LOCALIZE IT: School closures are ticking up nationwide, but is it enough to save district finances?

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

Districts are facing enormous financial pressure from all sides as they grapple with both increased expenses and declining enrollment. Schools with fewer students typically get less funding, even as many costs stay the same, making it difficult for them to offer the same range of classes and extracurricular experiences as larger schools.

As a result, an increasing number of cash-strapped school districts around the country have resorted to closing campuses to save money. Over 1,100 schools closed last school year, according to preliminary federal data, the highest number since the pandemic. At the same time, the scale of school closures is still far smaller than the rate of overall student enrollment loss – suggesting that more painful financial choices for schools still lie ahead.

Reporters from the Associated Press, Big Local News at Stanford University and the Hechinger Report teamed up to analyze public school closures across the U.S. We offer a wealth of localizable data for reporters at the national, state and district level, showing the change over time in school closure rates, total number of schools, average school sizes, student-teacher ratios, enrollment and number of teachers. We also compare closure rates in urban versus rural areas. Find publishable lines below for states with the highest number of school closures, as well as for those with the biggest change in school size and student-teacher ratios.

WHY SCHOOL CLOSURES MATTER

When a school closes, the effects reach beyond the building.

Studies suggest that students who go through a closure can fall behind even well past graduation . In some cases, students in schools that were not closed but received displaced students do worse as a result. Students of color and students from low-income families are also disproportionately affected , reducing their access to important educational and community resources. Additionally, while closures are often meant or expected to save money, they do not, on average, improve a district’s financial standing. A school closure may also disrupt students’ relationships and identity development , and the community’s social cohesion.

This guide includes nationwide data for reporters to see where schools are closing in their own states and districts. Our analysis can’t explain why a school closed, which schools are more likely than others to close or what happened to students affected by a closure. But the data can point reporters to where they can start asking these questions.

READ AP’S LATEST COVERAGE

School closures are accelerating in US, but more financial pain lies ahead

Takeaways from AP’s report on school closures in the US

— — — Districts around the US are mulling school closures as student enrollment falls

KEY TAKEAWAYS

— A total of 1,156 schools closed during the last academic year, the highest number since the pandemic, according to an analysis of federal data by Big Local News at Stanford University. The yearly school closure rate fell sharply during the pandemic, dropping from 1.21% in the 2019-20 academic year to 0.83% in 2021-22. For each year since then, the rate has steadily risen, reaching 1.15% in 2025-26.

— At the same time, student enrollment tumbled at a far greater rate than the rate at which schools closed, according to a separate analysis of federal data by Stanford education researchers Tom Dee and Jaymes Pyne. Enrollment in public schools fell by over 1.4 million students, roughly 3 percent, between fall 2019 and fall 2024, while the number of teachers grew slightly. For 1 in 4 schools, enrollment has dropped 15% or more since fall 2019.

— As a result, the average student-teacher ratio nationwide fell from 16 to 15.3, and average enrollment fell from 556 students per school to just 538 — the equivalent of each school losing one classroom full of students.

— Cities had the highest school closure rate in the 2025-26 school year, at 1.48%, the Big Local News analysis found, followed by towns at 1.23%. Both outpaced the national rate of 1.15%. In contrast, closure rates in rural areas (1.04%) and suburbs (0.94%) were below the national rate.

VIEW THE DATA: SCHOOL CLOSURE RATES, SCHOOL SIZES AND STUDENT-TEACHER RATIOS

The data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and Education and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) files. Reporter Cherry Salazar of Big Local News calculated school closure rates for 11 school years, from 2015-16 through 2025-26, by counting how many schools, including charter and alternative schools, were reported as newly opened or closed in every school district. (Note that the 2025-26 data is preliminary and subject to change.)

The data on school closures may be disaggregated to four locale classifications (city, suburban, town, and rural). These are geographic indicators as defined by the NCES based on a school or a district location’s population size and proximity to urban areas.

In addition, the AP worked with Stanford education researchers Tom Dee and Jaymes Pyne to calculate average school sizes and student-teacher ratios by state, up to school year 2024-25. While based on the same federal data as above, Dee’s analysis differs from Big Local News’ school closure analysis in a few ways:

— It doesn’t include data from the 2025-26 year because the federal government has not yet released student enrollment data for that time period.

— It does not include Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee in the student-teacher ratios section due to data quality issues in how these states counted the number of teachers.

— It only includes regular traditional public and charter schools, excluding alternative, special education and vocational schools.

Find the school closure data here and data on student-teacher ratios and average school sizes here .

Find Tom Dee’s study here .

