{"id":798323,"date":"2026-05-15T14:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798323\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:09:13","slug":"keller-isd-to-close-three-schools-heres-which-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798323\/","title":{"rendered":"Keller ISD to close three schools. Here’s which ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three intermediate schools in Keller ISD<\/a> will close at the end of the 2026-27 school year, after a unanimous vote by trustees Thursday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[The plan] is not perfect,\u201d Superintendent Cory Wilson said ahead of the vote. \u201cBut it does a lot of necessary, unfortunate, but also positive things for the long-term viability of Keller\u00a0ISD.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision will align Keller ISD schools to a more traditional configuration: elementary schools teach pre-K through fifth grade, and middle schools teach sixth through eighth grades. The plan impacts about 3,800 students.<\/p>\n

On April 2, the committee steering the consolidation plans drafted a version that also put Shady Grove Elementary on the chopping block. The school was removed from Thursday\u2019s proposal, much to some families\u2019 relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0been a \u201ctrying time\u201d for\u00a0the\u00a0Shady Grove\u00a0community,\u00a0but they\u00a0came together to \u201cadvocate for the very special school that we all love,\u201d\u00a0said Sarah Andreani, the school\u2019s PTA president, during public comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank the trustees and the administration for engaging with our community about a decision that is as permanent and significant as a school closure,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n

But Jennifer Guerrero disagreed with the backtrack: \u201cOverturning a decision based on data because of emotional responses is irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district, which serves about 30,500 students, has seen its enrollment drop. Ten years ago, total enrollment was roughly 34,200, according to state data.<\/p>\n

This school year, Keller ISD faced a budget deficit of more than $9.4 million, according to\u00a0its website<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0consolidation\u00a0plan will\u00a0free up about $3 million\u00a0in\u00a0operating costs\u00a0each year, according to a presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will also reduce capital improvement costs by about $39 million, just as the district is weighing a bond election in November. A committee has been formed to explore what the bond package could look like, preparing to leave the fate of major construction projects in voters\u2019 hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we go out for a bond, there’s $39 million less than\u00a0[what]\u00a0we have to go ask for,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

The district needs three things, he said, to solidify its financial footing: consolidation, selling\u00a0land\u00a0and school bonds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur buildings are crumbling. Our HVAC systems are no longer adequate, or in some cases,\u00a0not even serviceable,\u201d said\u00a0trustee Randy Campbell.\u00a0\u201cThe clock is ticking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0approved consolidations will help\u00a0increase\u00a0capacity at the\u00a0remaining campuses\u00a0to 80%\u00a0to 85%, officials said.\u00a0Eight\u00a0Keller ISD campuses are filling less than 75% of their capacity,\u00a0the Fort Worth Report<\/a><\/a>\u00a0reported last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keller ISD is not alone in its challenges. School districts across North Texas are grappling with drops in enrollment \u2014 a crisis education experts attribute to a drop in birth rates, high property costs and aging communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Public school advocates say insufficient funding from the state has added to the problem. The base amount of money school districts get per student has not kept up with inflation, critics say.\u00a0\u00a0They worry\u00a0Texas\u2019 school voucher-style program<\/a>, set to launch this fall,\u00a0will\u00a0pull\u00a0more\u00a0students away from public schools.\u00a0More than 850 students in Keller ISD boundaries were awarded voucher funds for the coming school year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Despite closing three schools, the\u00a0district\u00a0is\u00a0not\u00a0in the\u00a0clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In three to four years,\u00a0school\u00a0officials\u00a0will\u00a0have to reevaluate enrollment to\u00a0determine\u00a0if more closures are needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to have to take another look and see what does make sense,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWe have to do what we have to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News\u00a0retains\u00a0full editorial control of the Education Lab\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three intermediate schools in Keller ISD will close at the end of the 2026-27 school year, after a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":798324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,347,7371,7372,50,358,324927,324878,324877,325461,325460,325459,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-798323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-america","tag-article","tag-fort-worth","tag-fortworth","tag-news","tag-texas","tag-tp-tarrant-county","tag-tp-ed-lab-school","tag-tp-education-lab","tag-tp-keller","tag-tp-keller-independent-school-district-school","tag-tp-population","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116578993688319909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}