Serving as the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) superintendent has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Our students, staff and community inspire me every day, and I am beyond grateful to have the opportunity to serve. The world of public education is extremely important and rewarding, but it is not always easy. The countless hours our selfless staff and board members devote to our students and families show the passion behind this incredible work. I am honored to be a part of a strong team and confident that our district will overcome any challenge.
Schools serve as the beating hearts of neighborhoods across the nation. As a parent of two children, I completely understand the emotional impact and value that a school provides for a family. These buildings hold years of cherished memories and are safe havens.
While my heart is driven by the love a school community pours, I also recognize that school districts are businesses. We have more than 24,000 students who need the lights to be on, buses to be running, buildings to be warm, and quality staff–who need paychecks–in order to grow and learn. Schools are our business, so why would we ever think of consolidating our assets?
CFBISD, like many other school districts in the region and country, is facing a number of unprecedented challenges. Limited state funding, declining enrollment and birth rates and aging facilities are impacting our district budget. With a $19 million deficit, we knew that we needed to act urgently to tackle this unfortunate situation.
To get a true sense of what we were facing as a district, we launched a months-long process of intensive data review in October 2023. As stated in this district news story, the factors being reviewed included student demographics, enrollment trends, facility capacity, programming and more. We learned that 23 out of 34 CFBISD schools were being utilized at 75% capacity or less. That was shocking news. It meant we had 9,800 empty seats across our campuses.
We then received a demographer report in October 2024, which revealed a downtrend in our student population. That same month, we formed the Facility Planning Advisory Group to amplify stakeholder voices and receive guidance from our students, colleagues, neighbors, and partners–those who will be directly impacted by the tough decisions we needed to make.
Consolidating schools is not a process anyone wants to endure. I want you to know that this is a heartbreaking and extremely difficult situation. But it is a cross we must bear to ensure our current and future students are set up for success in CFB.
I want to be clear that no schools have been identified for consolidation. Our team is still carefully reviewing the criteria developed by the Facility Planning Advisory Group to produce comprehensive consolidation and rezoning recommendations that will be presented at the February school board meeting. To support and help the families and staff at the campuses identified, listening tours will take place in mid-February. Trustees will then vote on the proposed recommendations in March.
The district has been transparently communicating with our families throughout the planning process. We launched a website that will continue to be updated with the latest news. We also have a dedicated hotline and email: (972) 968-6101 and AskCFB@cfbisd.edu. I am incredibly grateful to our CFB Family for their strength and resilience throughout this situation. This is a journey that we are all undertaking together, one step at a time.
I know our future is bright, and we will continue to provide the best learning opportunities. After all, we are one BIG family, and family always comes first.