Editor鈥檚 note: Transcript provided by .
To combat declining enrollment and rising facility maintenance and operational costs, Carroll ISD is considering closing an intermediate school and realigning its elementary and middle schools.
The Carroll board of trustees, , heard a proposal from a committee that recommended:
- Closing , one of two campuses that houses fifth and sixth grades.
- Consolidating into the adjacent
- Adding fifth grade to all five Carroll elementary schools, which currently have kindergarten through fourth grades.
- Adding sixth grade to the two Carroll middle schools, which currently have grades seventh through eighth.
The proposal would allow Carroll to sell the Durham campus.
Carroll enrollment has declined to 7,870 this school year from a peak of 8,525 in 2019, with an estimated loss of $8 million annual revenue since 2019, Jeff Brady, Carroll executive director of communications, told the board during its Dec. 15 meeting. Brady spoke for the committee.
鈥淲e鈥檝e dropped down below 8,000 students this year and that trend is projected to continue,鈥� Brady said. 鈥淭his enrollment trend is not changing. It鈥檚 very definite and it鈥檚 consistent.鈥�
Brady told the board 鈥渙verall, the student experience is going to be much better with this plan.鈥� The proposal would be the least disruptive and provide the greatest continuity and stability, Brady said.
Closing Durham is projected to save the district approximately $2.5 million annually and avoid over $8 million in required upgrades, Brady said. The 30-acre property would be ideal for residential redevelopment, he said.
Carroll enrollment has slowed in recent years, as older families have held on to their homes rather than selling and the numbers of available infill lots have dwindled.
鈥淒urham needs the most financial upgrades just to get it up to the standards of maintenance it deserves,鈥� Brady said.
The met through the fall, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a group of committed parents, teachers, family members, administrators, some principals, all of whom kept the best interest of the district top of mind throughout this entire deliberative process,鈥� Brady said.
Next step would be for the board to take up the plan and decide if it wants to proceed, he told the trustees.
Brady stressed there would be an 18-month process before any changes are made, if the board approves them.
鈥淭hat means nothing changes this year. Nothing would change next year, either,鈥� Brady said. 鈥淭he only time we would look at the real changes that this plan represents would be in the fall of 2027. So that is a long runway.鈥�
Planning would include reset of attendance boundaries, staff changes, examination of bus routes and possible changes to lunch schedules, Brady said. The board could appoint more teams and task forces to facilitate the planning, he said.
Eric Zarate is a freelance journalist. Scott Nishimura is a senior editor at the Fort Worth Report.
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