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29-May-2017, 18:36 UT/GMT Half of closed Flint schools over last 10 years in predominantly black neighborhoods in northwest quadrant | MLive.com
Half of closed Flint schools over last 10 years in predominantly black neighborhoods in northwest quadrant
on May 12, 2013 at 7:50 AM, updated March 23, 2014 at 9:29 PM
FLINT, MI -- Nearly half of the more than 20 school closures announced by the Flint School District over the last decade have been in predominantly black neighborhoods on the northwest side of the city, according to an MLive-Flint Journal analysis.The district has closed seven facilities north of Davison Road and Hamilton Avenue in Flint since the 2002-2003 school year and will close two more in that area this year as part of a closure plan to save $4 million.The closures will leave the northwest side with three of the district's remaining 15 open school buildings.Although the city is about 57 percent black, those neighborhoods are at least 90 percent black, according to 2010 U.S. Census data.School officials say race is not a factor in the decisions and that the closures are primarily determined by aging facilities and declining enrollment, as well as a $15.6 million deficit.Rev. Lewis Randolph, president of Concerned Pastors for Social Action in Flint, said he understands that the district is losing students, but said the closures are alarming."It's a concern because it's so sad that these schools have to close --
especially in the black neighborhoods," Randolph said. "It looks like some mismanagement has been going on with the board of education and therefore they've closed schools."Added Randolph, "I don't agree with all the schools that they're closing. I do understand that some of the schools need to be closed."Flint School District interim Superintendent Larry Watkins said the buildings closed on Flint's north side are usually larger buildings that were built in the 1920s, whereas the buildings that remain open are smaller buildings built in the 1960s."There's a number of factors regarding school closing that we looked at this year," said Watkins, who has worked for the district for more than 30 years. "We don't close schools based on where they're located. We close schools based on the facility, enrollment and there's a list of other factors."The
following schools have closed or will close on Flint's northwest side and are in neighborhoods that are made up of 90 percent or more black residents:Bryant Elementary, 201 E. Pierson RoadBunche Elementary, 4121 Martin Luther King Blvd.Civic Park Elementary School, 1402 W. Dayton St.Dort Elementary, 601 E. Witherbee St.Garfield Elementary, 301 E. McClellan St.Gundry Elementary, 6031 Dupont St.Holmes Middles School, 6602 Oxley Dr. (will reopen in 2013-14 as part of the Brownell/Holmes STEM program)Merrill Elementary, 1501 W. Moore St.Wilkins Elementary, 121 E. York Ave.Both Bryant and Dort elementary schools are on the northwest side and
will close at the end of the year. Both neighborhoods are made up of more than 90 percent black residents.Other
schools closing at the end of the year include Washington Elementary, which is in a 74 percent white neighborhood, and Zimmerman,
2421 Corunna Road, which is 73 percent white, according to 2010 Census data.
Watkins declined to address specific criticisms about the racial makeup of neighborhoods where schools have closed or are closing.
"I don't get into that," said Watkins. "I've got too much work to do to move
forward then to look back. That's their opinion based on the limited
information that they have."Roy Fields lives near shuttered Merrill Elementary and Civic Park Elementary School and says the closings hurt the neighborhood.
"Its left kids out here astray," said Fields, 31. "They neglected our school system. Neglected our children. Neglected our people."The closures also mean that students may now travel further distances to schools than their parents may have growing up.
a real big impact on parents who don't have transportation," said Lillie Wilson, who is 58 and has lived on Flint's north side for 40 years. "It's a lot of low income. If their kids get sick, they don't have no transportation to get them."Phyllis J. McCree has been an administrator with the district for 15 years. Sheâs currently the principal at Washington Elementary -- one of four more Flint schools that will shutter at the end of the year. She helped close Summerfield Elementary last year."As the city population size declines, we're trying to right size our district in order to meet our needs," McCree said. "Having our neighborhood schools like we did in Flint was one of our unique characteristics."The days of 46,000 students when Flint was a city of more than 200,000 people are gone, Watkins said."Although we've expanded the area of the school, it's still a community school -- it's just expanded," he said.The days of kids being able to walk from home to elementary and perhaps middle school are a thing of the past, with the majority of students riding buses, Watkins said.Watkins, who lives near Civic Park Elementary School which closed in 2009, said he would be uneasy making his kids walk to school with all the abandoned homes and blight in the area, Watkins."In 2013, if one of my children had to walk four blocks, I would really have some concerns -- it's just the time we're living in the city," he said. "The safety issue is not just a school issue -- we're talking about public safety as well."
Frances Gilcreast, president of the Flint chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the closures are troubling."A community only survives when every area has an opportunity," said Gilcreast.Dominic Adams is a reporter for MLive-Flint Journal. Contact him at dadams5@mlive.com or 810-241-8803. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
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