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Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District

Leaders pledge to support community through closures

Process, communication taking too long, says PTA president

Board of Trustees (from left) Ileana Garza-Rojas, Tara Hrbacek, President Randy Schackmann, Cassandra Hatfield, Superintendent Dr. Wendy Eldredge, Carolyn Benavides, Kim Brady and Marjorie Barnes oversee the difficult and emotional task of closing schools. The board will find out which schools are recommended for closure at the Feb. 6 meeting and vote at the March meeting.
Board of Trustees (from left) Ileana Garza-Rojas, Tara Hrbacek, President Randy Schackmann, Cassandra Hatfield, Superintendent Dr. Wendy Eldredge, Carolyn Benavides, Kim Brady and Marjorie Barnes oversee the difficult and emotional task of closing schools. The board will find out which schools are recommended for closure at the Feb. 6 meeting and vote at the March meeting.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District
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Editor's Note: A headshot of Assistant Superintendent of Leadership and Learning Kim Holcomb was removed as it is unrelated to this story. We at the Branch Herald apologize for confusion caused by that inclusion.

 

With school closures announced in nearby Coppell and Lewisville Independent School Districts, parents and teachers locally are starting to feel anxious.

While the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District won’t announce which campuses are slated for closure until the Feb. 6 Board of Trustee meeting, trustees heard from the president of the Rosemeade Elementary Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and a parent and staff member of that same school during public comments, before a presentation of the Facilities Master Plan Update by Assistant Superintendent of Operations Chris Moore. He included detailed presentation of the process the Facilities Planning Advisory Group has taken to choose the criteria and consideration so they could study the buildings and campuses.

Communication and timelines have been inadequate for families, said Anna Adamo, president of the Rosemeade Elementary PTA.

“This is a hard time. The district message of don’t worry, no campuses have been named has been ineffective and out of touch,” she said. “It’s taking too long, and your families have been left in the dark until very recently regarding potential closures and plans for what happens next. You waited too long, and your families are going to bear the stress of last-minute change and emotional conversations with children who will struggle to understand the whys.”

Aria Dean, emotional behavior support specialist at Rosemeade Elementary, who identified herself as a staff member and parent said that she and others understand that school consolidation is inevitable given declining enrollment, rising costs of living, school choice and “the state’s refusal to adequately fund public education [that] have left districts like ours with few alternatives.” However, she said, “consolidation is more than adequacy and utilization. It’s about people. It’s about our students, our families, our communities. We deserve better than to be left in the dark.”

Trustees do not respond to comments, though Trustee President Randy Schackmann thanked speakers when they finished.

According to a press release from CFBISD, the district’s intensive data review revealed that 23 of the district’s 34 school are being utilized at 75 percent or less of capacity, which translates to 9,800 empty seats in the district. Factors considered in the review included demographics, enrollment trends, facility capacity and use, academic programming and cost.

Moore acknowledged the comments, saying that the advocacy is appreciated. “That tells the story. It speaks volumes to the individual experiences of people and families and students and teachers here in the district at their campuses,” he said.

The Facilities Planning Advisory Group began with 86 people – teachers, principals, PTA members, parents, business leaders and community members from each campus, Moore said.

They met Oct. 29, Nov. 13 and Dec. 4 to set the criteria so they could compare campuses.  They created four categories for the criteria: Condition and adequacy, cost for quality, location and utilization, Moore said.

The group focused on creating at one consideration and three desired outcomes for each of the four areas. They had to focus on districtwide goals and didn’t focus on any specific school, he said.

“A classroom that was constructed in 1956 is not going to take into consideration everything we do to teach our students today,” he said. He said the goal is to balance enrollment across the district.

“Just because we’re looking at a target capacity of 85 percent doesn’t mean we’re just going to force kids into rooms that aren’t set for that,” he said.

He said that maintaining the high school feeder patterns was also important to the advisory group.

At the third meeting, the advisory group voted on the considerations and outcomes for each area.

“There was no support less than 93 percent … by those individuals who were there that night to wrap it up,” he said.

Moore also reminded trustees that the school district has not rezoned in about 20 years and that rezoning for consolidation will go beyond just the consolidation campuses.

“That’s how we’ve ended up with counts of elementary with more students than middle schools, middle schools with more counts of students than high schools,” he said.

Next steps

The Feb. 7 board of trustee meeting will be an information-only meeting that will reveal which campuses the advisory board will recommend for closure.

The following morning, district leadership will have faculty meetings before classes at those campuses that will be affected by closures.

The plan is to “reassure them [teachers and staff], talk to them, hear their concerns, reassure them of the next steps.”

Following questions from Trustee Cassandra Hatfield, Moore said that as soon as the information is presented to the board, it will be available to parents.

The school district’s communications team has developed a standalone webpage https://www.cfbisd.edu/about-us/facility-planning-advisory-group so all the information can be found in place. Parents, staff and community members can also Ask CFB at (972) 968-6101 or email askcfb@cfbisd.edu

“In this day and age, we want to communicate as much as we can. We also know there are a lot of mistruths and things that can get out there, so we want this to be the standalone site if you want the information, if you want the details,” Moore said.

Two weeks of listening tours will follow the Feb. 6 meeting, during which feedback will be gathered and brought back to the board of trustees at the March 6 meeting.

The CFBISD Board of Trustees are scheduled to vote on the proposed school closures on March 6.

Moore emphasized that the district plans to support all of the families and staff during the transition. “No doubt this is a challenging topic. No doubt we are not alone in any of this. But there is no doubt that we want everyone to not just hear but to believe and to feel and to experience the support we are going to give them,” he said, his voice becoming more animated and emotional than it did during the rest of his presentation.

He said plans are in the works so families can tour schools throughout the spring, learn the mascot and tradition of new campuses.

He said they are also planning to “preserve the traditions and the sanctity of the former campuses.”

The communications department is also putting together resources to help parents discuss the changes with their children.