The Fort Worth ISD school board is considering its most detailed proposals yet of which schools could close as the district tries to save money.
This year the district faced a budget deficit of more than $17 million – a year after facing a more than $40 million shortfall.
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WATCH HERE“Nobody wants the school they went to to close,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, FWISD Trustee for District 7.
Tuesday night marked the latest step in a tough decision process for Fort Worth ISD.
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SIGN UP For 2024-25 the district faced a $17.7 million budget deficit, and last year’s budget was $45 million in the red. Last February, the district laid off 133 staffers to reduce spending.
In Tuesday’s board meeting consultants shared proposals from a task force aiming to restructure the school district.
“The directive isn’t close schools, the directive is get the schools to the right programmatic number that makes sense for your area and have money spent on students not buildings,” said consultant Tracy Lichter.
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Under the proposals, Fort Worth ISD could close from 14 to 21 elementary schools, up to 3 middle schools, and potentially close Western Hills High School.
The proposal also listed options to build new schools or change how some existing campuses would be used, including up to eight elementary schools and a new high school in the Benbrook area.
Some parents shared concerns about these early proposals.
“We rallied our PTA and our teachers and our parents and came tonight to show our support for the school,” said Westcliff Elementary School parent Christal Atkinson.
Westcliff Elementary was among the schools listed to potentially be closed in the proposals.
Parents and teachers told the board the school was at full capacity and high-performing, and they didn’t believe it should be shut down.
“We understand that they have some very hard decisions to make, we don’t have blinders on to that,” said Atkinson. “But we want these decisions to be made more about the community and the students first and foremost, not the numbers just on the spreadsheet.”
The board reiterated multiple times that these proposals were not final.
Fort Worth ISD will have community meetings during the last week of the month to talk about the decision-making process.
