The Dallas School Board tonight votes on closing eleven schools to save millions of dollars in the coming budget year. The move follows severe state education cuts, as KERA’s Bill Zeeble explains.
For more than a week, school officials have held public meetings at various schools to explain why it’s better for the budget and the students to close under-populated schools rather than keep them open.
Trustees say the district faces a giant budget shortfall and has little choice but to consolidate. They’ll move students from closed campuses into nearby, larger schools with more resources.
But Bonham Elementary volunteer Arlene Colbert a former teacher and principal, believes in the Blue Ribbon school she graduated from more than half a century ago.
Arlene Colbert, volunteer: I believe in the work they’re doing here. And other people do too, and I want it to continue. We don’t want it to close.
Bonham has earned the state’s exemplary rating nine times. Parents and teachers argue it’s a school to be copied not killed. Other Exemplary and Recognized schools are also on the list.
