District faces potential school closures years after preparing for growth due to decreasing enrollment in Keller ISD.
Revamped Tale:
Five years ago, schools in Keller ISD prepped for a student boom.
The district put forth a whopping $315 million bond to overhaul or build anew several old schools. Demographers predicted the district would rake in nearly 2,000 more students by 2028, and plans were already underway to revamp campuses like Whitley Road and Parkview elementaries.
Fast forward to today, and interim Superintendent Cory Wilson is painting a different picture - one of fewer students, underutilized campuses, and ever-rising costs that may force the district to close schools. Already, the district plans to shutter its two standalone pre-K campuses by the end of this year, a spokesperson confirmed to the Fort Worth Report.
"With approximately 31,700 students enrolled today, we're around 3,400 students less than our 2020 peak," Wilson informed community members and trustees at a March 31 board meeting. "This drop has led to underutilization of campuses district-wide."
In the coming months, Keller ISD will dive into figuring out which schools might need to shut down, and it's already looking at options. The district aims to have a facilities audit done by summer and start engaging with families in the fall. The final recommendations could suggest closing one or more schools.
"Unfortunately, our analysis might lead to a recommendation to close one or more campuses in the district," Wilson warned. "We'll have to carefully think through how many campuses we genuinely need."
Talks of campus closures came up just two months after school board members floated a proposal to divide the district in two, citing financial strain and disagreements about governance. While trustees eventually abandoned the idea due to community backlash and further financial analysis, the incident exacerbated divisions without offering a solution to Keller ISD's long-term financial instability amid unpredictable state funding.
A reversal from initial predictions
The turn of events stands in stark contrast to what Keller ISD officials had been told in 2019. At that time, demographers from Zonda Education forecasted steady growth across the district, with enrollment on track to reach nearly 37,000 students by 2028.
District leaders constructed their bond proposal based on those estimates. The $315 million initiative included overhauls for Whitley Road, Parkview, Florence, and Heritage elementary schools, all of which had below-average ratings for facility condition or educational effectiveness at the time.
Additions and renovations followed at Fossil Hill and Keller middle schools.
Now, however, enrollment hovers just below 32,000 students, and some campuses struggle to fill their classrooms. While enrollment at Heritage Elementary has grown since its overhaul, Whitley Road Elementary now enrolls only 374 students, down from a pre-renovation peak of 438. Enrollment at Keller Middle School dwindled by nearly 100 students since 2020.
Neighboring districts are still growing
While Keller ISD is facing fewer students, several neighboring school districts continue to expand.
- Northwest ISD has added more than 2,000 students over the past five years, driven by fast-paced housing development in areas such as Haslet, Justin, and north Fort Worth.
- Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD is steadily expanding, particularly in its southern section near the Fort Worth city line.
- Fort Worth ISD, on the other hand, has experienced a multiyear decrease in enrollment - shedding over 10,000 students in the last decade, according to state data and district reports.
Not data-bound but data-driven
Keller ISD hasn't finalized the criteria it will use to determine which schools to close, a district spokesperson told the Fort Worth Report. The enrollment-to-capacity ratio of individual campuses won't be a deciding factor in every case, according to the district.
Instead, administrators will consider factors like programming requirements, facility age and condition, enrollment projections, future development in the area, and the impact on nearby campuses and feeder schools[2].
For instance, if Vista Ridge Middle School is currently only 63.2% full but sports the highest educational adequacy score in the district (3.99 out of 4), it might be given preference over Park Glen Elementary which is more full (student enrollment-wise) but scores a mere 2.13 for educational adequacy[3].
Evaluation studies conducted in 2019 will precede the upcoming audit, providing updated assessments of each building's condition and potential long-term viability. After gathering this data, officials stated they'll begin engaging with the community[2].
Budget pressures on the rise
On top of evaluating potential closures, Keller ISD will also be working on a new bond proposal. District leaders will initiate drafting the plan in the coming months once they get the results of an updated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing study.
To fund infrastructure needs across Keller ISD, a new bond could be floating in our future, but it will likely be adapted to reflect the findings of the facilities audit and the outcomes of the consolidation process[1].
The potential bond isn't the sole driver for this discussion. Keller ISD is shaping a 2025-26 budget that includes a raise for teachers and a sustained fund balance. Closing underused campuses, Wilson said, could help cut operating costs and free up funds for operational expenses.
Less students also equates to fewer state dollars since Texas funds schools primarily based on average daily attendance. This means that Keller ISD's enrollment dip translates into thousands less in state income annually.
To bridge that budget gap, the district plans to shut down its Early Learning Center North and Early Learning Center South at the end of the current school year[1]. This move could help save $1.1 million in next year's budget by migrating early childhood programs into underused space in elementary campuses.
"We must align our facilities with our enrollment," Wilson stated. "Underutilization of facilities leads to wasted resources, increasing operational costs."
Planning for a future bond and potential campus consolidation will happen simultaneously, the district told the Report[1]. Any facilities investment, the district emphasized, should ultimately address actual student needs[1].
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach him at [email protected] or @matthewsgroi1
News decisions at the Fort Worth Report are independent of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here
Originally published on Fort Worth Report and republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution–No Derivatives 4.0 International License
- Amid a drop in enrollment and escalating costs, Keller ISD is exploring the possibility of closing underutilized schools, with facilities audits, engagement with families, and evaluation of individual campuses based on factors such as programming requirements, facility age and condition, enrollment projections, future development in the area, and impact on nearby schools.
- Recent reports reveal that while Keller ISD is experiencing a decrease in student population, neighboring districts like Northwest ISD, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, and certain sections of Fort Worth ISD are still growing.
- In the realm of education and self-development, discussions about potential school closures and consolidation in Keller ISD emphasize that any facilities investment should be data-driven and ultimately respond to the actual needs of students, with an emphasis on providing quality education and adequate learning environments while conserving resources.
