Springfield, Mo. – Residents of the Rountree neighborhood are banding together to protect their century‑old elementary school from possible closure under Springfield Public Schools’ new Facility Master Plan. The plan, which reviews more than 50 district buildings, projects enrollment dropping to roughly 19,000 students by 2035, prompting consultants to consider consolidating campuses.

Community roots run deep

Longtime locals say Rountree Elementary is more than a school; it is the heart of their community. Jessica Bergeon, who moved to the area three and a half years ago, chose a downtown loft and a short walk to the school for her children. “We looked at the school district or the school, and it just felt like home,” she said.

For residents like Julie Blackmon, who has lived in Rountree for over 50 years, the threat of closure feels familiar. Her parents fought similar consolidation efforts in the 1980s. “We’ve seen this before. This ain’t our first rodeo,” Blackmon said. “There’s so much that could be done and looked at in terms of renovating it.”

Peggy Wise, co‑chair of the Rountree Neighborhood Association, highlighted the school’s role as a gathering place. “It is a focal point of the neighborhood. We don’t have a park here, so it pretty much serves that function,” Wise explained. “Parents enjoy the community of the walk to school and back.”

Calls for renovation, not replacement

Laurel Bryant, co‑vice chair of the association and a 33‑year resident, argued that renovating the school would be more cost‑effective than building a new facility and bussing students elsewhere. “The bottom line is the school needs renovation. The school needs an elevator. I think it’s cheaper to potentially build those things than it is to build a new school and to bus our kids out,” she said.

Springfield Public Schools’ Chief Communications Officer Stephen Hall noted that the district currently has enough seats for 30,000 students, but declining birth rates have created excess capacity. “We have much more space than is needed and much of the space that we have is not efficient for today’s learning environment,” Hall said. “We have to figure out how to be more efficient with the resources that we have.”

Hall explained that small, under‑enrolled buildings can strain staffing and limit consistent access to specialty teachers for PE, art, music, and other programs. Consolidation, he said, could allow the district to upgrade facilities and provide a “trade‑up” for students and staff.

Past consolidations and future decisions

SPS has already consolidated several elementary schools, including Robberson, Campbell, and Sherwood, citing enrollment trends and facility conditions. Hall emphasized that any recommendation would aim to improve infrastructure, not simply cut costs. “If we experience a recommendation for a consolidation of schools, we expect that recommendation will mean we’re going to take two schools that many times have a lot of infrastructure needs, the facilities are not great, and we’re going to build one school that is a brand new facility that provides great services for the students and staff,” he said.

He also stressed that no final decisions have been made and that the district is acting proactively rather than in crisis mode. “We’re not in an emergency situation, which is a great opportunity for us to make strategic choices that really help us recreate, reimagine our district over the coming decades,” Hall added.

Grassroots action

In response, Rountree residents have distributed hundreds of yard signs and gathered more than 800 petition signatures demanding renovation instead of closure. “We want to keep our neighborhood school, and we’d like to keep some discussions open with the school district to help work through the issues that they have,” Wise said. “When we put more minds together, you end up with better solutions, more ideas.”

District consultants are slated to present their findings to the school board at an open meeting on Dec. 15, launching a months‑long review process before any official votes occur.

Original reporting: KY3 Springfield (local) — read the source article.