Interim Superintendent Karen Molinar knows Fort Worth ISD needs to close schools.
She isn’t sure when or how many. However, she knows the district cannot keep stretching resources into too many classrooms with too few students.
“We’re trying to staff 140 buildings when we do not need that many buildings,” Molinar told the Fort Worth ISD Council of PTAs during its annual luncheon Feb. 11. “When we do consolidate, we’re going to be able to increase the resources for our students.”
The school board received its first look at a resident-led committee’s proposal outlining up to 25 school closures plus other building changes during a Feb. 11 workshop meeting. The proposal is still a draft and faces a long road before any of its 48 options for adjusting school buildings are formally recommended to the school board.
“This is difficult, I’ll be honest with you,” trustee Wallace Bridges said.
Proposed closings include:
- 14 to 21 elementary schools
- Up to three middle schools
- Up to one high school
“These are not recommendations. I cannot stress that enough,” Molinar said during the school board meeting.
Nearly all high school feeder patterns would be affected. Only the Benbrook Middle-High School feeder pattern would not see school closures, according to the proposal.
The options also outline potentially repurposing school buildings.
Trustee Kevin Lynch reminded trustees that they need to be mindful of their goal: rightsizing and saving money. Repurposing every closed school ultimately leaves Fort Worth ISD wasting dollars that otherwise could support students, he said.
Options are still fluid, consultant Tracy Richter told the school board. Any recommendations are at least five months away, and actual closures would be slowly rolled out over five years.
“You can’t do it overnight,” Richter said.
Why close schools?
The proposal is part of a larger effort to trim Fort Worth ISD’s building footprint to match its shrinking enrollment. The school board hired Hoar Program Management, or HPM, an Alabama-based firm, for almost $2.7 million to analyze building conditions and create a facilities master plan.
Trustees also formed a committee of more than 100 residents to infuse community voices into that master plan to guide the district as it matches the number of campuses to its shrinking enrollment.
Nearly 1 in 5 students have left Fort Worth ISD since its enrollment peak of 87,233 during the 2016-17 school year. Lower birth rates, fewer immigrants, demographic shifts and an aging population are fueling the enrollment drops.
Projections show enrollment further declining to 59,756 students by the 2033-34 school year. That is a loss of 27,477 between 2016 and 2033.
Ultimately, fewer students means fewer dollars from the state.
Striking a balance
No single data point can be used to determine which schools close, Richter said. No Goldilocks school capacity, enrollment or even location will lead to a school closing or remaining open.
The goal? Striking the right balance between enrollment, staffing and programming at a school, Richter said.
Finding that sweet spot allows the district to maximize its funding to best serve students. Right now, he said, many Fort Worth ISD schools are nowhere near that.
“Resources are spread too thin in this district,” Richter said.
Richter brought up De Zavala Elementary, often cited as one of the district’s higher-performing schools. Enrollment is under 300 students. Fewer than 300 children live within the school’s attendance boundary. Eventually, the neighborhood won’t be able to support the necessary enrollment to keep the campus open.
Two of the committee’s options called for the closure of De Zavala.
Trustee Quinton Phillips asked how the district should reconcile the possibility of closing a high-performing school.
“What I concern myself with are the schools that haven’t had a chance to perform,” Richter said.
Molinar reminded the board De Zavala Elementary wasn’t always a high-performing school. It was the teachers and campus leadership, and the systems they built for improvements, that transformed the school, not the building.
Fewer schools would allow Molinar to place the best people in schools, allowing them to boost campuses with a merged student body, she said.
Closing schools could translate into better academic performance, Richter told trustees in July.
Connecting academic priorities and school closures should be among the top considerations for the school board, a national school finance expert previously told the Fort Worth Report.
“What I see is we’re going to build programming and deliver staffing to create authentic student success,” trustee Tobi Jackson said.
Passion
More than three dozen parents, students and teachers from Westcliff Elementary sat in the rows in front of the school board. They wanted to tell trustees one thing: Don’t close their school.
“Our little school over there is a hidden gem,” Westcliff art teacher Kevin Wagoner said.
Wagoner understood the reality of the numbers presented in front of Fort Worth ISD’s leaders. Still, he and other Westcliff community members wanted trustees to look beyond the data.
“No one wants their school to be closed,” he said. “I just ask the board to take the figures and remember the spirit that you heard from us tonight.”
Molinar leaned into her microphone and looked at the Westcliff community members sitting in front of her. Being involved, she said, means showing up.
“Thank you. It shows you want your voice to be heard,” Molinar said.
The passion from Westcliff is what Richter wants to see as Fort Worth ISD decides which schools close. The community needs to be at the table, he said.
“What I get really nervous about is the absence of passion. When people don’t show up and fight, I get nervous,” he said.
The district plans to hold community meetings before recommending any closures to the school board.
Molinar emphasized the conversations will be about finding the best path forward for students — together.
Which schools could be affected?
The Fort Worth ISD school board heard a presentation outlining 48 options for potential school closures and building repurposing. The district is eyeing up to 25 closures. Here are the schools that could be affected:
| A.M. Pate Elementary | East Handley Elementary | Milton Kirkpatrick Elementary | South Hi Mount Elementary |
| Atwood McDonald Elementary | Edward Briscoe Elementary | Morningside Middle School | W.C. Stripling Middle School |
| Bill Elliott Elementary | Harlean Beal Elementary | Nathan Howell Elementary | Washington Heights Elementary |
| Bruce Shulkey Elementary | Hubbard Heights Elementary | North Hi Mount Elementary | Westcliff Elementary |
| Charles Nash Elementary | H.V. Helbing Elementary | Richard J. Wilson Elementary | Westcreek Elementary |
| Christene C. Moss Elementary | J.T. Stevens Elementary | Riverside Applied Learning Center | Western Hills High School |
| David K. Sellars Elementary | Leadership Academy Network at Maude Logan Elementary | S.S. Dillow Elementary | Western Hills Primary |
| De Zavala Elementary | Manuel Jara Elementary | Seminary Hills Park Elementary | West Handley Elementary |
| E.M. Daggett Middle School | McLean Sixth Grade | South Hi Mount Elementary | William Monnig Middle School |
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. 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.
