The decision, which is expected to save around $2.1 million, comes after weeks of board discussions on and resident pleading against possible school closures and program consolidations as measures to combat enrollment decline and budget shortfalls. Originally, the plan included consolidating Pinkerton’s International Baccalaureate program and the district's dual-language immersion, or DLI, program into other schools. However, the board voted to explore alternative options for these programs.
“Things have to be intentional moving forward, " trustee Anthony Hill said. “[The decision] is the easy part. When I look back to [the aftermath], when previous decisions were made, that's when things got tough.”
The details
With the consolidation of Pinkerton Elementary, students will attend Wilson and Austin elementary schools. The district will adjust Denton Creek Elementary attendance zones to Town Center, Cottonwood Creek and Lakeside elementary schools based on enrollment, according to district documents.
Buildings considered for consolidation were rated on capacity, age and condition; cost to run and maintain; and proximity to neighborhoods. Based on a facilities evaluation tool created in June, Pinkerton scored the lowest of all facilities in the district in the age and condition category. Results of the evaluation can be found on the rubric here.
Initially, New Tech High School, Austin Elementary and Pinkerton Elementary were the three schools that could shut down due to budget concerns in the district. On Sept. 16, the board removed Austin Elementary as an option for potential closure primarily due to its position as a neighborhood school that students can walk to. They also removed the option that would consolidate New Tech High at Coppell with the stipulation that the staff develop a plan to increase enrollment and efficiency at that campus.
District staff said that the consolidations would not affect the elementary class student-to-teacher ratios of 22-1.
More details
Initially, closing Pinkerton Elementary meant that the campus’ International Baccalaureate program would move to Wilson Elementary along with Pinkerton IB staff members. However, the board voted to explore other options. The IB program is a specialized learning model that seeks to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young students, according to district documents.
Similarly the board voted against consolidating Wilson Elementary’s DLI program into Denton Creek Elementary, which also offers the program. The program seeks to create bilingual and biliterate students, and is the district’s chosen model to serve its emergent bilingual students as required by the state, said Angie Brooks, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
“If we look at where our Spanish emergent bilingual learners live, where they can walk to school, where the school already has two classes per grade level, it is bigger and thriving at Wilson,” Wilson parent Viki Wolfe said.
Over 17% of Coppell ISD students speak a foreign language, according to district data. Around 162 students are enrolled at the DLI program at Denton Creek Elementary school, which has a total enrollment of 500 students, according to previous Community Impact reporting. At Wilson Elementary, around 204 students are enrolled in the program for a total of 366 districtwide.
The context
It is expected that elementary enrollment in CISD will decline by 550-660 students in the next three to four years, according to Chief Financial Officer Diana Sircar. This would lead to a loss of around $4.4 million. As students move up in grade levels, the secondary grades will start to see the decline in enrollment also, Sircar added.
This places additional financial burden on a district already facing a state funding formula that hasn’t changed since 2019, over 20% inflation since that time and underfunded state mandates that have forced CISD to adopt a $7.5 million shortfall budget in fiscal year 2024-25, per district documents.
To mitigate these challenges, CISD has implemented various cost-cutting measures and revenue-generation strategies, Superintendent Brad Hunt said. This includes reducing positions through attrition; cutting district-level expenses; and lowering the budget for student competitions, shuttles, custodial services and more. Revenue-generation strategies include expanding enrollment efforts outside of the district and increasing facility rental fees.
What else?
The district also called a voter-approval tax rate election—which could generate $2.4 million if it passes—in the upcoming November election.
