The Case for Schools That Don't Close.

Not so long ago it was easy to kick off a spirited argument among educators by asserting that public schools could not be effective without structured collaboration between school and community. Many school leaders would not buy it.

Fortunately, the evidence is now clear that linkages between the home, school and community go hand in hand with improving student achievement. And one can't escape noticing that educational and political leaders are advocating various types of collaboration for schools.

The U.S. Department of Education's new initiative is called "Family Involvement: Partnerships for Learning." The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has issued The Basic School: A Community for Learning, urging public schools to develop "exceptionally strong ties" to parents and neighborhood leaders. As its Vice President Michael Timpane says, "School leadership must be at the head of this parade. ... It may mean giving up ownership of facilities or at least sharing them more widely."

Politicians, including President Clinton, are making a case for keeping school buildings open for community use after school, on weekends and in the summer. What they're calling for, in other words, are community schools.

The most recent reaffirmation of benefits to be derived from community schools came just three months ago when the president announced his 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative. He has proposed $5 billion in funding over five years to integrate learning into before- and after-school programs and to expand access to quality expanded learning opportunities. "We want schools to serve the public not just during school hours but after hours, to function as vital community centers. ... [They] should not only teach our children during the day, but bring together families and neighbors in the evening as community schools."

Gathering Spots

The community schools concept is a simple one. Since learning is lifelong, public schools should be learning centers for the entire community. Community schools become places where people of all ages gather voluntarily to learn, enjoy themselves and become involved in community problem solving. They invite community members to be both learners and teachers and, through formal advisory councils, help the schools improve the instructional program through increased family and community involvement and support.

The Dade County, Fla., Public Schools, fourth largest district in the country with more than 333,000 students, is banking on the community school approach to improve academic achievement. In 1996, Dade County designated 69 schools as community schools. This year the district is beginning to restructure all its schools into neighborhood learning centers.

Dade Superintendent Roger Cuevas, in his opening of schools address to administrators last fall, asked for their help in "making our school the town squares of our community--gathering places for all people of all ages and all walks of life at all times ... provid[ing] much more than education." He added: "A move to neighborhood learning centers is not only logical, it is vital. ... [It] means saying goodbye, for good, to school-based management, and hello to a new era of true consensus building and community-based management."

Dade County is not alone. In Arlington Heights, Ill., the community schools program has grown in 10 years from about 9,000 participants in continuing education programs to almost 60,000 adults of all ages involved in a variety of programs and activities, including 70 school-community partnerships. In Bayonne, N.J., the community schools program opened up computer labs and school gyms, plus a swimming pool, running track and ice arena for year-round community use. The program also runs an adult high school, which operates during evening hours and awards state-recognized high school diplomas.

Cost Versus Benefit

The question of how much a community schools program costs to start and operate is essential to any honest discussion, whatever the merits. Obviously it costs more to keep the electricity on an extra 10 or 12 hours a day and to run the heat or air conditioning for 18 hours instead of seven. Basketball, whether at 6 o'clock or midnight, is hard on outdoor courts and gym floors, even if everyone wears regulation shoes. And a community school program needs staffing to run smoothly and safely.

Cost sharing is one option. The mayor and city council of Birmingham, Ala., pay for two-thirds of the cost of the community's 26-year-old community schools program with the board of education picking up the other third. In Sr. Louis Park, Minn., the city and school district share the cost. In Gloucester County, Va., a community education department functions as part of county government in cooperation with the public school system.

But the real question is whether the extra dollars and effort required to create and maintain a community school are worth it. A growing number of school administrators are answering with a resounding yes. That's because the long history of community schools shows they are a proven vehicle for increasing public understanding of educational issues, for gaining family and community involvement in and support for public education and for creating a learning environment where students of all ages succeed academically.

Larry Decker is the C.S. Molt Professor, an endowed choir in community education, at Florida Atlantic University, P.O. Box 3091, Boca Raton, Fla. 33431.0991. E-mail: [e-mail]. He is the author of two AASA books, flame/School/Community Involvement and Getting Parents Involved in Their Children's Education.