Here’s the data that Memphis leaders are looking at to guide school closures

Shelby County Schools is moving toward a new round of school closures next year without releasing the comprehensive analysis guiding its recommendations. However, most of the data they used is publicly available.

In the works for more than a year, the analysis provides a snapshot of enrollment, building and academic data as the school system prepares to shutter up to 24 schools in the next five years.

Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said late last month that he plans to roll out recommendations incrementally based on the data. He said releasing the full analysis now would cause teachers and families to flee prematurely from some schools.

“What we’ve always said we’re going to do is an analysis of the issues: enrollment, enrollment trends and school performance and use those factors in making future closure decisions,” Hopson told reporters.

Hopson cited the data included in Chalkbeat’s June story that highlighted 25 schools at risk for closure.

“The data was there in terms of how under-enrolled the school was, what’s the school’s performance and things of that nature,” he said. “So, we’re just looking at that data.”

The tables below have been updated from the data that Chalkbeat examined last spring. You can sort the information based on enrollment, academics and building condition.

Take note that:

  • Enrollment at each school is as of Nov. 7 for the 2016-17 school year;
  • The percent change column measures how much a school’s enrollment has changed since last school year;
  • The “facility condition index,” or FCI rate, measures the maintenance and repair costs against a building’s current replacement cost. The higher the number, the less cost-effective for the district to keep the building open. The FCI rates listed for schools are as of May 2016 and range from 0 to 41 percent out of 100.