Lewisville ISD could close some of its elementary schools next year to save money.
The district outlined its plan at a work session Monday night.
“It’s a hard conversation to have,” trustee Staci Barker said.
Officials are targeting five schools for closure — B.B. Owen, Creekside, Garden Ridge, Highland Village and Polser — one from each high school feeder pattern.
Some Garden Ridge parents questioned why the school is being targeted for closure.
“The decline of enrollment isn’t happening at our campus,” Sarah Lynn Johnson said. “I think we need to be thinking about keeping the smaller schools and looking more into retiring the bigger building with bigger costs.”
Parent Kevin Forsberg called the school a “jewel” in the district’s crown.
“If we remove this jewel from LISD’s crown, there’s no putting it back,” he said. “I want to emphasize the permanence of the decision. You can’t unclose a school.”
Barker said it was important to make sure decisions were made across the district and didn’t impact some feeder patterns more than others.
“It would be inequitable and unfair to lay this burden at the feet of one feeder pattern because we’re seeing declining enrollment across all five,” she said.
In October the district said it was considering closing or consolidating as many as 20 campuses amid a budget shortfall and declining enrollment.
Superintendent Lori Rapp said LISD faces a budget deficit and the loss of about 10,000 students over the next decade. The district enrolled about 48,400 students last school year, according to Texas Education Agency data, down from more than 53,000 almost a decade ago.
School board members could take action on Monday.
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