Rising From Ashes: Visions Toward the Rebirth of a School District

• In Event: After the Locusts: Just Education Renewal for Black Communities After Racial-Capitalist Predation and State Dissolution

Abstract

This research provides new insights into the way a community experienced, navigated, and made meaning of school district closures, particularly for students with disabilities. Previous research on this topic has focused on students in general education programs, with little attention paid to students with disabilities.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand the essences of the lived experience of community members, special education teachers, and students with disabilities in the City of Inkster regarding the closure of a small urban school district and its impact on the community. Influenced by Lipman and her studies involving Chicago Public Schools, writings on neoliberalism, and its power to influence the trajectory and the fate of urban education spaces, I enhanced the conceptual framework for this study (critical race theory) to include school closures, a sense of belonging and the role neoliberalism plays to disrupt predominantly low income, urban communities. Six individuals, Mr. & Mrs. Redmond (community members), Ms. Darcy (special education teacher/administrator), Mr. Campbell (special education teacher), Chase (male student with disabilities), and Ella (female student with disabilities; pseudonyms), participated in the study. They participated in interviews with semi-structured questions related to their experiences before, during, and after the Inkster School District closure in 2013. These individuals were (and remain) personally traumatized by the dissolution of the school district by the State of Michigan in 2013. After analyzing the interview transcripts, several common experience patterns were identified consistently across the participants’ narratives. These patterns are categorized as community, school district, and student experiences. Their commentaries regarding the closing and the aftermath were traumatic for all participants, especially students with disabilities. The participants in the study described feelings of confusion, anxiety, fear, and abandonment due to the following: (a) lack of accurate and timely information provided during the closure process; (b) barriers to their ability to fully participate and have a voice throughout the closure process; (c) need for teachers to leave established careers and search for new jobs; and, (d) students with disabilities being forced from a supportive school environment and life-long friends to a new school environment where they struggled to “fit in.” These feelings have continued to fester and have contributed to the death of the community. The students with disabilities continue to struggle to gain a foothold to live independently in society today. Limitations of the study include the examination of one closed school district and the small number of participants. Opportunities for future study could include a replication of this study for the purposes of validation and a longitudinal study to investigate further the long-term impact of school district closures on students with disabilities.

Finally, this paper includes some remedies for the racial injustice experienced by the participants: a new school district, counseling center, job/technical skills training, civics and community building training, free preschool, supports to earn a high school diploma/community college credit, and staff retirement/experience status restored.

Author

• Paulette White, Wayne State University