Students, School Board Debate Enrollment Status For Technical School

It was a packed boardroom at the Fort Worth ISD today as the forces of possible change are meeting resistance concerning Trimble Tech High School. For years open enrollment is what has set Tech apart, but is that giving the school and unfair advantage?

Trimble Tech is definitely the home of the bulldogs, but it also holds another distinction  -- it's the only high school in the FWISD that allows open enrollment from students district-wide.

Alumni Ramon Romero believes, "they just need to leave Tech alone. That's what they need to do." Current student Alondra Rameriz agrees, "I don't think they should change it."

But board member Jean McLung says change is likely inevitable, because even though it touts itself as a technical school, in the eyes of the state it's not. "Don't keep telling me how successful Trimble Tech is, and I'm glad that it is, but they're not held to the same standard as our other schools are," explained McLung. "What do we have to do to make it a technical high school so the state will pay for our busing? Because when you take 500-thousand dollars out of a budget that's a lot of money."

The benefits of a technical high school are there for advertising/design major Ivonne Rocha. She praises the different types of classes, including photography and graphic design. "I was not going to go to any other high school," she claimed.

The impression is certainly there that Tech gets the best students because of it's open enrollment and curriculum. Some faculty members we talked to argue that Trimble Tech has never recruited students. In fact, some middle schools in the FWISD won't allow Tech to do so.

Today's meeting was billed as a work session -- board members did not take any action to alter Tech's enrollment status.

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