The Rochester City School District is looking to close one middle school and relocate another at the end of this school year.
Northwest Junior High would close and be replaced by Andrew Langston Middle School.
Doing so would prevent Northwest from entering receivership, Interim Superintendent Demario Strickland told school board members. That’s a status that the state education department places on schools that it deems as “struggling.”
Northwest is on Fernwood Park, and what’s known as the Douglass campus near Clifford Avenue and Culver Road. Andrew Langston Middle School is currently off Dewey Avenu
Northwest students currently in 7th grade would have the option to remain at the Douglass Campus or move to a different school.
One reason for the move is enrollment, Strickland said. Despite a school reconfiguration plan that shuttered five school buildings and relocated 11 schools for this school year, the district still is operating with significant excess capacity .
"The current operating capacity is 35,936 students,” Strickland said. “If we were to bring all of our charter school students back, we would be above 30,000.”
RCSD’s current enrollment is around 22,000 students.
Another reason for the move is an ongoing facilities modernization plan that spells out which school buildings will be renovated and which will be used as swing space – providing temporarily homes for those schools displaced during construction. In this case, Jefferson Campus that currently houses Langston Middle School would become swing space while the next phase of renovations takes place.
Strickland said the school closure would save the district money.
"We're looking at upwards, initially, of $1.3 million," he said, while acknowledging there is also an untallied cost to students “and the stability and whatnot, which is why I did not want to lead with that. But I am thinking about the future of this district, and what we need to do in order to get our facilities modernized.”
School board members had mixed reactions.
“This is something that we cannot continue to do, and uproot our kids and not showing them stability,” school board member Jacqueline Griffin said. “I don't agree with this at all. I do not agree with any step of this process.”
Board Vice President Amy Maloy echoed Griffin’s sentiments.
“I'm disappointed because it looks like we're moving in one direction with the reconfiguration, and it hasn't been fully implemented, but now we're making these changes. I'm concerned about the impact on students and families,” Maloy said. “My concern is on the academic impact that these transitions could potentially have.”
Former board President Cynthia Elliott said the district needs to focus efforts on increasing enrollment and actively recruit students from charter schools.
“I want us to be assertive and aggressive and to go out and to recruit students for the Rochester City School District,” Elliott said. “If we told our story, I believe that we would have an opportunity to increase student enrollment, and we would not have to close the buildings.”
Strickland was scheduled to hold a listening session with Northwest students and families Monday evening. He is expected to present a finalized plan to the school board on Feb.27.