Fall 2001
Small, Neighborhood Schools: A Community Asset Worth Keeping
We are gradually losing our small, walkable, neighborhood
schools. Policies today encourage or even require that schools be
big because of economies of scale. Unfortunately, these larger schools
are often more dangerous, have lower performance and parent participation
rates, and contribute to suburban sprawl.
Smaller schools have less crime
While US Secretary of Education, Richard Riley
performed a survey of school security experts to identify methods
to reduce crime and violence in the nation’s schools. The results
were surprising. Rather than gun control or police on the premises,
the experts argued for reducing the size of the nation’s schools.
The research revealed that, compared to schools of fewer than 300
students, facilities of over 1,000 students have 825% more violent
crime, 270% more vandalism, 394% more fights and assaults, and 1,000%
more weapons incidents.
Students perform better in smaller schools
Smaller schools do have higher per pupil costs.
However, students perform better in small schools — they have
higher attendance rates and are more likely to graduate. The impact
of poverty on school performance is significantly reduced when kids
attend small schools.
A recent review of the literature concluded the
relationship between size and positive education outcomes has been
"confirmed with a clarity and at a level of confidence rare
in the annals of education research."
Studies have also shown that parents are more likely
to volunteer at smaller schools — in part because these schools
are closer to their homes.
While smaller schools cost more per pupil, if one factors in their
much higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates, they cost
less per graduate. However, the increased societal costs of big
schools are really startling. In addition to increased crime rates,
there are serious health impacts.
Neighborhood schools grow healthier children
Research suggests that larger schools deter children
from walking to school. There was a time when most children walked
to school; now the number who walk or bike has fallen to less than
10%. In South Carolina, the average size of new schools has increased
over 30% since 1970 and by 80% since 1940. Children who attend schools
built before 1983 are four times more likely to walk than those
who attend newer, larger, more remote schools.
Similarly, a US EPA researcher found that 69% of
fifth graders walk to school when the school is within a half mile
of most students’ homes and housing densities are 5 units per
acre. In neighborhoods where less than 20% of the students live
within a half mile of schools and houses are on lots larger than
a half acre, only 13% walk or bike to school.
Identified by the Surgeon General as a "major
epidemic," an alarming 78% of our children are suffering a
health risk due to lack of exercise. Inadequate physical activity
is leading to chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and
high blood pressure.
Bakersfield offers a model
 As
a school superintendent in Kern County, Kelley Blanton resisted
building a large, new school on the outskirts of Bakersfield. Instead,
he brought a new, smaller school downtown that was within walking
distance of older neighborhoods (photo above). He called this move
a "twofer" because bringing the school downtown allowed
the children of city center workers and adjacent neighborhood residents
to be near their parents while, at the same time, helping to bring
new activity to a declining city center. The result: downtown businesses
have adopted classrooms, parents are more involved, and student
achievement levels in the downtown school outpace that of any other
school in the city.
A national forum in January 2002
A national smart growth conference (hosted by the
LGC and Penn State University) in San Diego on January 24-26 will
devote a plenary session and two breakouts to the school size issue.
The conference’s major funders — the California State
Department of Transportation, the US EPA, the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, the National Association of Realtors, and others —
each believe that smaller, more walkable schools are a vital community
asset that help fulfill their agency or organization’s mission.
For more information, contact Bismarck Obando, events@lgc.org.
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