Report: Savings marginal after D.C. Public Schools closes schools
Closing 20 DC Public Schools will save the school system barely more money than it will cost to close them, according to a report released Tuesday by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, or DCFPI.
While closing the proposed schools could save DC Public Schools $10.4 million in the 2013-2014 school year, consolidating them could cost $10.2 million, significantly reducing the overall savings, the analysis by D.C. education finance analyst Mary Levy found.
When the District closed 23 schools in 2008 -- the last time the District shuttered a large group of schools -- the process cost the school system $39.5 million, roughly $30 million more than anticipated, according to a D.C. audit released in September.
Source: DC Fiscal Policy Institute
| The price of education | ||
| Cost savings for 15 proposed school closings | ||
| Ward | School | Estimated savings |
| 7 | Ronald H. Brown Middle School | $772,832 |
| 7 | Davis Elementary School | -$78,121 |
| 8 | Ferebee-Hope Elementary School | $615,165 |
| 2 | Francis-Stevens Education Campus | $1,563,610 |
| 2 | Garrison Elementary School | $256,100 |
| 8 | Johnson Middle School | $369,438 |
| 7 | Kenilworth Elementary School | $101,840 |
| 4 | MacFarland Middle School | $441,182 |
| 8 | Malcolm X Elementary School | $413,764 |
| 5 | Marshall Elementary School | $463,856 |
| 1 | Shaw Middle School | -$193,537 |
| 7 | Smothers Elementary School | $90,550 |
| 5 | Spingarn High School | $2,846,851 |
| 8 | M.C. Terrell/McGogney Elementary School | $537,284 |
| 7 | Winston Education Campus | $1,474,990 |
DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson proposed in November closing 20 schools at the end of the current school year to conserve resources, but she has not said how much money she expects to save with the plan. The final list of school closings is scheduled for release this week.
Henderson spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz did not return requests for comment.
"One of the main arguments in the DCPS proposal for school closure and consolidation is that the small schools are inefficient and require additional funding from the school system to operate," the DC Fiscal Policy Institute's report says. However, the difference in per-pupil costs at a small school compared with those at a large school turn out to be