Another North Texas school district is considering closing multiple campuses due to budget concerns and decreased enrollment.
Lewisville Independent School District is facing a $4.5 million budget shortfall. Despite rapid growth in the 1990s and 2000s, the district’s enrollment has started to decline.
“We’re no longer a district of 53,000,” LISD Superintendent Dr. Lori Rapp said at a meeting on Monday, per CBS. “We’re forecasted over the next 10 years to stabilize at about 45,000.”
A committee that studies enrollment trends and operational costs proposed a list of 20 campuses for closure or boundary adjustments. The list includes 15 elementary schools and five middle schools.
“Texas lags well behind all other states in funding for public education,” said Rapp. “They’re $4,000 [per student] behind the national average. We actually have less money now, when you account for inflation, than we did in 2016. So school districts are being forced to look at every single expenditure they have.”
The school board plans to decide which campuses will be impacted by the end of October.
School staff and families will be able to speak out at listening sessions in November. The final decision will be made by December.
“We know you love your schools and we will hear from you if you have a school that is going to be considered for next steps because we will not make decisions in this school district without getting the input of our families that would be impacted,” said Rapp. “I promise that your voice will be heard as a part of this process. But I would also tell all of our families to continue to stand up for our public schools and advocate for full funding from the legislature when they convene in January.”
The campuses that are being reviewed are:
- B.B. Owen Elementary
- Creekside Elementary
- Ethridge Elementary
- Garden Ridge Elementary
- Heritage Elementary
- Highland Village Elementary
- Polser Elementary
- DeLay Middle School
- Downing Middle School
- Lakeview Middle School
- Bluebonnet Elementary
- Camey Elementary
- Degan Elementary
- Hebron Valley Elementary
- Memorial Elementary
- Morningside Elementary
- Old Settlers Elementary
- Rockbrook Elementary
- Creek Valley Middle School
- Shadow Ridge Middle School
The Dallas Express reported on several other schools across North Texas that have closed due to similar enrollment and budget issues earlier this month.
As schools across Plano, Richardson, Irving, and Fort Worth have closed, some parents have strongly opposed the decisions.
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.