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Podcast: γ¬γ’γΈγ§γθ±δΌθ©± Daily News Article Podcast
Episode: Districts around the US are mulling school closures as student enrollment falls
Description: Thomasina Clarke has watched school after school close in her once-thriving St. Louis neighborhood, which was hit by a tornado this spring and whose population has plummeted in recent decades. "It's like a hole in the community," Clarke said.
St. Louis Public Schools is among the districts nationwide weighing how many urban schools to keep open due to shrinking budgets, the falling birthrate and a growing school choice movement. A district-commissioned report released this year found that the school system has more than twice the schools it needs.
Such decisions are gut-wrenching. It's a financial strain to operate half-empty schools...