Fort Worth ISD school board avoids school closures after weighing consolidation plans
Neighborhood identities, learning environments and commute times at seven middle school campuses in the Fort Worth Independent School District will remain in place after community members pleaded with district officials against consolidating the campuses into three larger schools.
The Board of Trustees pulled agenda items on Tuesday for the school closures and consolidations in the Paschal, North Side and Polytechnic school pyramids after several parents and community members voiced concerns about the negative domino effects that could come from shutting down certain schools throughout Fort Worth.
The decision comes after officials hosted a series of community meetings throughout April about the proposal. If board members would have approved the consolidations, Kirkpatrick Middle would have closed with students transferring to J.P. Elder Middle; Daggett Middle and McLean Sixth Grade Center would have closed with students transferring to McLean Middle; and Morningside Middle would have closed with students transferring to William James Middle.
“At this time, the board is pulling all items regarding school consolidation and proceeding with the renovations to each middle school,” said Board President Camille Rodriguez.
There were no other comments made by the board about the topic.
The seven campuses were slated for individual renovations through a $1.2 billion bond that voters barely passed in November 2021. The consolidation proposal would have pivoted from the original plan voters had approved and gone toward combining campuses. Moving forward, the renovation budget for each school is:
$38.9 million for Kirkpatrick Middle
$51 million J.P. Elder Middle
$27.2 million for McLean Sixth Grade Center
$46.5 million for McLean Middle
$34.5 million for Daggett Middle
$53 million for William James Middle
$55.3 million for Morningside Middle
Building age is a relevant factor when analyzing renovation plans of these campuses, one of which is older than a century. J.P Elder Middle School’s annex building was built in 1918, and its main building was built in 1928. William James Middle was built in 1926, and McLean Middle was built in 1953, according to district records.
Leo Vaughns, Jr., a teacher of 34 years at Kirkpatrick Middle, was the first to speak during public comment to board members, urging them to preserve the school’s legacy by using the bond money to renovate the school instead of closing it. He highlighted how the school is a hub of community support through pep rallies, live announcement raps, family first fiestas, gospel fests, twice-a-week food drives and a recent middle-school reunion for alumni who graduated from 1990 to 2018. Vaughns also noted how Kirkpatrick is one of the district’s oldest African-American schools.
The school’s auditorium is named in Vaughns’ honor, as he taught music for several years before transitioning to English language arts. In 2022, Vaughns received the statewide H-E-B Lifetime Achievement award that honors teachers with more than 20 years of experience, earning $25,000 for himself and $25,000 for Kirkpatrick Middle.
“In ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ Dorothy states, ‘There’s no place like home.’ Well, I stand today to reiterate, ‘There is no place like home,’” Vaughns said. “Kirkpatrick is a strong oak tree, of its seeds have fallen on fertile ground, which has blossomed into a community. It will be a tragedy to uproot a strong oak tree, uproot the many seeds that have been watered with sweat and prayers.”
Middle school enrollment in each Fort Worth ISD area has decreased since the 2018-2019 school year with the Paschal, North Side and Polytechnic populations respectively declining at 19%, 29% and 24%, according to district data. These numbers are expected to continue on a downward trend when looking at birth rates, residential population, elementary enrollment and neighborhood construction.
Overall, district-wide enrollment has declined 17% since 2016 with school officials also citing charter school competition.
“Despite a decline in enrollment, the district has not proportionally reduced the number of schools it operates. This has led to underutilized facilities and smaller student populations in some schools, resulting in fewer academic offerings and higher operational costs,” district documents state.
Linda Miller, who’s lived in the Morningside community for more than 63 years, told school board members on Tuesday that she and three generations of her family attended Morningside Elementary and Middle in the ‘60s and ‘70s. She said it would be “detrimental” to close Morningside Middle
“I can remember sitting in our kitchen with my grandmother having lunch and listening to the Morningside school band play. It stirred my love for music, and I fulfilled my dream of playing in that band for three years when I attended Morningside as part of the first sixth-grade class to attend middle school,” she said. “The young children in our neighborhood deserve to have the same dreams and be allowed to fulfill them at their neighborhood school.”
The potential closures came in the midst of a $2 million study of district facilities. Although this proposal didn’t move forward, closures for elementary and high schools could be forthcoming as a result of the study. A report is expected to be presented to the school board later this year with “rightsizing recommendations.”
The impact of school closures can be far-reaching in general. Students who would have a longer commute time to and from school could lose out on time for sleeping and exercise, according to a 2017 study where researchers analyzed 12 years of data. Research also suggests that smaller schools yield better outcomes for school climate, academic performance and attendance, but Fort Worth ISD officials state that programs and resources can be better utilized by combining campuses.
Jess Grady, a Fort Worth ISD parent whose child will attend Daggett Middle next year, told board members on Tuesday she was concerned about transportation logistics that could have come about with closing Daggett. She submitted a petition to the district with more than 300 parents who asked for all schools to receive the original, individual renovations.
“Fort Worth ISD’s ongoing inability to staff bus routes is a big concern, which has potential impacts on attendance. When living so far away from a school, there are less opportunities for families to be involved in the school,” she said.
The seven schools are not the first in Fort Worth ISD to be closed and consolidated. District officials announced in March that Wedgwood Sixth Grade campus would close starting in the 2024-25 school year, and the students would attend Wedgwood Middle School going forward. Officials called it a “strategic move aligned with its facility planning” while noting “it is no longer feasible to operate an entire campus for one grade.”
