Takeaways from our report on school closures in the US

The start of a new school year can be nerve-racking under any circumstances. But for thousands of students across the U.S., this academic year brought the added difficulty of adjusting to an entirely new school after their previous ones shuttered. As U.S. birth rates continue a multi-decade slide and state and federal education funding dries up, an increasing number of cash-strapped school districts around the country have resorted to closing campuses to save money. At the same time, new research shows student enrollment has fallen much faster than schools are closing, suggesting more painful financial choices lie ahead. AP is covering school closures in partnership with The Hechinger Report and Big Local News at Stanford University. These are some takeaways from their reporting. A total of 1,156 U.S. 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.

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