Marge Wellman is worried about the future of the soon-to-be closed Wedgwood Sixth Grade campus.
Wellman lives in the surrounding area and is a board member for the Overton South Neighborhood Association.
鈥淎ny vacant building is a magnet for homeless people or vagabonds,鈥� Wellman said. 鈥淧eople may move into the building or pitch tents in the yard where the kids play.鈥�
Fort Worth ISD is closing the Wedgwood Sixth Grade campus in May because running the school is , according to district officials. The sixth grade campus will be folded into Wedgwood Middle School, which is 1陆 miles away, starting in the 2024-25 academic year.
The consolidation marks the first school closure since .
Wedgwood staff and families were notified of the closure March 4. The school hosted a community meeting for Wedgwood families March 6 at Wedgwood Middle School.
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The meeting didn鈥檛 last long, board trustee Anne Darr said. Her district covers the Wedgwood Sixth Grade and Middle School campuses. She said, so far, no community member has reached out to her regarding concerns about the consolidation.
The association, on the other hand, is worried about the presence of a vacant building within the neighborhood. The group says the school鈥檚 location along Interstate 20 often encourages homeless activity.
Wellman encouraged the district to make a prompt decision regarding the future of the building.
The school board has not discussed plans for the Wedgwood Sixth Grade building, Darr said.
The closure is part of the district鈥檚 . Fort Worth ISD faces a $44 million deficit next school year.
鈥淲e believe this consolidation will serve in the best interest of our families and the Wedgwood community,鈥� Superintendent Ang茅lica Ramsey said in a statement. 鈥淐reating one middle school will help us better serve our students while also aligning with the goals of the district. Together, we will create a thriving campus filled with learning, opportunity and community.鈥�
On top of its budget deficit, the district is looking to optimize its use of facilities.
鈥淚t is no longer feasible to operate an entire campus for one grade given the district鈥檚 current and projected enrollment,鈥� the district said in a statement about the consolidation.
Fort Worth ISD operates two other sixth grade campuses, McLean Sixth Grade in Westcliff and Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade in Echo Heights.
The district started talking about the future of sixth grade centers in 2018, Ramsey said in a March 7 email to the Fort Worth Report.
In February, Ramsey told the Fort Worth City Council that and was waiting for before making any decisions.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to state publicly we are nowhere near any of those conversations because we have this master facilities plan that won鈥檛 even be done until about December,鈥� Ramsey told council members. 鈥淯ntil that time, then that next step is, 鈥楬ere are the recommendations from the plan, what next?鈥欌��
Darr wasn鈥檛 caught off guard by the district鈥檚 decision to consolidate Wedgwood. Change is coming to Fort Worth ISD, she said.
鈥淲e have known it was a possibility, but the timeline was up to administration,鈥� Darr said. 鈥淚 think everything in education is fluid 鈥� The only thing we know for sure is a constant is change.鈥�
Wedgwood Sixth Grade can hold up to 469 students. During the 2022-23 school year, 309 students were enrolled. .
Enrollment hit a high at the school during the 2016-17 academic year when 476 students were enrolled, slightly surpassing the campus capacity, according to Texas Education Agency data.
Since then, Wedgwood Sixth Grade has lost 1 in 3 students.
As the campus lost students, the cost to operate the school ballooned. Between the 2012-13 and 2022-23 school years, the total budget for Wedgwood nearly tripled, according to TEA.
Fort Worth ISD spent $2,423 per Wedgwood Sixth Grade student during the 2012-13 school year. A decade later, that number was $9,599 鈥� a nearly 300% increase.
Fort Worth ISD spent $14,368 per student during the 2022-23 school year, TEA records show. A decade ago, the district spent $8,603 on each student. That is a 67% increase.
Wedgwood Middle School鈥檚 enrollment has declined, too. During the 2022-23 academic year, the middle school had 662 students. Enrollment hit a high in the 2014-15 school year when 931 students attended the campus.
Wedgwood Middle School has a capacity of 855 students.
The schools follow Fort Worth ISD鈥檚 overall shrinking enrollment. The district has lost nearly school year.
District documents presented to the school board in February showed 71,061 students attending Fort Worth ISD. Next school year, enrollment is projected to decline to 69,342.
Fewer students means fewer dollars from the state. The district expects to lose more than $9.5 million in state funding for the 2024-25 school year.
This consolidation decision comes two years before the expected opening of a substantially renovated Wedgwood Middle School. The district鈥檚 called for major renovations to schools across the district, with .
The $61.7 million project is scheduled for completion for the 2026-27 school year. Construction begins later this year.
Editor鈥檚 note: This story was updated March 7, 2024, to include a statement from Superintendent Ang茅lica Ramsey about 2018 district discussions on sixth grade centers and comments from the Overton South Neighborhood Association.
Jacob Sanchez is an enterprise journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or .
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or on X, formerly known as Twitter.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
