Pflugerville ISD officials are preparing to launch community engagement efforts over the next year ahead of the closure of four elementary schools by 2027.
PfISD's Chief of Schools Laila Olivarez shared the latest updates behind the optimization actions at a Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce event June 9.
How we got here
The board of trustees voted May 14 to close Dessau, Parmer Lane, Pflugerville and Windermere elementary schools at the end of the 2026-27 school year. The vote came after months of deliberation on what optimization actions to take to address the district's projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls over the next several years.
According to Olivarez, the decision to close the four schools will net about $9.8 million in annual ongoing savings. The schools are all projected to face challenges, including lower enrollment due to a lack of subdivisions within the enrollment zones and students leaving the district for the education savings account program.
Current Pflugerville Elementary students will be moved to Brookhollow Elementary; Dessau Elementary students to Delco Elementary; Parmer Lane Elementary students to Northwest Elementary; and Windermere Elementary students to Timmerman.
Breaking it down
Prior to the consolidations, PfISD's 22 elementary campuses had a capacity of 17,466 seats, compared with a projected enrollment of 11,010 students in 2027-28. This 63.1% utilization rate, or the number of classroom seats filled compared with total classroom capacity, would have been 2,078 seats below the targeted 75% utilization rate.
Olivarez also said that if the district did not consolidate the campuses, PfISD would have likely reached near insolvency by 2029-30, having just $5.2 million in its fund balance, or enough for six days' worth of operating expenses. The Texas Education Agency recommends a 75-day minimum, and being in this "critical zone" would have likely resulted in state intervention.
"You cannot run a district to insolvency and still retain local control," Olivarez said.
Next steps
Olivarez outlined a timeline for the communities impacted by the consolidations:
- Summer 2026: plan and launch a team to build a campus transition timeline
- Fall 2026: timeline shared at first community meeting
- Winter 2026-27: boundary design for rezoning begins
- Spring 2027: second community meeting is held for families to help co-create the vision for the receiving campuses
- Summer 2027: final readiness assessments and welcome events for the receiving campuses are held
- Fall 2027: consolidated campuses open for the 2027-28 school year
