The action comes on the heels of the board’s decision to consolidate Pinkerton Elementary on Sept. 30. The effects of the consolidations will take effect in the 2025-26 school year, according to district documents. Community members spoke in opposition of the DLI program consolidation during the open forum.
Resident Viki Wolf said that Denton Creek’s DLI program is smaller and has five students who walked to school compared to 122 at Wilson. Wolf added that out of the 122 students, 75 are emergent bilingual students, which the district is required to provide services for by the state. The district uses the DLI program to serve these students.
“We are concerned about the impact to the program and its learners that the location option requires, when data to us points to another way,” Wolf said.
The details
The district expects over 800 students to be impacted by the campus and program consolidations, said Kristen Eichel assistant superintendent for administrative services. With the consolidation of Pinkerton Elementary, students will attend Wilson and Austin Elementary schools.
Wilson’s DLI program will move to Denton Creek elementary, and then the district plans to adjust Denton Creek attendance zones to Town Center, Cottonwood Creek and Lakeside elementary schools based on enrollment, Eichel said. As a result of the changes, the district could adjust Austin Elementary attendance zones to Town Center and Lakeside.
Neighborhoods being rezoned from Pinkerton to Wilson and from Austin to Town Center would also be rezoned from Coppell Middle School East to Coppell Middle School North, Eichel said.
“If any of the Austin families want to remain at their current campus, they would be able to apply for a transfer during the two transfer windows in the spring,” she said.
More details
The IB program is a specialized learning model that seeks to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young students, according to district documents.
The DLI 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.
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
After weeks of deliberation and family protesting, the school board voted 4-3 to close Pinkerton Elementary, the oldest school in the district, as a measure to combat enrollment decline and budget shortfalls. The decision to close Pinkerton is expected to save around $2.1 million, and the consolidation of the DLI program is slated to save $288,000, per district documents.
Originally, the plan included consolidating Pinkerton’s IB program and the district's DLI program into other schools. On Sept. 30, the board voted to explore alternative options for these programs; however, trustees and officials reconvened Oct. 9 and determined the original consolidation plan was the best option, leading to the Oct. 23 decision.
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 resulted in CISD adopting 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.
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.
Next steps
Trustees agreed to schedule a workshop dedicated to rezoning. Board members also advocated for the creation of a committee to help families through the transitions. Trustees will deliberate and draft next steps at the Oct. 28 board meeting.
Going forward district staff will prioritize communication with Pinkerton, Wilson and Denton Creek staff and families through the process, Superintendent Brad Hunt said.
“We are committed as a district to taking care of all of our students and staff,” he said.
