Three schools in the financially struggling Camden City (N.J.) district will shut down at the end of the school year in June.
NJ.com reports that the district has been considering closure of four schools as part of a cost-saving measure, but it now has decided the 101-year-old Yorkship Family School will remain open.
The schools set to close: Sharp Elementary, Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School and Cramer Elementary.
Superintendent Katrina McCombs needed approval from the state to carry out the closures. McCombs says the closures are part of an effort to close an estimated $40 million budget gap.
The district had been projecting a $40 million deficit in the next fiscal year; however, an additional $13.4 million in state aid announced this week will enable Camden to keep Yorkship open. McCombs says Yorkship was spared from closing because it is the only school in its neighborhood.
Enrollment in district-run schools has declined by nearly 60% since 2013, from 15,161 to just over 6,000.
In addition to the building closures, McCombs says up to 75 positions may be eliminated.
