Superintendent flags possible closure of Brendan Rodgers as part of budget cuts; parents, teachers urge board to keep school open

Superintendent María Negrón on Monday presented a revised budget-mitigation plan that would keep the district on track to balance its books but would put the Katherine Brendan (Brendan) Rodgers K-8 school on a list of possible closures if additional revenue is not secured.

The recommendation, which Negrón described as a last-resort option after weeks of searching for savings, comes after the district's projected deficit fell from about $23.2 million to roughly $14.6 million because of new city and state commitments and grant awards. Negrón said further reductions and restructuring choices could reduce the remaining gap to about $6 million; closing the school would account for about $2.2 million of that amount, leaving roughly $3.8 million still to be addressed.

Why it matters: Parents, teachers and community groups said Brendan Rodgers is more than a building and warned that shuttering the neighborhood school would disrupt 132 students currently enrolled for next year, increase transportation burdens, and remove local after-school and family-resource services that residents said are essential to stability and children's…