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Parents say Future Ready outreach excluded non-English speakers and risks closing high-performing McKinley High
Summary
Multiple parents and community advocates told the committee the district's timeline and outreach for the Future Ready plan excluded many families (no ASL, limited non-English materials) and that McKinley High School — cited as a top-ranked, diverse school — is threatened by proposed closures.
Parents and community advocates urged the Health and Human Development Committee to press St. Louis Public Schools for more inclusive outreach and a slower timeline before closing neighborhood schools.
Rev. Dr. Theresa Danley, a Ward 6 parent, said she had attended multiple SLPS community meetings and saw some movement, but that the process remained "confusing, arbitrary, rushed and also exclusive." She told the committee many families at Mann Elementary speak more than 20 home languages and that she has "seen nothing in this process...in languages other than English" and no ASL interpretation.
Danley also raised McKinley High School as an example of a high-performing neighborhood institution she fears would be closed prematurely: "McKinley High School...is one of consistently one of the top 20 high schools in the state and one of the top 2,000 in the country," she said, questioning why a model neighborhood high school would be shuttered before replacement schools are built. The petition Danley referenced had, she said, more than 250 family signatures.
Committee members acknowledged concerns about timing and accessibility and discussed hosting additional evening or in-person joint sessions with SLPS to reach families who cannot attend summer meetings.
