Shelby County Schools administrators announce new school closures

Shelby County School administrators announced that it will move toward closing four more schools.

The district will instead move to close Riverview Elementary, Vance Middle, Cypress Middle School and Klondike Elementary Schools.

Westwood and Carver High Schools will remain open but also serve students in grades 6-8 in order to absorb students from some of the closed middle schools.  They were previously set to close but administrators changed their minds after evaluating the schools’ test scores and listening to community concerns.

That brings the list of school closures to 13 schools set to be closed next summer.

The district has spent the last two years closing several schools in the southwest and northwest areas of the city where population has declined.

The majority of the schools on the closure list had fewer than 400 students in them and was using less than 85 percent of the building.  They were also chronically underperforming schools.

“It’s not to kids’ best interest to keep open low performing schools that are under enrolled,” Hopson said Tuesday.

The board will hold hearings at the schools over the next few months before voting on the closures early next year.

To view the new list, click here.