Visualizing School Closures in Puerto Rico (2019)

The objective of this study was to utilize tools contained within the free and open source GIS stack to analyze school closure and performance data for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been embarking on an ambitious school closure program to consolidate teaching resources and has increased the number of schools closed dramatically in the 2018-2019 school year. Using a variety of spatial and non-spatial data sources, this study attempted to examine the trends in school closure patterns, identify potential inequities in the distribution of school closures, and develop a WebGIS to disseminate the information and data developed in this study. Users can toggle layers depicting 5 mile accessibility buffers for the open elementary, middle, and high schools, the major cities on the island, and Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) scores for each census tract. Users can also click on any school location to see that facilities status for the 2018-19 school year and additional information relating to that school.