Most recently, Richardson Independent School District trustees approved a plan called Project Rightsize on March 21 that will consolidate and repurpose five elementary school campuses.
Under the plan, attendance boundaries of Greenwood Hills Elementary, Springridge Elementary, Spring Valley Elementary and Thurgood Marshall Elementary will be consolidated with neighboring elementary schools in the 2024–2025 school year. The Dobie Pre-Kindergarten School will cease operations in the following school year as well. The consolidation plan should reduce operating costs by an estimated $10.8 million and result in an estimated $10 million of one-time funds, according to the district.
“This is a very difficult day for RISD,” Superintendent Tabitha Branum said in a press release last week. “From the time that elementary school consolidation was recommended by the community budget steering committee last year, we knew there was no way to implement a plan without directly impacting valued families and communities. Unfortunately, our financial realities are clear, and this is one of several necessary steps to ensuring our district can continue to educate, serve, and academically grow students moving forward.”
Tim Clark, executive director of communications for RISD, told the Observer by email that the district faces budget shortfalls of $28 million for the 2024–2025 academic year and $50 million for 2025–2026. This is assuming teachers get 3% pay raises, which will be necessary if RISD wants to be competitive with other school districts. “The district’s financial priorities are to align resources with programs that facilitate student academic growth and remain competitive in salaries to attract and retain quality educators,” Clark said.“The one person we point the finger at, the one person alone, is Greg Abbott." – Clay Robison, Texas State Teachers Association
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The district has lost some 2,500 students since 2019. RISD could lose another 3,500 students over the next five years, a 9% decline.
There are several factors leading to low enrollment and budget shortcomings, according to RISD, including lower birth rates across the country, a lack of affordable multifamily housing and a large number of senior citizens in the area who pay low or no school property taxes. “This situation [with seniors] slows turnover of homes to families with school-age children and is a factor impacting enrollment projections,” the district noted in a Jan. 19 press release.
According to Clark, the district has been working with affected staff and families as it considered the consolidation plan. Staff will be reassigned within the district based on individual preference when possible. No employee who meets performance expectations is expected to lose their job due to the consolidation plan. Families at consolidated campuses will be rezoned to neighboring schools, and some will be affected by boundary changes designed to ensure higher use of available classroom space at remaining schools.
“The district understands that consolidations and boundary changes are highly disruptive, and plans are in place to provide support throughout the implementation process,” Clark said.
Other North Texas Districts May Close Schools
Irving Independent School District also announced it would be closing campuses in the next school year. In the 2024–2025 school year, Britain Elementary School will close and be rezoned into Schulze, John Haley and Townley Elementary School. That same year, Elliott Elementary School will close and be rezoned into Stipes Elementary School.Plano Independent School District is in the process of drawing up its long-range facilities plan, which could result in school closures, though none have been announced yet. The school closures could come because of declining enrollment in Plano ISD. The district has the capacity to serve some 65,730 students. Today, it serves only 47,909. That’s down from the district’s 2012 peak enrollment of 55,700 students, according to Community Impact.
While Fort Worth Independent School District trustees approved cutting 133 positions, it has not announced school closures even as it faces a budget shortfall of $43.6 million in the next school year, according to WFAA. But it, too, is facing low enrollment, according to the report. “Consequently, difficult decisions must be made, including budgetary cuts,” a statement to the station said.
Even with a state budget surplus of nearly $33 billion, Texas didn’t increase the basic per student allotment from $6,160 in the last legislative sessions, leading to some of the school budgetary issues.
If you ask Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association, the solution to all of this is simple.
“The best way to take care of the budget shortfalls in Texas right now, and the only way is for the state of Texas to appropriate more funding for public education,” Robison told the Observer. “That is the bottom line of all these budget shortfalls.”
He explained that the last time the basic per student allotment was changed was in 2019. “Inflation alone, they say, would require an additional $1,000 per kid,” he said. Even though schools needed the funds, Gov. Greg Abbott failed to allow any plan that involved giving public schools more money after his push for school vouchers failed in 2023. “The one person we point the finger at, the one person alone, is Greg Abbott,” Robison said.
He added that the whole situation has made teachers stressed out about the future, with some considering early retirement.
If schools don’t get more funding, people are going to start losing their jobs, he said, from teachers to bus drivers. “It’s a bad situation,” Robison said. “If the legislature comes in next year and approves vouchers, it’ll make it worse.”
