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Parents and teachers wiped away tears when a third-grade student at McCoy Elementary spoke to the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) Board of Trustees about his love for his school.
“I love my school. Before the sun even rises, it’s dark and cold outside, but I wake up excited to go there,” he said. “I love my classmates. I’ve known them for a good part of my life. After my house, this is where I’ve spent most of my life.”
His comments came shortly after Corey Blackburn, chief executive officer with the district’s facility support services, finished announcing the recommendations from the Facility Planning Advisory Group to close McCoy Elementary, Central Elementary and Furneaux Elementary and Long Middle schools at the Feb. 6 school board meeting.
“Our guiding principals have been student achievement, staff support and fiscal responsibility,” Blackburn said.
In the Facilities Planning for Future Success Proposal submitted to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 6, the factors considered when identifying which schools to include in the “consolidation plan” included fiscal responsibility, efficiency, student achievement, competitive position as a premier school district and equity across the district.
One elementary school was chosen from the feeder system for RL Turner High School (Central Elementary), Newman Smith High School (McCoy Elementary) and Ranchview Elementary (Furneaux Elementary).
According to Blackburn, who read words directly off the slides presented at the meeting, the benefits of the closures include a $9 million savings in the first year and a reduction of 2,300 empty seats.
The closure of Central Elementary School, 1600 S. Perry Rd., will likely affect Farmers Branch residents the most.
For this school year, 441 students are enrolled.
For 2025-2026, the district said those students will be welcomed into McLaughlin Strickland Elementary, 3030 Fyke Rd. in Farmers Branch, or Carrollton Elementary, 1805 Pearl St. in Carrollton.
According to the proposal, the RL Turner High School’s feeder pattern elementary school utilization rate will rise to 81 percent.
Central Elementary is 61 years old and the oldest elementary in this feeder pattern. The proposal also cited safety and security concerns with the elementary school sharing two perimeters with the high school.
Central Elementary School could be used as temporary classrooms for campuses, including RL Turner High School under construction.
Students from McCoy Elementary, 2425 McCoy Rd. in Carrollton, will rezoned for Good Elementary, 1021 Study Lane in Carrollton, Blanton Elementary, 2525 Scott Mill Rd. in Carrollton, or Carrollton Elementary, 1805 Pearl St. in Carrollton.
McCoy Elementary is home to 517 students.
LEAP, a self-contained gifted and talented program, will move to Landry Elementary, 265 Red River Trail in Irving. According to the proposal, 92 students participate in the elementary LEAP program, 60 percent of whom live three miles from Landry Elementary, so this change will make transportation more efficient for both the school district and some parents.
According to the proposal, closing McCoy will bring Newman Smith High School’s elementary feeder pattern up to 86 percent utilization.
McCoy is 48 years old, and “the 1970s floor plan includes small classrooms that are difficult to secure, presenting safety and security concerns.”
McCoy Elementary could possibly be sold.
Furneaux Elementary’s 395 students will attend Davis Elementary, 3205 Dorchester Dr., or Thompson Elementary, 2915 Scott Mill Rd.
The proposal cites the same issues with the 1970s floor plan and age as it did for McCoy Elementary in reasons for its closure recommendation.
Furneaux Elementary could possibly be used as a future pre-kindergarden center.
Students at Long Middle School will attend Blalack Middle School, 1706 E. Peters Colony Rd. in Carrollton, or Polk Middle School, 2001 Kelly Blvd. in Carrollton, if the recommendation for its closure is approved.
Long’s 469 students provide a 79 percent utilization rate for the 46-year-old school, which has not received a major renovation.
Long Middle School could possibly be used as temporary classrooms for other campuses under construction.
In addition, the proposal suggests moving pre-kindergarten students from McWhorter and Sheffield elementaries, who attended Furneaux Elementary School, to attend Kent Elementary and Rosemeade Elementary respectively.
Dr. Tamy Smalskas, assistant superintendent of human resources addressed the staff reassignment process.
All staff will have a position in the school district, and she said there is a process ready to survey affected staff so they can let human resources know which colleagues and teammates they want to stay with.
“We will work hard to hard to keep as many teachers with teammates as possible,” Smalskas said. The district’s goal is to notify all staff members of their new assignments by May 1.
Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Dr. Lance Hamlin said the goal is to notify every family affected by the closures with a letter. Notifications also will go out through ParentSquare.
There will be family information sessions starting Monday, Feb. 10. Program applications open March 24, as they normally do. Early registration for enrollment opens April 1.
Hamlin encouraged parents to register as early as possible.
“As a McCoy alumni parent, this is a hard decision,” Board President Randy Schackmann said. “But these all are decisions that are to benefit our students going forward. We want the best for them all.”
Trustee Carolyn Benavides asked for clarification about why these schools were recommended when they hit all their goals and targets.
Schackmann said the recommendations are based on school utilization and other factors. “No doubt, we could probably make an argument for every campus that’s out there,” he said. “But the district will be underwater and bankrupt in years forward unless we do something this year.”
Benavides also asked about the savings when most of the buildings would be repurposed for temporary classrooms for other campuses under construction.
Blackburn said RL Turner H.S. would require $2.5 million - $3 million for portable rooms, the addition of a permanent fire lane and the moving of a fire hydrant if Central Elementary is not used as temporary classrooms while the high school is under construction. He said the funds do come from approved bonds.
“That should enable us to save, to basically invest more of our bond dollars toward building the building that will benefit the students instead of having to pay for temporary portables,” he said.
“So then bond funds would be used to rent these facilities so we don’t have that expense?” Benavides asked.
“We would not be renting … this lowers the number of campuses where we’ll have to spend the money on portables … in this case, it looks like we can avoid spending that money at a couple of campuses,” Blackburn said.
In August 2023, the district faced a $9 million budget deficit. In August 2024, it faced a $19 million budget deficit. According to proposal submitted to the Board of Trustees, projections show the district will face a negative fund balance after the 2029-2030 school year if nothing is done.
The Board of Trustees will vote to approve or deny the proposal on March 6.
