51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The city needs a 鈥渂ig and bold鈥� response to a new report showing half of the 62 public school buildings need to be replaced or closed in the next 10 years, said the vice president of the 51黑料 School Board.

鈥淓verybody has always hoped that, 鈥楲et鈥檚 do little things here and there and things are going to change,鈥� and they haven鈥檛,鈥� said Matt Davis, referring to the lack of a large-scale restructuring of 51黑料 Public Schools. 鈥淭he next question is: Can we build political will to carry it out? I鈥檓 skeptical because no one鈥檚 ever really done it.鈥�

After decades of declining enrollment and population loss in the city, the average school is filled below half of its capacity. The maintenance costs to keep all the buildings open will reach an estimated $1.8 billion by 2044, according to the facility analysis released Tuesday from architectural firm Cordogan, Clark and Associates.

Widespread closures or consolidations of schools, even demolitions and new builds will all be part of the conversation in upcoming months, Davis said.

鈥淪inking millions of dollars into buildings that don鈥檛 have kids in them is taking away from the educational opportunities for students,鈥� he said.

There are 16,542 students in kindergarten through high school across the district鈥檚 62 schools. By comparison, Rockwood School District in 51黑料 County has 19,424 students in 29 schools.

Every resource in the district is diluted across too many schools, board members said. There are not enough teachers and support staff to provide every school with recommended ratios. A critical bus driver shortage means about 20 routes are canceled daily. Reading specialists in elementary schools will be reassigned to classroom teaching positions next year.

The students in the city deserve 鈥渕odern or modernized, sustainable facilities that have enough children in them that they鈥檙e able to have all the appropriate supports that each child needs,鈥� said SLPS board member Emily Hubbard. 鈥淲e cannot be so wedded to the past that wasn鈥檛 good for everybody, that we can鈥檛 conceive of a better future for our children.鈥�

A proposal to use Rams settlement funds toward new school construction made the top 20 in the city鈥檚 survey of ideas but is no longer under consideration by the 51黑料 Board of Aldermen.

鈥淲hile it is true our existing facilities are grand and historic architectural monuments, the maintenance and upkeep on all of them is too expensive to do forever,鈥� reads the proposal from former SLPS board President Dorothy Rohde-Collins. 鈥淭he buildings we have now are unable to meet the needs of modern life, especially with regard to security and technology.鈥�

The most expensive school buildings to maintain are generally the oldest and the biggest. Here鈥檚 a rundown of the five schools with the highest costs, according to the architectural report:

• The magnet high school at 5101 McRee Avenue in the Hill neighborhood is the district鈥檚 largest by enrollment, with 827 students but still filling less than half of its capacity. The 471,000-square-foot school that opened in 1956 has an estimated building maintenance schedule valued at $306 million over the next 20 years.

• At 543,000 square feet, the magnet high school at the corner of Kingshighway Boulevard and Arsenal Street is the biggest facility in the district. The campus also houses a second magnet high school, Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience, yet the total 1,600 seats are less than half-full. The costs to update the campus built in 1935 could reach $217 million by 2044, according to the report.

• Soldan, in the Academy neighborhood of north 51黑料, has about 400 students in a building designed for three times as many. The construction needs of the 293,000-square-foot school, built in 1909, would cost an estimated $190.5 million over the next 20 years.

• Fewer than 500 students attend Roosevelt in the Tower Grove East neighborhood. The school opened in 1925 with a capacity for more than 1,700 students in 294,000 square feet. The future cost of maintaining the building is $118 million.

• Beaumont High School opened in 1923 to serve more than 1,700 students and graduated its last class a decade ago. The school on Natural Bridge Avenue across from Fairground Park now offers part-time career training in the fields of cosmetology, culinary and medical assistant for 416 students who are bused from other SLPS high schools. Beaumont has 275,000 square feet and a 20-year estimated maintenance cost of nearly $110 million.

A $3.9 million roof replacement for Beaumont was approved by the school board earlier this month through a $160 million bond measure approved by city voters in 2022.

Square Watson, chief operations officer for SLPS, said the Proposition S spending does not take utilization of buildings into consideration.

鈥淭hese are still our buildings, our properties,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淎s we look forward to how we are going to rebuild the system, we need to make sure our facilities across the system are first and foremost stable and safe.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: The image of Central Visual and Performing Arts has been updated with one of the current facility.