Potential closures of some Fort Bend Independent School District campuses
SUGAR LAND, Texas (FOX 26) - Hundreds of people have packed community meetings in the Fort Bend Independent School District as the district considers closing some campuses. There are only two more meetings scheduled before a decision is made.
A thirty-member committee is taking a look at Fort Bend ISD and deciding which schools should stay and which should go.
Members of one group who spoke with FOX 26 News were all wearing red shirts. They didn’t only have t-shirts made, they have also come together in force from the tallest to the smallest to #SaveME.
"Save Meadows Elementary,” explains 9-year-old Camden Miller. It's his fourth year at Meadows Elementary and he doesn’t want to see the school go, so he and several students have written letters.
"Dear board members, I really wish you could rebuild Meadows Elementary because we learn a lot from our school and our teachers are really nice. Also, I like how close it is to my house. I learned how to spell all these words at Meadows Elementary,” reads 7-year-old Sawyer Miller from her letter.
"Personally, I would be very sad if me and my best friend got separated and it’s a big part of our community,” adds Camden.
Children and parents are speaking out as a community-based steering committee develops a new Fort Bend ISD master plan and decides how to best spend the district's dollars.
"They've taken a look at facilities assessment data from throughout the district as well as a review of each educational environment throughout the district and based on that they’ve come up with some ideas,” explains Fort Bend ISD spokeswoman Amanda Bubela. Some of those options include potentially closing certain high schools such as Hightower, Marshall or Willowridge and Meadows Elementary to name a few.
"Meadows Elementary is one of our schools that we know has significant needs,” says Bubela.
"I didn’t just pick public school for my kids, I picked Meadows Elementary,” says Kara Fields, whose son is in first grade at Meadows.
"We’ve been at schools that felt like they were all about test scores but Meadows seems like it’s all about serving the kids and caring for the kids,” explains Nate Pennings, who has three children enrolled there.
“Ultimately, the feedback we get from this process is what’s going to guide the decision making into the final recommendation,” says Bubela.
If you want to weigh in with Fort Bend ISD regarding which schools stay or go, there’s a community meeting on Tuesday, April 10 at Elkins High School and the last meeting is on Wednesday, April 11 at Austin High School. Both begin at 7 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.
After the two community meetings, the steering committee will reconvene and is expected to submit a recommendation to the Fort Bend ISD board in May.