Fort Worth mother Kelly Decker could not shake a line she heard during a campus closure meeting last year: It is hard for schools to live in anticipation of closing.
She didn’t understand what that meant until she saw William Monnig Middle School, where her children attend, and E.M. Daggett Middle School in a Jan. 13 presentation to FWISD trustees on campus closures and enrollment trends.
“I’m not asking that the school be closed. I’m not saying that the school shouldn’t be closed,” Decker told trustees. “But I’m asking when you consider your need to close more schools that you keep some data points in mind about our school.”
Enrollment at Monnig and Daggett is at its lowest since 2017, Deputy Superintendent Kellie Spencer said.
The 440-student Monnig is half full, while Daggett is at 62% of its capacity with 333 students.
Administrators are monitoring student enrollment at schools with fewer than 500 students, Spencer said.
“Both campuses will continue to be monitored and evaluated for potential future action,” Spencer said in a Wednesday statement. “Enrollment patterns across the district are continually evolving, and FWISD remains responsive and flexible in order to best serve the needs of all students.”
Both campuses also are part of high school feeder patterns that feature two middle schools. Monnig feeds into Arlington Heights High School, while Daggett students attend R.L. Paschal High School.
However, eight high school patterns each only feature one middle school. Another two — North Side and Polytechnic — will reduce to a single feeder middle school by 2030. That will leave Arlington Heights, Eastern Hills and Paschal as the only high school pyramids with two middle schools.
Fort Worth ISD is closing 18 schools through 2029 as a way to manage the district’s aging buildings that require $1.2 billion in repairs and declining enrollment, which has dropped by about 20,000 students over the past decade.
“The greatest lesson learned during this process has been that things are constantly changing,” Spencer said. “We must adapt and be flexible in order to effectively address any of those changes.”
Some see an anomaly in Fort Worth, Spencer said: the city is growing fast — recently reaching 1 million residents — yet its largest school district is losing students. Declining birth rates and growing competition from other districts, charters and private schools fuel the drops.
Trustee Camille Rodriguez looked to the future when she and the eight other locally elected trustees no longer have decision-making power and Texas’ takeover of FWISD is in full swing.
“When the new board is placed, are they going to be able to change decisions that were already made by the elected board?” Rodriguez asked.
The appointed board of managers can consider any action, including revisiting closures or other past decisions, Superintendent Karen Molinar said. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will name nine managers and a superintendent this spring. Managers have the same powers as elected trustees.
Meanwhile, Decker urged trustees to prioritize one group as the district closes schools and weighs future decisions for campuses.
“I want to ask you to prioritize the least of our children,” Decker said. “And put them first.”
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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