The saga over a proposal to close a school in Coppell ISD continues.
A town hall is expected to be packed Wednesday night with many parents who say they are frustrated over sudden changes by the board and are hoping for more transparency.
Like so many school districts in Texas, Coppell ISD is facing significant budget shortfalls. It cites Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s refusal to approve more money for school districts unless lawmakers approve vouchers, as well as enrollment and capacity issues.
"You know, it's really shocking that in a place like Coppell, our schools are closing because of a lack of state funding. And so, this is really an issue that needs to be taken care of in Austin. And we need to hold our state officials accountable,” said Julie Waters, a parent of Pinkerton Elementary School, one of the schools on the chopping block to close.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
According to district data, money will be tight in the years to come. Future projections show the district may not meet its minimum cash flow needs in two to three years, which could impact its credit rating and increase costs for issuing bonds.
In a board workshop on Monday, Coppell ISD revealed just how dire the situation is.
“The district's fund balance is crucial for maintaining operations, particularly during the September to December period when tax revenues are not yet collected. CISD must keep a fund balance of approximately four months of expenditures to have enough cash on hand to pay teachers and staff, as well as meet other operating expenses,” reads an update on the district website. “The district anticipates reaching a budget deficit of $6.8 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
SCHOOL CLOSURE POSSIBLE
With the budget woes comes the proposal to close a campus and alleviate financial strain. Originally, the board was presented with choosing from three different schools to consider for closure. A scoring rubric was developed that was supposed to help the district decide which campus to close, based on factors such as the age of the building and student impact.
However, after the board workshop this week, the options were amended to the following:
Consolidate Pinkerton with Wilson and Austin
- Consolidate Pinkerton students into Wilson and Austin
- Move the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
- Move Dual Language Immersion (DLI) and BIL (Bilingual) Pre-K program
- Level Pre-K enrollment districtwide
- Adjust Denton Creek Elementary attendance zones to Town Center, Cottonwood Creek and Lakeside based on enrollment
- Net Cost Savings — $2.1 million
Consolidation of Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program
- Consolidate DLI into one campus for efficiency
- Net Cost Savings — $288,000
Leveling Pre-K
- Leveling Pre-K — Efficiency in class sizes, neighborhood schools for students
- Level Pre-K enrollment districtwide
To watch a video of the workshop detailing the changes, click here.
The meeting featured outcry from dozens of parents, who told NBC 5 they were even more shocked with the update that now Pinkerton Elementary School is the sole campus for consideration. The board will make a final vote on Sept. 30, but not before holding a town hall to allow families to learn more about what’s at stake.
“We thought we would have two more weeks to advocate for our school. And instead, they made a decision one week after announcing which schools they were looking to close,” said Waters. “What Pinkerton parents want to know is, where did we score on the rubric? There's a rubric that the administration put all the schools through, and they have not released that result yet.”
Pinkerton Elementary is the oldest school in Coppell. On Tuesday night, many parents gathered to prepare for the town hall and express frustrations over how the district plans to make room for the Pinkerton students.
The plan would be to consolidate Pinkerton kids into Austin and Wilson elementary schools. Then many Wilson kids, including the dual language and bilingual programs, would be bussed to Denton Creek Elementary, about 4 miles across town.
Wilson is a Title 1 School, as is Denton Creek, Austin, Copell Middle School North, and Coppell Middle School East.
Many of the Wilson students live in two mobile home parks across the street from the school. Some parents told NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 that they feel it is not fair to those students or their families, many of whom speak only Spanish and haven't been in the loop on all the changes happening in the district.
"And these kids live literally across the street. They can walk to school. And it is our most vulnerable population in Coppell. And we owe it to them to be their voice, to protect them, and to give them the best education possible,” said Waters. “Parents at Pinkerton, we have an option. We can go to a different school. We can go to charter school. We can go to private school. We can move out of Coppell if we so choose. These kids, these families, they don't have that option.”
To view a version of this story in Spanish on Telemundo 39, click here or watch below.
Parents have expressed concern over the language programs being impacted in some way, in addition to children who used to walk to school switching to riding a school bus.
"Having grown up as an immigrant. my parents didn't speak great English. They were refugees of the Vietnam War. And so I grew up at a very young age where when I was six or seven, I was the one having to call and make doctor appointments or whatever needed to be fixed. That was on me," said Waters. "So I see these kids and I see that they don't have a voice. And I want to make sure that they have a voice because every child should have a voice."
CISD confirmed that the number of DLI program students at Wilson is 228. Half are emerging bilinguals and half are native English speakers who are in the lottery in the program. Not all of the students are zoned to Wilson.
A school district spokesperson provided a presentation given to the community this month, detailing the budget challenges, the recommendations, and the factors that are being considered. Click here to view the slides.
In the presentation, Coppell ISD officials said if Pinkerton were to close, the property could be repurposed for other district use. Any leftover bond money that was set aside for Pinkerton improvements could be reallocated back into the district.
The decisions that will be made on Sept. 30 will not take effect until the 2025-26 school year.
WEDNESDAY’S TOWN HALL
Wednesday night’s town hall will begin at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. The location is the Coppell High School 9th grade building Auditorium, located at 1301 Wrangler Circle in Coppell.
All attendees must park in the North lot located off of Wrangler Drive and State Champions Parkway and enter through the Auditorium doors.
Anyone wishing to speak at the September 18 Town Hall must sign up in advance. The sign-up period begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends promptly at 6:15 p.m. Each speaker will have between 1 minute to 90 seconds to speak, depending on the number of speakers, so we ask that you plan accordingly.
