Parents expected more voice in Richardson ISD's school closure listening tour
RICHARDSON – School closures and consolidations are still relatively new to Richardson Independent School District parents.
"It's just really frustrating that it looks like the main goal was to keep straight lines on the map," Jana Foster said.
Foster's daughter will not get moved, but it's a different story for other young students they know. The mother of a 2nd grader came to a listening tour meeting put on by RISD to explain how the district arrived at the decision and what the future might hold.
Tabitha Branum said the decision is a challenging one. But the school leader said they have been unable to overcome declining enrollment, lack of legislative funding, record inflation, salary needs, and other companies hiring some of the system's best.
Branum said they have 9,000 unfilled seats. She said to multiply that by $6,160 if that student attends school for more than 170 days. According to the superintendent, the overhead to keep a school open and running include insurance policies for active shooters and legislatively mandated guards at each school.
A committee came up with nine recommendations to help save $10.8 million. One of the suggestions that requires board approval before it can go into effect is closing schools and moving their population to existing facilities within the district, which are Greenwood Hills Elementary School, Springridge Elementary School, Spring Valley Elementary, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and Dobie Pre-K.
"But I want to know she personally what she is sacrificing for the budget," Claire Pam said. "Is she going to take a pay cut?"
Pam was one of the parents who came to Pearce High School for RISD's Listening Tour to discuss the process. Greenwood Hills Elementary was the first school getting discussed.
Branum told the audience cutting every single administrator's job at the central office is only two percent of the district's salary. To keep order, she and other district leaders read questions from concerned parents and school supporters from index cards.
Some thought the effort allowed the district to sift through questions and control the narrative of the 90-minute meeting.
Pam said her question was neither read nor addressed. She said her daughter's friend were being moved from a closer school to another facility to make room for new students from Greenwood Hills.
"My really autistic child who does not like change is now going to have to deal with her friends leaving," Pam said.
Foster did not fill out a card. Instead, she spoke out calmly even though Branum told the audience those were not the rules said otherwise.
"I think context and emotions are removed when you're writing things down versus the emotion you hear when people are speaking," Foster said.
Foster said if they want an open forum and discussion, they need to lose the index cards because it will cloak what parents try to convey, even in trying to keep order.
The school leaders covered everything from crossing guards to what if they got a windfall of money from the state. It appears nothing is deterring the board's vote on the recommendation to make the system more efficient.
"I have very much heard the voice of our parents," Branum said. "And I know they hurt."
