Question:
How many public schools in the United States have closed?
Response:
In 2019–20, there were 1,130 school closures, including 827 regular schools, 129 special education schools, 22 vocational schools, and 152 alternative schools.
Number and enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools that have closed, by school level, type, and charter status: 2010-11 through 2019-20 | ||||||||||
School level, type, and charter status | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 |
Total, all schools | 1,741 | 1,692 | 1,394 | 1,644 | 1,336 | 1,070 | 1,068 | 1,310 | 1,122 | 1,130 |
School type | ||||||||||
Regular | 1,352 | 1,274 | 986 | 1,124 | 974 | 823 | 709 | 889 | 876 | 827 |
Special education | 72 | 81 | 82 | 87 | 61 | 30 | 66 | 217 | 42 | 129 |
Vocational | 6 | 12 | 68 | 18 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 24 | 22 |
Alternative1 | 311 | 325 | 258 | 415 | 278 | 203 | 284 | 191 | 180 | 152 |
School level and type | ||||||||||
Prekindergarten | 53 | 50 | 33 | 47 | 27 | 22 | 31 | 74 | 59 | 76 |
Regular | 45 | 43 | 28 | 39 | 23 | 19 | 24 | 58 | 55 | 63 |
Special education | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 4 | 13 |
Vocational | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alternative1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Elementary | 759 | 725 | 587 | 601 | 482 | 450 | 390 | 492 | 410 | 457 |
Regular | 727 | 698 | 561 | 554 | 449 | 422 | 352 | 400 | 394 | 438 |
Special education | 12 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 79 | 7 | 13 |
Vocational | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alternative1 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 28 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 13 | 9 | 6 |
Middle | 261 | 277 | 185 | 240 | 248 | 192 | 184 | 217 | 194 | 175 |
Regular | 232 | 236 | 158 | 212 | 229 | 174 | 155 | 179 | 177 | 155 |
Special education | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 3 | 7 |
Vocational | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Alternative1 | 28 | 38 | 25 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 24 | 14 | 11 | 13 |
Secondary and high | 428 | 458 | 443 | 497 | 437 | 317 | 343 | 387 | 315 | 244 |
Regular | 204 | 223 | 180 | 211 | 213 | 167 | 130 | 199 | 162 | 117 |
Special education | 26 | 20 | 28 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 53 | 12 | 20 |
Vocational | 5 | 11 | 64 | 6 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 10 |
Alternative1 | 193 | 204 | 171 | 260 | 189 | 128 | 195 | 126 | 124 | 97 |
Other, ungraded, and not applicable/not reported | 240 | 182 | 146 | 259 | 142 | 89 | 120 | 140 | 144 | 178 |
Regular | 144 | 74 | 59 | 108 | 60 | 41 | 48 | 53 | 88 | 54 |
Special education | 27 | 43 | 36 | 35 | 25 | 7 | 31 | 47 | 16 | 76 |
Vocational | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
Alternative1 | 68 | 64 | 49 | 105 | 56 | 38 | 39 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
All charter schools2 | 157 | 185 | 153 | 232 | 206 | 236 | 181 | 247 | 215 | 235 |
Prior year enrollment of schools that have closed | ||||||||||
Total, enrollment | 321,246 | 300,764 | 240,704 | 269,615 | 211,472 | 194,653 | 185,714 | 266,777 | 231,206 | 214,278 |
1 Includes schools that provide nontraditional education, address needs of students that typically cannot be met in regular schools, serve as adjuncts to regular schools, or fall outside the categories of regular, special education, or vocational education.
2 Charter schools are also included under the school level and type categories, as appropriate.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This table indicates the school year by which the school no longer operated (it closed between that school year and the prior school year). The closure of a school does not necessarily mean that a building is no longer used for educational purposes. A single school may share a building with another school, or one school may be housed in several buildings. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Table 216.95. Number and enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools that have closed, by school level, type, and charter status: 2010–11 through 2019–20 [Data table]. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_216.95.asp.
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