The Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees voted Monday to permanently close five elementary schools.
The district announced earlier this fall that it was considering closing some schools and adjusting the borders for others due to declining enrollment. The Community Efficiency Committee studied the current and projected enrollment at all district schools and made recommendations for the most efficient way to serve the total student population.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, and it’s one none of us ever wanted to face,” said Board of Trustees President Jenny Proznik. “The outpouring of support for our schools from families during this process has been a testament to the deep care and passion our community has for each campus. The appreciation for the hard work of our teachers and staff was evident throughout. We remain committed to doing what is best for our students, the district and the families we serve.”
On Monday, the district decided to shutter five elementary schools, one in each LISD high school feeder pattern. Not all votes were unanimous, but all carried. The following changes will take effect for the 2025-26 school year (all details were available on the LISD website):
Garden Ridge Elementary will be closed, and students in that school will be re-zoned for either Donald or Forest Vista. Students at both of those schools, like Garden Ridge, will go to Forestwood Middle School and Flower Mound High School.
Highland Village Elementary School will be closed, and those students will be split between McAuliffe and Heritage elementary schools. All three schools are zoned for Briarhill Middle School and Marcus High School.
Polser Elementary STEM Academy, which has 244 zoned and 260 transfer students, will be retired, and those students will go to Hebron Valley Elementary, which will be made into a STEM Academy for the Hebron feeder pattern. Both Schools are zoned to attend Creek Valley Middle School and Hebron High School.
Creekside Elementary School will be closed, and those students will be split between Lewisville, Lakeland and Degan elementary schools. Creekside students are currently split between Hedrick and Durham Middle School, and later Lewisville High School, and that will continue to be the case.
B.B. Owen Elementary will be closed, which will affect the attendance of Ethridge, Peters Colony, Morningside, Camey and Memorial elementary schools, all in The Colony High School’s feeder system.
Additionally, trustees moved the Lakeside neighborhood from the Bluebonnet Elementary (near capacity) zone to the Old Settlers Elementary zone (below 50% capacity). Bluebonnet is a feeder for Shadow Ridge Middle School, while Old Settlers is split between Shadow Ridge and McKamy Middle School.
Flower Mound Elementary, currently a split feeder school between Downing and Lamar middle schools, will have all students going to Downing.
Creek Valley Middle School will have some zoning changes to increase its enrollment; Coyote Ridge Elementary will be all zoned for Creek Valley MS, and Indian Creek Elementary will be a split feeder between Creek Valley and Arbor Creek Middle School.
The Meridian and Hidden Cove neighborhoods will be rezoned from Memorial Elementary STEM Academy to Camey Elementary.
“The heart of our district lies in the connections we share, the care we show one another, and the commitment we have to our students’ success,” said Dr. Lori Rapp, LISD Superintendent of Schools. “That heart will endure, no matter what changes come, because it is rooted in the strength and spirit of our LISD community.”
Many concerned residents attended the board meeting, with some speaking out against the changes. Some blamed insufficient funding from the state, and one person suggested Lewisville ISD close down its administration building and have all of those employees (and board members) help educate kids in the schools being closed.
When trustees voted to shutter the fifth and final school, members of the audience yelled “You lied to us!” and “We won’t forget!”
LISD’s current enrollment, as of Dec. 3, is 47,711 students. The district’s optimal capacity of all school buildings is 62,508, a difference of 15,907. The number of students graduating from high school in May outnumbered Kindergarten students who enrolled in August by 31 percent.
“Many reasons exist for the reduction in student enrollment: Low birth rates, residents aging in place, increasing median ages, rising home prices and low interest rates locking residents in place, COVID 19, school competition, a dearth of land for residential development, and strict and exclusionary housing development and zoning practices in some of our municipalities,” said Trustee Buddy Bonner in a Facebook post. “School finance provides the second driver for the decision to retire 5 elementary campuses. The District is hamstrung by an extremely difficult and tight budget. Since 2019, the Texas Legislature has not raised the basic allotment for student funding, which remains at $6160 per child. During that five-year period, inflation has risen 20%.”
Highland Village Mayor Charlotte Wilcox weighed in on the closures Tuesday morning, saying that Highland Village Elementary holds a “profound place” in her heart as it was where both her son and grandchildren attended school.
“I know this decision was not made lightly,” said Wilcox. “None of the trustees wanted to face this heartbreaking reality, and I can only imagine the burden they carried. When I met with our superintendent, Dr. Rapp, back in November, her visible pain over this matter was clear. My heart goes out to her and to the board members, who had to make such a difficult choice.”
