Baltimore closed at least 30 schools in 10 years. More people are asking if that makes sense.

A few minutes’ walk away from Kristian Herbert’s home on South Stricker Street in Southwest Baltimore, a vacant house caught fire in 2022, killing three city firefighters. A few minutes to the west, the area’s lone full-service grocery store closed at the end of last year. It’s been a tough stretch for Herbert, a mother of three small children who moved to Baltimore a few years ago. In April, her uncle was shot and killed in nearby Washington, D.C. And a few weeks later, her kids’ school, Steuart Hill Academic Academy, closed its doors for good. She plans on homeschooling Zai’Vion, 8, and Zurii, 7, this upcoming school year.