Tornado damage and debris are seen at Yeatman-Liddell Middle School, a St. Louis Public school in the 4600 block of Athlone Avenue, in the O’Fallon neighborhood of St. Louis.
ST. LOUISÌý— Members of the St. Louis Board of Education downplayed an analysis that suggests more than half of the city’s public schools should close by fall 2026.
“This is just a report. A report has to be the beginning step,â€Ìýsaid Karen Collins-Adams, the board’s president. “We’re not making decisions on this. We need to be able to do things methodically, with a lot of community input and consider not just the data but the emotional impact that it has on everyone while we’re doing this.â€
The report from planning firm Cordogan, Clark and Associates was commissioned by St. Louis Public Schools and presented Tuesday at a board meeting. Based on capacity needs for declining enrollment, the footprint for SLPS wouldÌýdrop from 68 schools to 31, the firm’s representatives said.
Before the presentation, Superintendent Millicent Borishade laid out the district’s deficit spending and said SLPS could be financially distressed by 2030. This year’s budget has been additionally strained by tornado damages and federal cuts to education, she said.ÌýÌý
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“Altogether SLPS will be spending $70 million in unplanned expenses that will initially be supported by our fund balance,†Borishade said.
Borishade is expected to make recommendations in September for what could be the largest cluster of school closures in the city’s history.
Last year, there were 18,122 students scattered across more than 60 schools in SLPS, which has one of the lowest average building capacity rates in the country.
Demographers predict as many as 2,000 students will not return to the district this fall because of the tornado.
Collins-Adams, the school board president, bristled at the report’s comparison to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, where a huge drop in enrollment has not fully rebounded 20 years later.ÌýÌý
“There is no comparison to what happened in Louisiana where multiple areas across the city ... were flooded, and although many students didn’t come back, there were reasons why, and entire neighborhoods were permanently destroyed,†she said.
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Drone video footage compares how neighborhoods and parks around St. Louis have changed -- or not -- about six weeks after the May 16, 2025 tornado.
