When a handful of parents arrived at Edgewood Elementary Thursday night, they thought their school’s closure was a done deal.

But as the 30 or so people gathered at the school in Northwest Baltimore’s Mount Holly neighborhood soon learned, it’s still an “if,” not a “when.”

Edgewood is one of three Baltimore City Public Schools recommended to close at the end of the school year, and the only one that’s not a charter school. It’s Baltimore’s smallest elementary school, with just 134 kids enrolled this year. And some of its families are ready to defend it.

Parents said their kids didn’t thrive until they started attending. They questioned why one of the other two schools in the area couldn’t be closed instead. They’re concerned the walk to another school will be more dangerous for their children.

“The streets don’t care how far the school is when these kids are walking down the street,” said Larry Timmons, a grandfather of two Edgewood students. “These streets are rough.”

The school system is recommending Edgewood close and combine with Gwynns Falls Elementary School and Windsor Hills Elementary/Middle School, with most kids getting funneled into Gwynns Falls. Both schools are within a mile of students zoned for Edgewood.

The reasoning is simple: Edgewood’s enrollment has been declining for over 15 years. Since the 2014 school year, the school has enrolled fewer than 300 kids, which is what the district considers a healthy size for an elementary school.

For several years, Edgewood has needed supplemental funding from the district.

“When schools are this small, principals must make tough decisions just to be able to offer the basics and are not able to offer rich and robust school programming that students deserve and have access to in schools of larger sizes,” the district said in Thursday’s presentation.

Despite its size, students have performed well on the state’s last annual English exams, and the school has a 3-star rating from the Maryland Report Card. Angela Alvarez, senior executive director of the district’s Office of New Initiatives, said she thinks the skill of Edgewood’s staff, not its small size, is what’s boosting the school’s academics. The district is pushing to bring those teachers to Gwynns Falls, should Edgewood close.

“Sometimes when we’re combining, we’re passive and we’re like, ‘We hope you come,’” Alvarez said. “In this one, we want to actually build the budget with the two school leaders, so that we really are more able to pull the staff together.”

Alvarez said Gwynns Falls’ building is larger and in better shape than Edgewood’s. Enrollment at Gwynns Falls is expected to climb to 309 from about 202 students if the school combination goes through.

While parents were concerned their children’s class sizes would balloon, Alvarez said when schools are small, they often can’t afford to hire more teachers, so classes get larger instead of smaller. And if the board approves Edgewood’s closure, Gwynns Falls and Windsor Hills would jump to the top of the district’s priority list for things like building upgrades because of the disruption school closures cause, Alvarez added.

“We’re doing this because we’re trying to do something better for kids,” Alvarez said. “We’re actually trying to strengthen schools for students.”

Alvarez encouraged community members to tell the city’s school board how they feel ahead of its final decision Jan. 14. Two other schools, Creative City Public Charter School and Southwest Baltimore Charter School, may also shutter.

There are two virtual public comment sessions scheduled for Dec. 12 and Jan. 9. The board will hear from as many people as possible in two-hour windows starting at 5:30 p.m.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.