Education
BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY
Plano ISD to close 4 area schools due to declining enrollment
Four Plano ISD campuses will shut down follow- ing the 2024-25 school year. What happened Following a process to evaluate the district’s “building and property efficiencies” that started last September, the PISD board of trustees approved a committee recommendation to close the following four schools on June 10:
CARPENTER MIDDLE SCHOOL
RAINIER RD.
75
SPRING CREEK PKWY.
DAVIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
P A R K B L V D .
PARKHAVEN DR.
ARMSTRONG MIDDLE SCHOOL
• Armstrong Middle School • Carpenter Middle School • Davis Elementary School • Forman Elementary School
TIMBERLINE DR.
FORMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
N
Structure assessment score* /
Davis and Carpenter both feed into Plano Senior High School, while Armstrong and Forman feed into Plano East Senior High School. The committee recommended that staff perform further research on schools that feed into Plano West Senior High School due to the west cluster’s already high capacity and unpredictable growth. The findings on PISD’s west cluster are expected to be presented to the board in December. The campuses were chosen for potential closure based on capacity, facility assessment scores and operating costs, according to a presentation from district staff. PISD Deputy Superintendent Johnny Hill said no district staff would lose employment as a result of the closures. Diving in deeper Students at the four closed schools will be rezoned to various nearby campuses: • Armstrong Middle School students will be rezoned to Otto, Bowman or Murphy middle schools. • Carpenter Middle School students will be rezoned to Haggard, Hendrick or Schimelpfenig middle schools, depending on their elemen- tary school. Christie, Harrington and Thomas elementary school students would be rezoned to Hendrick, Haggard and Schimelpfenig, respectively. • Davis Elementary School students will be rezoned to Harrington or Saigling elementary schools. • Forman Elementary students will be rezoned to attend Dooley, Schell, Stinson, Meadows or Memorial elementary schools. Additionally, the Regional Day School Program for the Deaf will move from Davis Elementary School to Harrington Elementary School.
Capacity (2023-24 school year)
Facility assessment score*
Campus
48%
56 / 39 41 / 23 46 / 38 47 / 33
Armstrong Middle School
36%
Carpenter Middle School
53%
Davis Elementary School
67%
Forman Elementary School
SOURCE: PLANO ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
*ASSESSMENT SCORE IS OUT OF 100
The cause PISD’s enrollment has declined every year since its peak of 55,700 students in 2012. The district’s current enrollment sits at 47,800. PISD officials have attributed declining enroll- ment to several factors, including home costs in the city. The median price of homes sold in Plano was $287,000 in 2015, while that number was $511,750 in March 2024, according to data from the Collin County Area Realtors. District officials have also cited growth in districts farther with lower housing prices as well as a decrease in birth rates as contributing factors to declining enrollment. The district is also estimating a $24 million budget shortfall this upcoming fiscal year. District staff estimate the closures will save more than $5 million. Superintendent Theresa Williams said the district has adopted a shortfall budget every year since 2017, and added that more extreme measures would need to be taken if school closures were put off further in the future. “We have held tight to not cutting staff and not cutting programs,” she said. “If things don’t change we’ll have to make some other tough decisions, and those decisions impact kids.”
What they’re saying The board’s June 10 meeting featured nine speakers all expressing concerns over potential school closures. Five spoke against the closure of Davis Elementary School, while four spoke against the closure of Forman Elementary School. Many showed concern over moving the Regional Day School Program for the Deaf, including former Davis Elementary parent Rebecca Mattern. Mat- tern has lived near Davis for almost 20 years, in a neighborhood she said is “unlike any [she] could imagine.” “The Davis community has built this safety net so [deaf students] are afforded the same independence that my kids would naturally have,” she said. “I think people look at it and say, ‘We can just pick up the Regional Day School for the Deaf, and we can move it 2 miles down the road.’ It’s possible, but it won’t retain the same culture of inclusivity and care that it has.” Quote of note “This community was built together, and we have to resize ourselves together,” Williams said. “This is hard. And it was hard when it was being built—the growth caused a different kind of angst. So the ask is that we do it together.”
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PLANO NORTH EDITION
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