Plans to Close 11 DISD Schools Has Parents Making Other Plans
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The clock is ticking for Renee Daugherty and her son, Nolan.
Daugherty has to make a decision soon and, frankly, she's quite baffled by it all.
"We have 14 schools that are academically unacceptable and those are staying open," she said while picking her son up from James B. Bonham Elementary. "The ones that are performing well? they're going to close for money."
When the doors to Bonham close permanently, the Dallas Independent School District has plans to move her son to nearby Robert E. Lee Elementary.
Daugherty, however, may have other plans. "I'm not a fan and unfortunately, the schools that we are mapping to are just not as academically successful," she explained.
The idea of sending her son to a school that, in her view, doesn't measure up to Bonham's exemplary and "Blue Ribbon" status, has Daugherty considering moving out of the district.
Patricia Saldana is not ready to take that step, but she may end up petitioning DISD to send her son to Stonewall Jackson Elementary. Stonewall Jackson is in the district, but it's not the school the district wants her son to attend .
Meanwhile, Saldana's son, Kenji, is worried he may not fit in at Lee Elementary. "I don't really want to go to Robert E. Lee. It's a big school with a lot of people," said Kenji.
Moving out of the district or sending their children to private schools are not options for many parents, which leaves them stuck with DISD's consolidation plan.
Parents at all 11 schools that are being closed by DISD have until the summer to decide where to send their children next year.
To find out which schools are being closed and where the district plans to send those students starting in August, 2012; click here.
