Franklin has redistricted and closed schools, other communities are facing the same issues.
"As student enrollment drops across Massachusetts and expenses rise, districts are showing a willingness to take on one of the most polarizing issues in public education: closing or merging schools.The downsizing has popped up in a wide variety of urban, rural, and suburban districts, including Acton-Boxborough and Belchertown in Hampshire County, which are both shuttering an elementary school in June. Boston is also closing three schools this summer as it strives to eliminate nearly one-fifth of its schools.The impending shutdowns — a trend that is expected to continue in the coming years — add to more than three dozen public schools that have closed or consolidated since the pandemic disrupted classroom learning. That list includes shuttered elementary schools in Cambridge, North Middlesex, and Wellesley, and the closure or merger of several charter schools.District leaders have pursued the closures and mergers to balance operating budgets amid declining enrollment and rising costs for special education, transportation, utilities, and other expenses, or to curb spending on replacing antiquated school buildings as construction costs have soared."
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