The Plano Independent School District may close certain schools and restructure others as student enrollment continues to decline and school buildings age and deteriorate, administrators said Monday night.
District leaders shared their Long Range Facility Planning roadmap during a public meeting at Jasper High School, and walked parents and community members through the results of a study approved by PISD's board of trustees in May.
The data compiled by demographers shows district enrollment dropped by more than 6,000 students over the past 12 years, and several elementary, middle and high school campuses are operating well under their actual capacity, costing the district more money per student.
"At the end of the day, we want to do what's best for our students," Deputy Superintendent for Business and Employee Services Johnny Hill told the gathered crowd Monday night. "We feel like we can do that if we're as efficient as we can with our resources. We want to maximize what we can put into our students, into our staff."
It's likely fewer families are coming to the district because of the high cost of homes in Plano, Hill said. The study estimates the cost of a home averages about $584,000 on average, with birth rates on the decline.
Other possible contributing factors to falling enrollment include more high school seniors graduating than kindergartners entering the school district and the growth and lure of school districts north of Plano such as McKinney, Anna and Melissa — many of which, Hill said, have cheaper housing costs than Plano.
Researchers also found 14 of the district’s 44 elementary school buildings are at least 45 years old, another logistical issue that reduces campus efficiency and costs the district more money in the long run.
"We need to be very careful when we go out and ask our voters for our taxpayers for additional bond monies that we're being as efficient as we can," Hill said, referencing the more than $1.3 billion the school district received in bond money last year.
According to the plan’s timeline, PISD could begin letting students and families know which schools would be closed or consolidated as early as July 2024 so they can plan accordingly. But Hill reiterated it's up to trustees, who are elected officials, to make the final decisions.
Monday's meeting was the first of six community meetings planned at a different Plano ISD school once a month through April. Despite an opportunity for parents to share feedback with officials, some still walked away with concerns about the future of their children's schools.
Barbara Eaton has two young kids, one of whom is a second grader at Hughston Elementary. Though she said she appreciates the district's efforts to be transparent about the upcoming changes, Eaton still worries about student-to-teacher ratios if shuttering some schools forces higher enrollment at others, as well as her neighborhood's home values.
"Closing or retiring an elementary, it's not only going to affect the house, but the family," Eaton said. "And then also, what's going to happen to that empty space?"
She and Sarah Welch, another Hughston Elementary parent, also said they worry about letting go of the tight-knit community they've built within the school and neighborhood, which enrolls 372 students, according to the district's website.
"We don't even have carpool pickup. Like, we all just gather and everyone is like a family," Welch said. "Everyone knows all the moms and dads, all the kids. We could save our school with love if it was possible."
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