By 2028, Fort Worth ISD will no longer operate standalone sixth grade centers.
Fort Worth ISD’s last standalone campus — McLean 6th Grade — will soon be closed as part of the district’s consolidation plan approved at the board’s Aug. 27 meeting.
During that meeting, the board voted unanimously to consolidate McLean 6th Grade Center with a renovated McLean Middle School, closing the sixth grade campus before the 2028-29 school year and ending the district’s practice of operating standalone campuses.
Earlier this year, the district also closed Wedgwood Sixth Grade and Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, consolidating those schools’ students to nearby middle schools.
While Forest Oak Sixth Grade was closed after it failed to meet state requirements, Wedgwood Sixth Grade faced declining enrollment and increased operating costs. McLean 6th Grade’s fate was determined after a similar set of circumstances as Wedgwood, according to the district.
“Combining schools would allow the district to address the inequitable distribution of resources among schools and create improved opportunities for all students,” district documents said.
Enrollment at both McLean campuses has steadily declined since the 2018-19 school year, according to the district. During the 2023-24 school year, the two campuses served 1,195 students, declining 24% since their combined peak of 1,580. The two schools are projected to enroll 1,110 combined students by the 2027-28 school year, according to the district.
While the closure of Wedgwood Sixth Grade raised concerns from neighborhood associations and confusion from parents, that has not been the case during recent discussions about McLean 6th Grade, campus PTA President Maida Glasgow told the Report. Parents’ largest concern surrounds how sixth-grade students will mesh with seventh- and eighth-grade students, she said, which she’s confident will be ironed out in further discussions with the district.
The lack of public outcry is a stark contrast from earlier this year, when the district’s original plans included the closure of Daggett Middle School and a larger-scale consolidation that would have moved three schools into one campus. While Daggett families were concerned about transportation to a school 3 miles away from their former campus, McLean families were worried about the quality of education that would come out of a school with more than 1,500 students.
District officials, who pulled that proposal in May and decided to keep Daggett Middle School in operation alongside a consolidated, renovated McLean campus, said they engaged with both communities to make a decision.
“This is about all of the families and the children and the community members,” trustee Anne Darr previously told the Report. “This is for 40, 50 years down the line. … I’m listening to the community.”
Those discussions were critical in making a decision that best serves those west Fort Worth neighborhoods and the city, Mayor Mattie Parker said at a press conference during the district’s Aug. 27 meeting.
Parker, whose daughter attended McLean 6th Grade and McLean Middle School, said she understands why the district is consolidating. Still, communication with community members has to be the main focus in any future decisions regarding closures and consolidations, she said.
“They’re the ones whose families are most affected by that decision,” Parker said. “I think that’s true across the district, for any facility consolidation. That seems to be lacking, especially from the Kirkpatrick Middle School parents that were here tonight.”
In April, around the same time the district began discussions regarding the potential closure of Daggett Middle School, district officials hosted community meetings at J.P. Elder Middle School and William James Middle School, telling parents and community members that the district is also considering closing William James and Kirkpatrick middle schools due to rising operating costs and declining enrollment at those campuses.
Similar to the proposed plan that would have consolidated Daggett Middle School with the McLean campuses, William James Middle School would consolidate with Morningside Middle School, while students at Kirkpatrick Middle School would move to J.P. Elder Middle School.
Final decisions on those campus closures and consolidations are still up in the air. During two early August meetings between the board’s facilities committee, members discussed the timeline for further board discussion.
“Opportunities for consolidation within the Polytechnic and North Side pyramids will be revisited in the month of September,” the district’s board committee report states.
During the public comment portion of the Aug. 27 meeting, six community members associated with Kirkpatrick Middle School spoke out about the potential consolidation, claiming it would further harm academic outcomes and that it goes against what voters approved in 2021.
That year, Fort Worth ISD voters approved a $1.2 billion bond listing renovations or additions to 18 middle schools across the district, including Kirkpatrick, J.P. Elder, Morningside and William James middle schools.
Likewise, voters also approved the separate renovations of McLean 6th Grade Center and McLean Middle School. But, the district continued to switch gears when the results of a $2 million master facilities plan revealed that Fort Worth ISD middle schools face $130 million in deferred maintenance needs, with nearly half categorized in poor condition.
As construction costs are impacted by inflation, so too is the district’s ability to address each project on each campus, district officials have said. There is no funding available to address every pain point identified by the plan at each campus, making consolidation at some more cost-efficient, according to the facilities master plan.
Initial 2021 bond plans budgeted $27.2 million to renovate McLean 6th Grade Center and $46.5 million to renovate McLean Middle School.
Now, the McLean consolidation plan involves a transfer of funds originally allocated for those renovations to support the new, expanded McLean Middle School. Approximately $73.7 million will be allocated to the McLean consolidation project, which includes addressing facility needs, like band and theater halls, and enhancing educational environments, according to the revised budget.
Trustee — and McLean dad — Kevin Lynch supports the closure and consolidation. Lynch has two kids who went through McLean, one current student and two more who plan to attend, he said during the board meeting.
“I do think that this goes a long way to addressing some of the things that need to be addressed at those campuses,” Lynch said.
Plans for the McLean 6th Grade building itself remain unclear. The campus building — then known as Bluebonnet Elementary — was designed by prominent Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick, who also designed the U.S. Post Office on Lancaster Avenue, the Will Rogers Auditorium and the T&P Station, among other Fort Worth ISD schools.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.