Bear Creek, Parkwood Hill and Trinity Meadows intermediate schools will close ahead of the 2027-28 school year in an effort to reduce operation and repair costs amid declining enrollment.
Keller ISD trustees approved a plan to close the campuses at a May 14 school board meeting. The schools will remain in operation for the 2026-27 school year.
The overview
District officials project to save between $3 million and $3.75 million annually in operating costs and $39 million in repair and capital improvement costs, according to the proposal from KISD Superintendent Cory Wilson.
District leaders also expect to save money on transportation, though no transportation plans have been finalized, Wilson said.
The proposal also showed a plan to allow open enrollment in KISD to offset added costs from Shady Grove Elementary School, which was previously considered for consolidation. District leaders tentatively plan to open for enrollment to start May 25, Wilson said.
By the numbers
Enrollment in KISD has dropped by about 4,600 students since the 2021-22 school year, falling from 34,813 students to 30,202 students in the 2025-26 school year.
Demographic projections show KISD could lose roughly an additional 4,000 students by the 2029-30 school year, according to the district.
KISD officials have not yet finalized attendance boundaries, but early estimates from Wilson show:
- 50 Willis Lane Elementary students will move to Whitley Road Elementary
- 120 Florence Elementary School students will move to the Ridgeview Elementary
- 40 Keller-Harvest Elementary students will more to Ridgeview Elementary
- 300 Ridgeview Elementary students will move to Woodland Springs Elementary
- 180 Woodland Springs Elementary students will be reassigned to Independence Elementary School
- 50 Freedom Elementary School students will move to Friendship Elementary School
Currently, the district has capacity for 39,500 students. For the 2025-26 school year, 30,202 students were enrolled, according to a presentation from Wilson.
After the closures, the district will remove 3,300 seats, bringing capacity down to 36,200. Estimates show the 2027-28 school year will have 28,025 students enrolled in the district.
Also of note
In the original plan, Shady Grove Elementary was included in consolidation. Closing Shady Grove would have saved the district about $750,000 in operational costs.
To compensate for the added Shady Grove expense, Wilson said KISD could allow more than 100 students from outside the district to enroll in its schools.
“To offset the operational cost of Shady Grove and realize the savings, that's 113 kids we would have to bring into the district,” Wilson said.
Looking ahead
District staff are still working to develop new attendance boundaries, bus routes and a transfer process, sibling transfers and plans for the properties before the 2027-28 school year, Wilson said.
The district will work with teachers at the affected schools and make an effort to keep them within their current feeder patterns. Wilson also said the district will keep staff employed at the cost of some of the projected savings.
“We have to make sure that we’re taking care of our staff. Our goal is to make sure staff have a choice in where they want to go,” Wilson said. “If that means that we're going to be a little bit overstaffed in certain areas ... we're not able to maximize that [at] 100%. I'm okay with that because 80% is still a great number. We have significantly reduced our transportation costs.”
District leaders also plan to implement a new grade structure after the intermediate schools close. Under the new structure, elementary schools would serve grades 1-5, middle schools will serve grades 6-8 and high schools will serve students in grades 9-12, according to a district communication.
