Several schools across North Texas have closed due to enrollment drops and insufficient funding.
As Texas public schools continuously lose thousands of students to homeschooling, school districts have felt the impact.
As a result, Coppell ISD’s Pinkerton Elementary announced in late September that it would be shutting down. Despite numerous meetings and protests from parents and students pleading to keep the elementary school open, the board president stated that budget issues would force its closure.
Pinkerton Elementary was the district’s oldest elementary school.
Additionally, Plano ISD announced earlier this summer that it would be closing four schools next year: two elementary schools and two middle schools.
The decision was met with opposition from parents, as some stormed out of district meetings in tears.
Plano ISD cited a growing deficit as one of the reasons for the schools’ closures, per KERA News. The district has had a budget deficit since 2017. Plano’s Chief Financial Officer, Johnny Hill, claimed that closing the four schools would save the ISD nearly $5.2 million yearly.
Plano ISD also mentioned its projected continuing decline in enrollment as a contributing factor to the closures.
Richardson ISD has followed the trend. The school board voted to close four schools within the next few years to save the district millions of dollars.
Two Irving ISD elementary schools closed this year after student enrollment continued to drop and the district’s budget ran low.
“Although this is not an easy decision, the reasoning behind it is simple,” said school board Trustee Lisa Lobb at a meeting, per KERA. “With losing 4,000 students in our district over recent years, we are receiving millions of dollars less in money.”
Fort Worth ISD originally planned to consolidate seven middle schools into three to save money. However, five hours into a meeting where school board members were discussing the plan, they decided to scrap the proposal following public outcry.
In a previous statement to The Dallas Express, James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation said, “Traditional K-12 schools are hemorrhaging enrollment due to growing concerns over content, quality, and the politicization of the classroom. This steep decline is evidence that parents are ready for something different, something better.”
Despite public school enrollment plummeting across Texas, Dallas ISD has seen a rise in enrollment this school year for the first time in a decade, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The district expected an enrollment of 137,500 students this year, but more than 139,000 students showed up at Dallas ISD schools in August. This is a nearly 2,800-student increase compared to last year’s enrollment numbers at this time of year.
Similarly, Frisco ISD announced that many of its schools have hit enrollment capacity and are closed for new student enrollment for the remainder of the year.