Enrollments will continue to decline in the foreseeable future and schools will continue to close. Armed with such long-range planning strategies as a developed master plan, clearly specified goals for school closings, an established process, acceptable and quantifiable criteria for selecting schools to be closed, and the involvement of an…

Many school districts are still approaching the energy crisis as though it were a temporary inconvenience. However, school districts that have recognized the gravity of the energy situation have conducted energy audits. Basically, there are two types of audits. The first is a simple walk through each building using a checklist format. The second…

School closings can be made more acceptable to a community if a long-range plan for dealing with declining enrollments is developed that includes a statement of goals, process, criteria, and efforts to include public information and interaction. (Author/MLF)

The current period of enrollment decline offers school districts an ideal opportunity for program and facility reevaluation and long-range planning. Any long-range plan should evaluate current programs in light of statutory and educational trends, estimate existing facilities' ability to accommodate change, determine the community's potential…

The current decline in enrollment has had a significant impact on teachers, curriculum, community relations, administrators, and facilities of the public education system. The current cutback procedures of teacher reduction-in-force have fostered a predominantly white, largely middle-class, and definitely middle-aged teaching profession. With…