Determine your community values and vision. School location decisions deserve a thorough vetting in order to understand the far-reaching impacts on community including access to education, health, transportation, land use and the environment. Explore the discussion points on this page to determine the values and vision of your community.
Social Justice
Are children and neighborhoods in poverty disproportionately affected by school closures? Map your community.
How are school closures affecting distance to school? How easy is it for kids to get to school on foot, bike or using public transportation?
A recent report shows Montana and New Mexico having the worst attendance rates for 4th and 8th grade students.
HELENA - A report compiled by an organization called Attendance Works ranks Montana as having one of the worst attendance rates for fourth-graders in the nation. The national report paints a grim picture of Montana's school absentee rates.
Attendance Works is a group that aims to improve school attendance through policies and practices nationwide.
The report shows Montana and New Mexico have the worst attendance rates for fourth-graders, with 25 percent or more students stating they had missed school at least three days in the previous month. For eighth-grade students in Montana, the number is 29 percent.
Money and Access to Education
How much money can be saved when a district uses existing buildings, existing infrastructure and has access to public transportation and joint facility use? How are neighborhoods/property values affected by school closures?
How will school site changes affect student self transport and access to education? When should one school site be closed or consolidated while opening schools in a different location? How do closed school boundary areas compare to new school site boundary areas? Is access to schools disparately distributed? How are decisions to build and close schools made? What criteria should be used when recommending school closure, reopening, building, etc.?
In cities with relatively flat school enrollment population, should new schools be built on new sites or is it better to refurbish schools at existing locations (for every 1 new home sold, 7-10 existing homes are sold)? Is student density consistent in some areas vs. others? Which neighborhoods have long periods of low student yield due to empty-nest? Is housing cost and type of housing (i.e. low-income, rental or first time buyer housing) related to a greater and more consistent student yield?
Transportation, Health and Safety
How will the school location decision affect children's ability to get to and from school on their own? Does your school have bikeways, sidewalks, signals/lights/crosswalks or other infrastructural improvements that may reduce pedestrian-vehicle crash rates?
American Journal of Public Health - Modification of the built environment can substantially reduce the risk of pedestrian-vehicle crashes.
Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1456
Is school location aligned with public transportation?
Are your school transportation costs increasing? Are those costs permissively levied on taxpayers? How do those costs change when schools are opened and closed?
What percentage of students (per total student enrollment/boundary area) live within .5 to 1 Mile (elementary), 1.- 1.5 Miles (Middle School) or 2-3 Miles (High school)?
Not long ago, children routinely moved around their neighborhoods by foot or by bicycle, and that was often how they traveled to and from school. That is no longer the case. Whether looking at the total proportion of children walking and bicycling to school, the proportion of children who live within a mile of school or the proportion of children living within one mile of school who walk or bike, the decline is apparent.
Are children and neighborhoods in poverty disproportionately affected by school closures? Map your community.
How are school closures affecting distance to school? How easy is it for kids to get to school on foot, bike or using public transportation?
A recent report shows Montana and New Mexico having the worst attendance rates for 4th and 8th grade students.
HELENA - A report compiled by an organization called Attendance Works ranks Montana as having one of the worst attendance rates for fourth-graders in the nation. The national report paints a grim picture of Montana's school absentee rates.
Attendance Works is a group that aims to improve school attendance through policies and practices nationwide.
The report shows Montana and New Mexico have the worst attendance rates for fourth-graders, with 25 percent or more students stating they had missed school at least three days in the previous month. For eighth-grade students in Montana, the number is 29 percent.
Money and Access to Education
How much money can be saved when a district uses existing buildings, existing infrastructure and has access to public transportation and joint facility use? How are neighborhoods/property values affected by school closures?
How will school site changes affect student self transport and access to education? When should one school site be closed or consolidated while opening schools in a different location? How do closed school boundary areas compare to new school site boundary areas? Is access to schools disparately distributed? How are decisions to build and close schools made? What criteria should be used when recommending school closure, reopening, building, etc.?
In cities with relatively flat school enrollment population, should new schools be built on new sites or is it better to refurbish schools at existing locations (for every 1 new home sold, 7-10 existing homes are sold)? Is student density consistent in some areas vs. others? Which neighborhoods have long periods of low student yield due to empty-nest? Is housing cost and type of housing (i.e. low-income, rental or first time buyer housing) related to a greater and more consistent student yield?
Transportation, Health and Safety
How will the school location decision affect children's ability to get to and from school on their own? Does your school have bikeways, sidewalks, signals/lights/crosswalks or other infrastructural improvements that may reduce pedestrian-vehicle crash rates?
American Journal of Public Health - Modification of the built environment can substantially reduce the risk of pedestrian-vehicle crashes.
Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1456
Is school location aligned with public transportation?
Are your school transportation costs increasing? Are those costs permissively levied on taxpayers? How do those costs change when schools are opened and closed?
What percentage of students (per total student enrollment/boundary area) live within .5 to 1 Mile (elementary), 1.- 1.5 Miles (Middle School) or 2-3 Miles (High school)?
Not long ago, children routinely moved around their neighborhoods by foot or by bicycle, and that was often how they traveled to and from school. That is no longer the case. Whether looking at the total proportion of children walking and bicycling to school, the proportion of children who live within a mile of school or the proportion of children living within one mile of school who walk or bike, the decline is apparent.
- In 1969, 48 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school. [2]
- In 2009, 13 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school. [2]
- In 1969, 41 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school;
- 89 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school. [3]
- In 2009, 31 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school;
- 35 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school. [2] http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/the_decline_of_walking_and_bicycling