Fort Worth ISD is discussing additional school closures.
The district told parents at an April 18 community meeting that the almost 70-year-old Daggett Middle School and the 74-year-old building that houses the McLean 6th Grade Center could be welcoming their final classes within the next three to four years.
If the schools are closed, students will move to a new McLean Middle School to be built on the site of the current campus, which would be demolished. Students will still continue to move up to Paschal High School.
Similar discussions about the middle schools that feed into Polytechnic and North Side high schools are taking place. The school board is expected to consider plans for all middle schools at its May 28 meeting.
School board member Roxanne Martinez, who represents Daggett Middle School, emphasized to parents and community members that a final decision has not been made. Students would not move into a new campus until the 2027-28 school year.
“We hear your concerns. … I want to reiterate that this is a time for us to listen and hear your feedback,” Martinez said. “The board will be taking your feedback into consideration.”
Parents who attended the community meeting had concerns over construction costs, the efficacy of a larger middle school and a potential lack of parent involvement if the closures are approved.
“I don’t think the answer is to move three schools into one,” Chris Kamo, who has six kids in the Paschal High School pyramid, said. “This isn’t addressing the elephant in the room: the cause for declining enrollment.”
Declining enrollment pushed district leaders to begin looking at school closures and to rethink the $1.2 billion bond voters narrowly approved in 2021, said Kellie Spencer, deputy superintendent of operations.
Enrollment at all three schools, Daggett Middle School, McLean 6th Grade Center and McLean Middle School, are down.
After enrollment peaked with 490 students during the 2015-16 school year, Daggett Middle School now has 388 students. The school can accommodate up to 413 students.
With a capacity of 550, McLean 6th Grade Center now has 395 students enrolled, after peaking during the 2017-18 school year with 561 students. McLean Middle School peaked during the 2018-19 school year with 1,077 students. It currently enrolls 948 students and has a capacity for 1,000.
District projections show the three schools will have a combined enrollment of 1,433 students during the 2027-28 academic year, the school year that district officials have slated for potential consolidation. Some parents, like Kamo, shared concerns about the quality of education in a school that large.
District officials assured parents that staffing guidelines, which regulate student-to-teacher ratios, would remain the same.
Initial 2021 bond plans budgeted $27.2 million to renovate McLean 6th Grade Center, $46.5 million to renovate McLean Middle School and $34.6 million to make renovations to Daggett Middle School.
Many community members, Kamo included, said they wouldn’t have voted yes on the 2021 bond if this plan had been previously outlined.
“I think they need to renovate the schools,” Kamo said. “When you have a middle school in your community, you’re going to be more invested. If you’re going to bus kids from the other part of town, they’re not going to have that emotional attachment.”
If closures are approved, district officials plan to combine the budgets to fund construction of the new McLean Middle School. Employees from construction firm Procedeo presented early plans for a new middle school at the April 18 community meeting, with construction costs reaching up to $77 million. The 2021 bond initially earmarked $108.3 million for the three campus renovations.
The firm proposed building a new campus southwest of the current McLean Middle School, on top of the school’s track. The current school would be demolished and a new track and athletic field constructed.
This way, McLean Middle School students could stay on campus during construction, Procedeo officials said.
The plan also features improved and more secure school entrances and additional parking.
Deputy Superintendent Karen Molinar said that Fort Worth ISD faces a difficult situation as enrollment declines. Families have increasingly decided to enroll in charter schools and other school districts.
Enrollment decline isn’t just impacting Fort Worth ISD, either. The share of children ages 5 through 17 enrolled in public schools across the nation fell by almost 4% from 2012 to 2022, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Some students will return, she said, but Fort Worth ISD must start adapting to a smaller population of children.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1 on X. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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