DISD Moving Forward With Plan To Close Schools After This Year
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Independent School District is moving ahead with plans to close four schools and consolidate another after the school year. During a school board meeting on Thursday, decisions about Edison Middle School, Carr Elementary School, Titche Elementary School, Ray Elementary School and the Kennedy Learning Center were made.
The plan would consolidate Edison Middle School with Pinkston High School.
Students from the additional closing schools would be sent to other campuses.
These schools have been low-performing for years, not meeting state academic standards and facing declining enrollment. If the schools do not show improvement, the Texas Education Agency could take action against the district. But if the schools do improve this year, some of them may stay open.
The school board was not in unanimous agreement over closing Ray Elementary School. A few members said that academics at the campus are improving, and they want to give the school a chance to continue that progress.
If the Dallas ISD does move forward with the closings, the boundaries for other neighborhood schools would also change, as the campuses remaining open would have to begin taking in more students.
District leaders did face opposition to the plan as several parents and community members voiced their concerns at the school board meeting that lasted late into Thursday night. Dallas residents are worried that such changes would push students out of the neighborhoods where they live.
"I have refused to go to meetings, because I am really disgusted with DISD," said Dallas resident Deborah Solis at Thursday's board meeting. "I'm a product of that school. I love DISD and I want to help. My kids never attend DISD because of what you just heard everyone talk about."
