EPISD report shows schools may close or be consolidated

The facility master plan organized by EPISD has dozens of schools on a list for either closure, reconstruction or consolidation in the coming years.

Some schools are on the list for possible closure, consolidation and conversion, all in a draft report conducted through Jacobs Engineering Group.

The report provides multiple suggestions, including closing schools, consolidating campuses into kindergarten through eighth-grade schools and redrawing school boundaries.

One of the main reasons for the potential merging of schools and closures is because the district said it costs too much to run aging, inefficient, underpopulated schools.

Members of the steering committee said by 2019, the district could lose up to 5,000 students and the likelihood of getting them back is very low.

But some do not agree with how fast the plan is moving forward. Trustee-in-waiting Susie Byrd said she is concerned how quickly the Board of Managers is deciding to close schools and take immediate action.

“I still do think they need some more time to get real meaningful input back from the community,” Byrd said. “But I think it will really be up to us as a community to figure out whether the information at the meetings is meaningful and if you’re able to understand the implications.”

But John Moya, the chair of the steering committee, said it is critical to not waste too much time trying to come up with a final decision.

“Taking a whole bunch of time going through this process, may be too much time,” Moya said. “There is a fine balance between a few meetings and a small period of time versus years.”

Dr. Tom Miller, the chief of staff of operations, also agreed with Moya.

“We have too many schools and too few kids and we are having fewer kids over the next five or ten years,” Miller said. “You can only do that for so long before you have to do something like merge or close schools.”

EPISD plans to hold four more meetings open to the public and hope to hear more concerns from the community. For a full list click here.