North Texas districts weigh school closures amid declining enrollment
IRVING (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Across North Texas, multiple school districts are seeing a decline in enrollment.
"I wish that we could sit back and not have to do anything," Irving ISD Superintendent Magda Hernandez said. "That's what I wish. That's what our board wished we could do, but we are not in that position right now."
District officials for Irving ISD say in the last 10 years enrollment has declined by around 5,000 students, resulting in a $25 million hit to the budget.
The district contributes the drop to the declining birth rate and parents moving their kids into other school options, like charter and private schools.
"Looking at the state, it is not unique to Irving ISD," Hernandez said. "I hope that you have been listening to the news, watching the news to see what is happening in DFW. Not just DFW, but all over the state."
Taking this into account, the district is now looking at adjusting future attendance boundaries. It would affect elementary and middle schools and could lead to potentially closing Britain and Elliott elementary schools next school year.
Wednesday night, it hosted a town hall for parents. Several parents protested the issue.
Their top concerns are uprooting their child from their current environment, the added time it will take to transport students to another campus & the job security of teachers and staff.
"We have the best teachers," parent Patricia Medellin said. "We have the best principal. The performance is really high. We're doing really well, why break a good community?"
The school board will meet next month to vote on the final decision.
Plano ISD is also looking at possibly closing some schools after an audit found closing schools that are not needed could save the district millions of dollars. It's important to note that no decisions have been made yet about whether schools will be closed.
