Wow! What an amazing journey it’s been. Since the launch of Better Budgets, Better Schools (BBBS) campaign as an inaugural Power Builder, we’ve been on the ground pushing for change for our children and achieved tangible wins towards our community-driven policy demands. In 16 months, we reached 20,000+ St. Louisans. We’re also encouraged by the changes we see SLPS making! Now we confront another challenge.

St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) faces a crisis: plummeting enrollment has caused the district to lose roughly 90,000 students since the 1970s. 😱 SLPS has responded to this crisis by closing and consolidating schools.

I’m excited to say more Power Builders have joined this work, and they, a coalition of North STL parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, educators, and concerned citizens, believe school closures are an opportunity to reimagine what’s next for SLPS.

‘What’s Next SLPS?’ campaign calls on SLPS to approach school closures differently. What would school closures look like if SLPS partnered with the communities most impacted by them?

Over the past 8 months, we’ve read research, dissected local and national data, called local representatives, knocked on doors, and attended school board meetings. Through it all, we found the best approaches to school closures consider all options and put students, communities, and equity at the center.