

Abstract

Layered with myriad considerations, school closure and rezoning processes in urban school systems are politically fraught with the potential for damaging consequences. This article explores the politics and impacts of a closure and rezoning process in Richmond, Virginia, through the lens of themes applicable to urban school systems and students across the nation. These include the intersection of closure and rezoning with growing White reinvestment in urban school systems, as well as the importance of focusing on diversity and equity during a time of intense pressure to close schools. Research Methods/Approach: Drawing on the case of Richmond, Virginia, we use an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, employing qualitative methods to examine the political process of a 2013 school closure and elementary school rezoning effort and quantitative and spatial methods to examine its impact on racial composition and segregation in attendance zones and schools. Findings and Implications: We find that the political process of redrawing elementary school attendance

Rethinking the School Closure Research: School Closure as Spatial Injustice

“…The research on urban closures suggests a relatively common process of closure: state or district leaders decide that closures are necessary; they use academic and financial metrics like test scores, enrollment, or costs per pupil to select schools to close; they prepare for the closure, which can include gradually phasing out enrolled students, immediately un-enrolling students the year of the closure announcement, or shifting grade configurations in receiving schools; they close the school, usually at the end of the school year; they transition students from the closed school to an open school; and, sometimes, they sell surplus properties (Bifulco & Schwegman, 2019;Bross, Harris, & Liu, 2016;Brummet, 2014;Dowdall, 2011;Dowdall & Warner, 2013;Engberg, Gill, Zamarro, & Zimmer, 2012;Finnigan & Lavner, 2012;Jack & Sludden, 2013;Kemple, 2015;Khalifa et al, 2014;Patterson et al, 2006;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017;Steiner, 2009;Subramaniam, 2011). The rural research, like the urban, describes the processes by which officials choose schools for closure or consolidation; generally, these decisions originate in district or state meetings and offices (Deeb-Sossa & Moreno, 2016;Patterson et al, 2006;Ward & Rink, 1992).…”

“…However, residents often argue that these processes for "community input" are performative and that closure decisions are made with little regard for the immediate needs of those communities most affected (Buras, 2015;Freelon, 2018;Pappas, 2016). Most studies describing residents' reactions showed that, even with votes or forums or committees, community members felt excluded from closure and consolidation processes: They did not close their schools-instead, their schools closed on them (Alsbury & Shaw, 2005;Bard, Gardner, & Wieland, 2006;Buras, 2015;Chance & Cummins, 1998;Deeb-Sossa & Moreno, 2016;DeYoung, 1995;DeYoung & Howley, 1990;Ewing, 2018;Freelon, 2018;Gaertner & Kirshner, 2017;Kirshner, 2015;Lincove et al, 2017;Null, 2001;Patterson et al, 2006;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017;Shiller, 2017;Vaughan & Gutierrez, 2017;. Residents sometimes felt unheard by school boards on the basis of racial discrimination (Briscoe & Khalifa, 2015;Desimone, 1993), and in other instances, residents contended that their schools were "set up" to fail by the district or state, whether due to inadequate resources for students with special education or language needs or to broader funding inequities (Freelon, 2018;Good, 2016;Kretchmar, 2014;Patterson et al, 2006).…”

“…In California, district administrators decided to close a school due to budget "deficits," yet they built a new school in a wealthier neighborhood in the same district (Deeb-Sossa & Manzo, 2018;Deeb-Sossa & Moreno, 2016). And, in Richmond, Virginia, officials closed a school that was both more cost efficient and stronger academically than other schools that remained open (Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017). Residents argued that these kinds of inconsistencies in implementation were a result of the political power of those with more education, wealth, political connections, or organizing capacity (Finnigan & Lavner, 2012;Pappas, 2016).…”

“…Tight state budgets (Dowdall, 2011;Duncombe, Miner, & Ruggiero, 1995;Schwinden, 1993) were also associated with closure, as were climbing tax rates (Billger & Beck, 2012;Lawrence, 2001;Lipman & Haines, 2007;Meckley & Hazi, 1998) and growing education shares of overall tax revenue (Billger & Beck, 2012). Finally, residential segregation and racial tension also shaped which urban and rural schools closed (Lee & Lubienski, 2016;Williams, 2013); White families sometimes successfully resisted closure of their schools, or they moved to Whiter districts or private schools, which can hasten the closure of schools serving the remaining students (Desimone, 1993;Garnett, 2014;Grant et al, 2014;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017;Williams, 2013).…”

“We felt they took the heart out of the community”: Examining a community-based response to urban school closure

“…Given this reality, community leaders have begun to organize against school closures in urban districts throughout the U.S. Concomitantly, an emerging, yet rich body of research exists on this topic. Scholars have broadly analyzed urban school closure (Deeds & Pattillo, 2014;Galletta & Ayala, 2012;Johnson, 2013;Kirshner et al, 2010), community members' influence on school closure (Finnigan & Lavner, 2012), student interpretations of school closings (Kirshner & Pozzoboni, 2011), the politics and impacts of school closure and rezoning (Siegel-Hawley et al, 2016), and the effects of school transfer after closure on students of color from low-income backgrounds (Kirshner et al, 2010). While this body of research suggests that urban school closure disrupts students' lives and neighborhoods, and is the expected outcome of neoliberal policy agendas, less research has examined how communities organize against closure to reopen schools (for exception see Buras, 2013;Good, 2016;Johnson, 2013;Lipman, 2011a;Stovall, 2007Stovall, , 2016.…”