James Lemuel Thesis

James Lemuel Thesis

An undergraduate thesis from April 25, 2023 - "In 2019, the Austin Independent School District voted to close four elementary schools. The decision had already come under fire from local community members following its announcement. While the district spoke of declining enrollment and increasing educational costs as the driving force behind the closures, families and staff at the closing schools spoke of community and shared history as some of the main reasons for being against the closure. This study examines both these claims to compare how district officials and school community members employ different value systems and metrics to evaluate schools, using Metz Elementary, one of the four closed schools, and Sanchez Elementary, the school that Metz was consolidated into, as a case study. I conducted interviews with former Metz teachers and other community members to build my findings.

First, I explore how Austin ISD justified the closures, focusing on their use of quantitative and financial metrics to manufacture the necessity for school closure. Then, using my interview findings, I examine how school community members develop very different views of schools, rooted in social and physical aspects, that inform their own responses to school closure. I end with a brief discussion on the racial implications of Metz’s closure and a look to the future of Sanchez Elementary" (Lemuel).