Grapevine-Colleyville ISD trustees are scheduled to vote tonight to possibly close two elementary schools, despite protest from parents and students.
The decision has been years in the making: GCISD leaders say enrollment has dropped 1,500 students since 2019 and was 200 students down just at the beginning of this year.
Like other districts, GCISD has also suffered from declining revenues, inflation, and lagging state funding through along-unchanged student allotment.
A GCISD committee earlier this year decided a pair of elementary schools, Dove and Bransford, should close to save money.
GCISD board president Shannon Braun said the district’s Education Master Planning Committee — normally charged with evaluating programs, facilities and enrollment — shifted priorities out of necessity.
“This summer, when the legislative session closed and gave no financial relief to our district and when we began school 200 students down from what was projected, at that point the charge was refined,” Braun told attendees of an October board meeting.
At the same school board meeting, Bransford student Nathan Kapler, who has dyslexia, urged leaders to keep his school open because teachers there help him learn.
“At Bransford, I feel included because I can learn in different ways and it makes learning fun,” Nathan told trustees.
Longtime Grapevine resident Lindsey Sheguit told trustees to leave the schools alone.
“Trustees, look around,” Sheguit said from the lectern. “You wanted a fight? Well, you found it....These are not your schools, they are ours. They are not your kids, they are ours. So to the community, keep fighting, be loud, and be courageous.”
Grapevine-Colleyville is just the latest North Texas district to face school closures: McKinney ISD last month voted to close three elementary schools, and in October Frisco ISD trustees approved closing a middle school.
Wednesday evening’s special meeting starts at 4:45.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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