Save Our Small School — It’s a Winner, Parents Urge Dallas ISD

Upset families packed Sam Houston Elementary on Tuesday night, all fighting to keep their children at the small school that trustees plan to close. It may be too late. The families are frustrated because the Dallas school district waited until late in the year to tell them the news -- too late for them to apply to magnet school programs whose application deadlines have passed or to properly research other options. But mostly, they were mad that DISD wants to close an elementary that they say consistently outperforms other schools academically. They don't understand why Dallas isn't scrambling to get more kids into the campus near Oak Lawn and Interstate 30. "To close this school is dumb," said Christopher LaMont, a home builder who transferred his son into the school despite living near other popular elementary schools in the Lakewood area. "It's one of the top 10 schools in Dallas." LaMont added that he knows every school in Dallas because he is a home builder and has been building houses near Sam Houston because he knows they'll sell. "If you take this school away, I'm not building here anymore," he said. Dallas trustees will vote Thursday on whether to follow a staff recommendation to close Sam Houston and Onesimo Hernandez elementary schools because of low enrollment. Then the district would convert the campuses to specialized schools as part of its effort to attract families back to the urban district. But DISD is giving little time for families to fight their plans.   Continue reading...