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Fort Worth ISD to combine 2 schools for the fall
In an effort to cut costs in the face of an anticipated budget deficit, the Fort Worth Independent School District plans to consolidate two schools next year. FOX 4's Hanna Battah has the story.
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth Independent School District will combine two schools next year in an effort to trim its budget and adjust for declining enrollment.
The plan calls for the consolidation of the Wedgewood 6th Grade campus with Wedgewood Middle School for the 2024-2025 school year.
It follows similar hard decisions being made in districts like Richardson, Keller, and Plano ISDs. They have all had to consider staffing changes and school closures to meet budget shortfalls.
To put it simply, Fort Worth ISD said it is just not feasible to operate an entire campus only for one grade, considering the district’s current and projected enrollment.
"As we’ve monitored enrollment trends, the enrollment has declined in such a way at Wedgewood 6th Grade Campus, with approximately 200 students, that it makes sense to go ahead and make the transition now," said Kellie Spencer, who is deputy superintendent of operations for Fort Worth ISD.
The 6th-grade campus has 208 students who will be joining the roughly 524 7th and 8th graders already in attendance at Wedgewood Middle School.
The district hopes combining the schools will ultimately help provide social-emotional learning opportunities for the younger students who will be mixed in with their older peers.
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For the past 13 years, the number of Fort Worth ISD students has been decreasing. However, a higher percentage of the district’s students are from disadvantaged communities and struggling families.
"Creating one middle school will help us better serve our students while also aligning with the goals of the district," said Superintendent Dr. Angelica Ramsey in a news release.
District officials said the consolidation optimizes spending with minimal impact to students and staff, noting that teachers in good standing will not lose their jobs due to the campus closure.
"Our talent management team will work with them to make sure that they have a place next year, whether that be at the Wedgewood's 7th-8th Campus or another campus in Fort Worth ISD," Spencer said.
Fort Worth ISD is not alone in making campus related and staffing changes to deal with looming budget shortfalls. Other districts have made hard decisions, citing no new funding from the state legislature and cost requirements for school safety mandates.
"Of course, effectiveness and efficiency sometimes hold hands, and sometimes they don’t," said Dr. Jo Beth Jimerson.
Jimerson, a TCU professor and former school principal, believes campus consolidation can be achieved effectively, with particular emphasis on social, cultural, and safety issues.
"There definitely may be some efficiencies of operations to be reached in operating one school rather than two very small schools," she explained. "You do have these concerns about safety, transportation. My kid used to walk two blocks to school, now they have to go a mile or get on a bus. So all of that is really incumbent on the district to communicate clearly how they’re going to deal with those issues."
Fort Worth ISD has not ruled out more school closures or campus consolidations.
"We expect community meetings to happen over the summer, and in early fall of 2025, with a plan coming out then that may or may not include additional campus consolidations," Spencer said.