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District officials at Wilson school Wednesday for critical closure meeting

February 11, 2013

school closuresSchool district officials, including superintendent William Hite, will be at the Alexander Wilson School (1300 S. 46th St., near the southern tip of Clark Park) on Wednesday to hear public input on the school’s proposed closure ahead of a vote scheduled for March 7 that would shutter three dozen schools across the city. The public hearing will be held from 4-5:30 p.m.

The district’s facilities master plan released in December calls for the closure of Wilson, a neighborhood K-6 school, and the relocation some of its students to Lea Elementary School (47th and Locust). Wilson is one of 23 elementary schools that would be closed under the plan.

The District expects the closings and subsequent sales of the schools to save the district some $30 million per year.

But district officials have said those plans could be changed before the School Reform Commission’s vote on March 7. A key factor in the district’s recommendations to the School Reform Commission will be the public backing of a school, so everyone in the neighborhood is encouraged to attend the meeting.

As enrollment at the Penn Alexander School tightens every year, nearby schools are going to continue to feel some enrollment pressures, at least in the lower grades. The closure of Wilson will ratchet up that pressure.

Also, the City Council is holding hearings on school closings on Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. in room 400 of City Hall.  Hite and SRC members are expected to attend and testify. Council members are expected to negotiate a reduction in the number of school closures. For more on those meetings, go to The Notebook story here.

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