Big Changes Planned for 3 Small Dallas Schools

Mass school closures might be off the table for Dallas, but big changes are on track for three elementary campuses.If trustees approve the plan at the Jan. 24 meeting, Dallas ISD would spend the next year transforming Tom Field Elementary into the district's first career tech campus that would serve students from multiple high schools in the northwest Dallas area. Meanwhile, two other elementaries — Roger Q. Mills and the Mark Twain Leadership Vanguard — would be converted into magnet schools to expand talented and gifted programs in southern Dallas. DISD is exploring options to close small schools to better leverage resources and repurpose others for niche programs that keep students in the district or even lure back some who've left for charter schools. A proposal for widespread school closures presented in September was quickly shot down as it had little support from trustees and residents. But Field, a campus tucked along busy Royal Lane amid businesses just west of Interstate 35E, is among those with the lowest enrollment with 229 students. The site could hold nearly twice as many.   Continue reading...