In a nutshell
Trustees voted to consolidate Dove and Bransford elementary schools in an effort to save money by a 5-2 vote, with trustees Matt Foust and Dalia Begin voting against the measure.
“My decision is about the ongoing success and future sustainability of our entire school district,” trustee Mary Humphrey, who voted in favor of the closures, said. “It’s not about one school, not about one city.”
School districts receive state funding based on average daily attendance, according to the Texas Education Agency’s website. The district has lost roughly 1,500 students since 2019, resulting in a state funding loss of more than $10 million, according to a Dec. 2 presentation from GCISD Chief Operating Officer Paula Barbaroux.
Foust and Begin both tried, and failed, to pass a motion to delay the decision.
“I've heard the argument that closures are inevitable because districts across the state are doing the same,” Begin said. "But leadership is not about following trends. It's about understanding your unique circumstances and designing the right solution for your community."
By the numbers
Projections from GCISD Chief Financial Officer David Johnson show the district will save just under $2.7 million during the 2026-27 fiscal year from closing the two campuses.
Enrollment at Dove sits at about 57% of the building's capacity with 359 students. The school has a functional capacity of 630 students, leaving the school with about 280 empty seats, according to district documents. The school would have required about $24 million in repairs if it remained open, district documents state.
Bransford’s enrollment is at 424 students, which is about 67% of the school's capacity, leaving 205 empty seats.
District officials expect GCISD’s enrollment to continue declining over the next 10 years based on a February demographer report.
Zooming in
Students from Dove will be relocated to Cannon and Silver Lake elementary schools, and Bransford students will be split between Colleyville and O.C. Taylor elementary schools. Some students from Colleyville will also relocate to O.C. Taylor, and some O.C. Taylor students will relocate to Heritage.
Some background
An education master planning committee made up of district officials and community members began meeting in January to come up with ways to save GCISD money. Committee members developed the consolidation plan and presented it to the board at a Nov. 17 trustee meeting.
The committee partially based its decision on a rubric that factored in each school’s age, enrollment, capacity, academic performance and anticipated repair costs. Dove was the lowest-scoring campus on the rubric with a combined score of 12.4, and Bransford scored a 19.4. Grapevine Elementary School scored the highest on the rubric with a score of 22.2.
