FWISD recommends closing 2 schools, rebuilding another to reshape Northside campuses

Fort Worth’s Northside could get a brand new school by 2029, but only if two campuses close and another is torn down.

The proposal, which Fort Worth ISD leaders shared with parents during an April 15 community meeting at North Side High School, calls for the closures of Kirkpatrick Elementary and Kirkpatrick Middle School and the partial demolition of J.P. Elder Middle School. A new campus would be built in its place.

The recommendation — part of the district’s $2 million facilities master plan — will go before the school board in May. In 2024, trustees pulled a similar consolidation proposal between the two middle schools to allow more time for community feedback, after families raised concerns about transportation and the loss of neighborhood schools.

If approved, Kirkpatrick Elementary would close at the end of the 2025-26 school year. Students would be rezoned to Washington Heights and Dolores Huerta elementary schools.

District leaders say the proposed consolidation is driven by declining enrollment and aging facilities. Kellie Spencer, the district’s deputy superintendent of operations, told parents the recommendation reflects years of planning, community meetings and infrastructure assessments across the district.

Nearly a year ago, trustees pulled a proposal that included middle school closures — not just in Northside, but across the city — to allow more time for community feedback.

“There were some really difficult conversations, some very emotional conversations about the future of this pyramid,” Spencer said.

Still, the numbers remain the same.

Enrollment in the North Side High area has steadily declined over the past decade.

Kirkpatrick Elementary, built to serve 332 students, now enrolls 296. Its facility condition index, a metric used to track building deterioration, is projected to hit 38.2% by 2030 — a critical threshold that signals repair costs are approaching the value of the building itself.

Kirkpatrick Middle faces similar problems.

The school enrolls 485 students today — about three-quarters of its 651-student capacity — and is projected to reach a 28.3% condition index by 2033.

Two miles away, Elder Middle School is showing its age. The 105-year-old campus has outdated mechanical systems, accessibility barriers and deferred maintenance costs topping $14.3 million — the highest in the district, according to previous facility reports.

The district can no longer afford to patch those issues piece by piece, Spencer said. While the voter-approved 2021 bond program allocated $51 million and $38.9 million for improvements to Elder and Kirkpatrick middle schools, respectively, district officials now say those funds wouldn’t be enough to fully renovate both campuses.

“We’ve seen a lot of inflation and escalation since then,” Spencer said. “It is going to cost more just because of how construction costs have escalated, but we do have money available in order to accomplish that. That’s why we believe it’s important to make this recommendation.”

The new campus is expected to cost around $63 million and hold nearly 1,200 students, officials said last year.

Jose Rivas, a North Side High School alum and parent of a Kirkpatrick Elementary kindergartener, said he didn’t know about the proposed closures until recently. He’s still trying to understand what it would mean not only for his son, Aaron, but also for the community he’s lived in his whole life.

“(Elder) is a historic building — a landmark,” Rivas said. “They’ll replace it with something shiny, but it won’t have the same character.”

While Rivas said he plans to ask questions and voice concerns, he doesn’t think the plan will change.

“Unless there’s an uproar, I think they’re going to do it,” he said.

Superintendent Karen Molinar told attendees while no final decisions have officially been made, the district must respond to falling enrollment, competition from charter schools and state funding that hasn’t kept pace with inflation.

The district will explore repurposing the Kirkpatrick Middle School campus as a community resource center, Spencer said, and officials said they’ve also heard interest in renaming Washington Heights Elementary to honor the Kirkpatrick legacy.

That conversation, they said, would happen if the closure is approved.

The school board’s regular May meeting is scheduled for May 20. Trustees next meet April 22.

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1. 

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