The school year鈥檚 almost over on a nearly perfect, breezy day in May as the temperature nears 80.
Travis Fitzgerald picks up his 6-year-old kindergartner, Graham, for the five-minute walk home from Greenwood Hills Elementary.
鈥淗ow many days left, buddy?鈥� he asks Graham.
鈥淓leven,鈥� Graham responds.
鈥淓leven,鈥� his dad repeats. 鈥淗e knows more than I do, of course.鈥�
The clock鈥檚 not just ticking on Richardson ISD鈥檚 school year, but on four Richardson elementary schools themselves: Spring Valley, Thurgood Marshall, Springridge, and this campus, Greenwood Hills, will be consolidated into other schools.
鈥淚 think everybody knows it鈥檚 going to close,鈥� Fitzgerald said. 鈥淏ut we really haven鈥檛 thought about it. And we鈥檙e just kind of trying to celebrate all the kids who鈥檝e gone through it.
"I think everybody鈥檚 kind of shelved their emotions, at least for now."
It was only a few months earlier that Richardson Superintendent Tabitha Branum announced plans to possibly close schools.
She told parents at a town hall meeting at Pearce High School in February the district faced a $28 million deficit, total enrollment was down 2,500 students, and those four schools were the emptiest, so the kids would be reassigned.
鈥淟ooking at where our budget is and knowing we were going to have to make some difficult decisions, as a superintendent, I promise you never in that trajectory is this a decision or recommendation you would hope to make," she said.
Richardson ISD鈥檚 not alone. Many districts in North Texas, from Irving and Plano to Fort Worth and Arlington, face shortfalls of $30 million or more, leaving school closures and layoffs as solutions. Two Irving elementary schools will close next year; Fort Worth ISD is also amid falling enrollment.
In fact, school statewide are suffering financially. A new found more than half the more than 300 districts it surveyed expect a deficit by the end of this year. Last year, less than a third reported a deficit.
Clay Robison with the Texas State Teachers Association blames the governor.
鈥淭he main reason they're struggling financially is because Greg Abbott refused to sign a public school funding bill last year without vouchers, even with a $33 billion budget surplus," Robison said.
Abbott tried and failed in the legislative session and four special sessions last year to get a voucher like plan approved.
Last week, when some Democratic lawmakers demanded Abbott call another special session to fund public education, he blamed school district deficits on the end of federal COVID dollars and falling enrollments. He added that , districts would now have their money.
Dallas Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde suspects that after recent elections, vouchers may finally pass next year. But, like others, she needs funding now: Her district faces a deficit approaching $200 million.
鈥淲e did have to right-size based on loss of student enrollment. That's a reality," she said. "But we haven't had to do the severe deep, deep cuts that many of our neighboring school districts have had to do.鈥�
Back in Richardson, dad Travis Fitzgerald said his son's current five-minute school walk will turn into a 15- or 20-minute trek to the new school next year because it鈥檚 more than a mile away. There won鈥檛 be a bus, either.
鈥淲e are actually too close to all of the schools," Fitzgerald said. 鈥淲e are too close to the junior high, the elementary and the high school.鈥�
Although six-year-old Graham said he鈥檒l miss Greenwood Hills, he鈥檚 also visited what will be his new school, Northrich Elementary, and said it鈥檚 "fun." But walking there, he said, will be hard 鈥� it鈥檚 more than a mile from home.
鈥淵ou could get hit by a car,鈥� he said.
That鈥檚 why driving the kids to and from school is an option for Fitzgerald, even if he鈥檇 prefer otherwise.
The same way school closures, layoffs and budget cuts are options for struggling school districts 鈥� though they wish they didn鈥檛 have to exercise them.
Bill Zeeble is 四虎影院鈥檚 education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X .
四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider . Thank you.
