Closed Schools, Open Minds

Hudson Valley’s School Enrollment Dilemma and Opportunities for Adaptive Reuse

A unique set of demographic, economic and policy changes have forced public school leaders in the Hudson Valley to make deep budget cuts that were practically unthinkable a decade ago. Teachers, programs and transportation have all been cut over the past four years as school boards battled the Great Recession by shrinking their budgets to meet a new economic and political climate that demands a lesser burden on property tax payers.

The decision to close school buildings has perhaps been one of the most difficult, but school leaders are increasingly looking at facility closure as they exhaust other cost-saving options.