WFISD takes up tasks of redrawing boundary lines, determining facility usage
Wichita Falls ISD School Board members have decided to dig into the mammoth tasks of figuring out attendance zone boundaries and how to use school buildings with two new high schools on the horizon.
During a special meeting Friday, trustees discussed those tasks, the district's declining enrollment, the need to look at possibly closing some campuses and a westward shift of population and development in the city.
They took no official action but agreed to get started on redrawing boundary lines and taking another look at how to use school facilities with the new high schools slated to open in fall 2024.
Unpopular decisions
They also faced the inevitable when it comes to reconfiguring school attendance zones.
“We are not going to make everybody happy," Place 1 Trustee Bob Payton said. "I will just tell the board that and tell the public that right now."
Payton said whatever boundary lines the School Board draws, some residents won't like them.
"Someone will live just on the other side of that street," he said.
More: WFISD School Board to discuss attendance zones, use of facilities on Friday
Change coming
The construction and opening of the new high schools will result in Hirschi and Rider high schools becoming middle schools. Wichita Falls High School is to be retired.
Wichita Falls Memorial High School will be at 6422 Seymour Highway in the southwest part of the city.
Wichita Falls Legacy High School will be in the southeast at Windthorst Road and Henry S. Grace Freeway.
Their opening will trigger a cascade of changes to attendance zones and schools across the district. Trustees laid long-term plans for facilities before floating bond issues for the new high schools to voters.
Fewer students
But a drop in enrollment of 800 students since the spring of the 2019-2020 school year has changed the picture.
After the meeting, WFISD Superintendent Mike Kuhrt said enrollment has dropped across the board at elementary schools for the most part.
The district had about 14,100 students going into the pandemic, according to a previous Times Record News story.
In March 2020, Gov. Greg Abbott closed campuses because of COVID-19, and kids transitioned to remote learning. WFISD subsequently lost 600 students that school year.
"Our enrollment is down, so this would be the opportune time to look at if there is other campus consolidation that could happen to help us be more efficient going forward," Payton said during the meeting.
The district has received a multimillion dollar infusion of COVID relief funds, but that is temporary. Lower enrollment will take a bite out of the district's funding.
The district will "have to get back to real life here in a couple of years with much lower enrollment," Payton said.
"We've got to operate more efficiently," he said.
McGregor: 'Stay with us on this'
The district can free up money spent unnecessarily on, for instance, heat and air, Payton said.
“Is it a little bit more crowded? Yes. But it’s better than having two or three empty classrooms in several buildings around the district," he said.
At-Large Trustee Elizabeth Yeager said consolidating elementary campuses will have a big ripple effect across the district.
Yeager said everyone would likely be impacted at some point.
At-Large Trustee Katherine McGregor said she "would just encourage the public to stay with us on this."
McGregor said the School Board seeks to do what is best for the district in the long term.
“I think this town wants us to make some changes, and we’ve said for 20 years we have too many schools," she said.
"And yet, we’re slow to change, and then we have to spend more money to maintain them. It’s good money after bad," McGregor said.
More: WFISD trustees vote to move forward with estimated $282.7 million high school construction projects
When attendance lines aren't redrawn
After the meeting, Kuhrt said Friday's special session was to start the discussion on drawing attendance boundaries, beginning with the new high schools and then moving on to future middle and elementary schools.
The goal with the high schools has been to have two equal campuses as much as possible: the same number of students, economically disadvantaged students and ethnic subgroups, he said.
"We've had small neighborhood schools, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not necessarily the most efficient thing," Kuhrt said.
Some campuses are completely full while others are not, he said.
“If we haven't drawn attendance lines in years, which we haven't, that just happens," he said. "There's a possibility that we could eliminate the need for some of our schools.”
School board members plan to have discussions on attendance zones at meetings for the foreseeable future except for the Tuesday's upcoming meeting.
New high schools
Officials cut back on the original plans for the new high schools because of higher costs from rising inflation and supply chain problems.
Trustees approved a guaranteed maximum price Nov. 15 of about $282.7 million for the reduced school construction plans.
The cost is an estimated $270.21 million for the new high schools and almost $12.5 million for the athletic facilities.
The new plans call for WFISD to ante up $20 million from its rainy day funds to make up for rising costs.
Administrators have proposed using $20 million of pandemic relief funds for staff salaries, freeing up district funds for the construction projects.
In addition, the district was going to kick in $4 million from rainy day funds to help boost athletic facilities up to competition level. But the dollars will instead help pay for the high schools' construction.
More: WFISD must scale back plans for new high schools
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: WFISD Board digs into school boundary lines, facility usage