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PUBLISHABLE LINES:

Top 10 states with the highest average annual school closure rates since 2019

— North Dakota had the highest average closure rate, with an average of 2.7% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Minnesota had the second-highest average closure rate, with an average of 2.25% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Louisiana had the third-highest average closure rate, with an average of 2.14% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Mississippi had the fourth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.59% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— South Dakota and Ohio had the fifth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.55% of each state’s schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Arkansas had the sixth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.51% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Maine had the seventh-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.45% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Florida and West Virginia had the eighth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.35% of each state’s schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Tennessee had the ninth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.3% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

— Texas had the tenth-highest average closure rate, with an average of 1.28% of its schools closing annually between the 2019-20 and 2025-26 school years.

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Top 10 states with the biggest changes in average school size from fall 2019 to fall 2024:

— Nevada had the largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 746 students per school in fall 2019 to 676 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 70 students per school on average.

— Hawaii had the second-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 622 students per school in fall 2019 to 568 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 54 students per school on average.

— Minnesota had the third-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 500 students per school in fall 2019 to 460 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 40 students per school on average.

— Oregon had the fourth-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 468 students per school in fall 2019 to 429 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 39 students per school on average.

— Arizona had the fifth-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 607 students per school in fall 2019 to 569 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 38 students per school on average.

— Washington had the sixth-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 541 students per school in fall 2019 to 505 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 36 students per school on average.

— New York had the seventh-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 561 students per school in fall 2019 to 526 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 35 students per school on average.

— Kentucky had the eight-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 561 students per school in fall 2019 to 529 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 32 students per school.

— California had the ninth-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 667 students per school in fall 2019 to 636 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 31 students per school on average.

— New Hampshire had the tenth-largest decline in average school size among states, falling from 356 students per school in fall 2019 to 326 in fall 2024. That’s a drop of 30 students per school on average.

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Top 10 states (including D.C.) with the biggest changes in student-teacher ratios from fall 2019 to fall 2024:

— New Mexico saw the biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 15.2 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 13.3 in fall 2024.

— Oregon saw the second-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 19.9 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 18.2 in fall 2024.

— Indiana saw the third-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 17 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 15.4 in fall 2024.

— Mississippi saw the fourth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 15.4 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 14.0 in fall 2024.

— Utah saw the fifth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 23.1 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 21.7 in fall 2024.

— Michigan saw the sixth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 18.1 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 16.9 in fall 2024.

— Minnesota saw the seventh-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states, going from 16.5 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 15.3 in fall 2024.

— The District of Columbia saw the eighth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states and D.C., going from 12.1 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 10.9 in fall 2024.

— Hawaii saw the ninth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states and D.C., going from 15.3 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 14.2 in fall 2024.

— Illinois saw the ninth-biggest drop in average student-teacher ratios among states and D.C., going from 14.7 students per teacher in fall 2019 to 13.6 in fall 2024.

REPORTING QUESTIONS:

— How many schools in your district have closed in the past several years? What kinds of neighborhoods and students were most affected? What impact does that have on local children, families, teachers, the community and the economy?

— Did a closure or closures allow your district to save money or offer more resources — such as Advanced Placement classes or arts and sports — in the remaining schools?

— How are schools selected for closure, and who had a say in that decision?

— What supports do districts and receiving schools provide to students whose schools have closed? Does your city offer any special resources or benefits to those students? For example, Philadelphia has promised extra “white glove” support to students who are entering a new school. In New Orleans, which is an all-charter district, students from closed schools get priority in the lottery to get into their top choice for a new school.

— How do the new schools that students attend differ from their old schools? For example, if your state gives letter grades to schools based on performance, are students whose schools closed switching to schools with higher or lower grades on average? Do their new schools have more course offerings, staff, special education resources, language services and/or extracurriculars?

— What are the impacts on schools that didn’t close, but are absorbing new students? What do kids think about their new classmates?

— What are the impacts if a district chooses not to close a school? For example, will they be forced to cut other programs instead, or reduce staff? What alternatives did the district pursue to avoid closures? What strategies did it employ to recruit or retain students and stymie enrollment loss?

— In neighborhoods where a school has closed or is closing, how do people feel about the loss of the school and an empty campus nearby? Have local officials talked about how the property may be used or will it remain vacant? Some districts have to continue maintaining the empty properties while they figure out how to sell, lease, or repurpose them. Ask the district about estimated or current costs for building maintenance and other upkeep for the closed school.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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Localize It is a reporting resource produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Jennifer Lehman at jlehman@ap.org .