Latest news with #FacilitiesMasterPlan
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fort Worth ISD board to discuss recommended school closures, hear public comment
At its Tuesday night, May 13 meeting, the Fort Worth ISD school board will hear public comment and a presentation about the proposed Facilities Master Plan, which recommends closing and consolidating 18 elementary and middle schools over the next four years. After this week's discussion, the board is scheduled to vote on the plan at its meeting the following week on Tuesday, May 20. 'This proposal is about building a better future for our students,' Superintendent Karen Molinar said in a news release Monday. 'Our goal is to create learning environments that inspire success. By right-sizing and investing in our schools, we can ensure every student has access to the programs and resources they need to thrive.' Fort Worth ISD officials said the plan was developed through an extensive review of facility conditions and enrollment trends, and input from the community meetings, stakeholder surveys and the district's Master Facilities Plan Community Task Force and Steering Committee. The district has said that the campuses being considered for closure are under-enrolled or need major repairs. The following 14 proposed closures are part of the plan, pending approval by the board: J.T. Stevens Elementary closing at end of 2026-27 school year; Students transfer to Westcreek Elementary and Bruce Shulkey Elementary Charles Nash Elementary closing at end of 2025-26 school year; Students transfer to Oakhurst Elementary, Versia Williams Elementary and Rufino Mendoza Elementary Harlean Beal Elementary closing at end of 2027-28 school year; Students transfer to David K. Sellars Elementary H.V. Helbing Elementary closing at end of 2027-28 school year; Students transfer to Diamond Hill Elementary and M.H. Moore Elementary Kirkpatrick Elementary closing at end of 2025-26 school year; Students transfer to Washington Heights Elementary and Dolores Huerta Elementary Kirkpatrick Middle closing at end of 2028-29 school year; Students transfer to newly constructed J.P. Elder Middle Edward J. Briscoe Elementary closing at end of 2025-26 school year; Students transfer to Carroll Peak Elementary, Morningside Elementary and Van Zandt-Guinn Elementary Morningside Middle closing at end of 2028-29 school year; Students transfer to newly constructed William James Middle De Zavala Elementary closing at end of 2026-27 school year; Students transfer to Lily B. Clayton Elementary and E.M. Daggett Elementary Atwood McDonald Elementary closing at end of 2026-27 school year; Students transfer to Bill J. Elliott Elementary and East Handley Elementary A.M. Pate Elementary closing at the end of 2026-27 school year; Students transfer to Christene C. Moss Elementary Sunrise-McMillan Elementary closing at end of the 2027-28 school year; Students transfer to Maudrie M. Walton Elementary, Christene C. Moss Elementary and W.M Green Elementary (A.M. Pate could become a school of choice, and Sunrise-McMillan could become a family resource hub) Riverside Applied Learning Center closing at end of 2025-26 school year. Students transfer to Bonnie Brae Elementary Hubbard Heights Elementary closing at end of 2028-29 school year. Students transfer to Seminary Hills Park Elementary, Richard J. Wilson Elementary and Worth Heights Elementary Additionally, the closures of S.S. Dillow Elementary and McLean 6th Grade Center and the construction of a new campus for Eastern Hills Elementary are included in the plan, with those changes already receiving board approval. The current Eastern Hills Elementary campus will close in June and its students will attend West Handley Elementary during the transition. West Handley will close in June 2028 and its students will be consolidate at the new Eastern Hills campus in the 2028-29 school year, the plan states. District officials said the proposed plan would not require additional financing or a new bond program. 'This is a difficult process, but it is one rooted in equity, academic impact, and fiscal responsibility,' said Deputy Superintendent Kellie Spencer. 'We're proposing a phased approach that allows for stability, forward planning, and community partnership. Smarter spaces mean stronger schools.' The May 13 special meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort Worth Independent School District Service Center, 7060 Camp Bowie Blvd. Video of the meeting will be live-streamed and archived on Fort Worth ISD's YouTube channel and on the FWISD Video on Demand site. Residents who want to speak during public comment can sign up by calling 817-814-1920 by 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting or sign up at the meeting location until 5:20 p.m. If you want to make a public comment by written statement, you may email boardmeetings-publiccomment@ by noon on the day of the meeting. Written statements will be shared with the board but won't be read aloud during the meeting. Public comment is limited to items on the agenda, per board policy. 🚨 More top stories from our newsroom: → Japanese, New York investors own thousands of suburban Fort Worth homes → What can Florida school vouchers tell us about Texas? → TCU students' cars targeted in burglaries [Get our breaking news alerts.] Other items on the agenda for the May 13 meeting are an update on plans for the school district's 2025-26 budget, including potential options for raising employee salaries, and an execution session to discuss the legal implications of a letter from the Texas Education Agency that informed Fort Worth ISD of a possible state takeover of the district because of failing test scores at a now-closed school.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Bend schools building projects and LaSalle/Kennedy merger: What we know
SOUTH BEND — Almost two years after its adoption, South Bend schools' Facilities Master Plan has seen everything from school consolidations to playground installations, but officials say there's still work to be done. During a board work session on Thursday, Feb. 20, district administrators presented an update on the plan, providing an overview of completed and continuing projects across the corporation. One major project that's currently paused is the Kennedy/LaSalle merger, and some community members expressed frustration with a perceived lack of communication about the project from administrators and the board. As Thursday's session wasn't a formal meeting, no board action was taken. A recording of the full presentation is available on the district's YouTube channel. District officials said some projects outlined in the Facilities Master Plan have already been completed since its approval in April 2023, including: Moving the fine arts magnet program from Clay High School to Riley High School. Moving the K-5 program from McKinley to Edison, which is now a K-8 school. Officials said several projects at Edison have been completed, including moving the 6-8 grades to the second floor, creating three kindergarten classrooms, lowering urinals in first-floor boys' bathrooms and installing playground equipment. Completing the Nuner Fine Arts Academy program transition. Keeping the Dual Language Immersion Program at Harrison for 2024. This will be moved to Navarre for the 2025-26 school year. Using the McKinley building as an early childhood center for the Special Needs Adaptive Program (SNAP), consolidating the program previously located at Studebaker. Officials said some renovations have been completed, including converting the former library to a multipurpose instructional area, installing playground equipment and closing the outdated therapeutic pool. Creating additional classrooms at LaSalle. Installing a piano studio, dance studio, graphic and digital design classroom and minimal upgrades to the library carpeting at Riley High School. Creating small group instruction areas and installing playground equipment at Dickinson K-8. The administrators said there are still projects awaiting completion, and in some cases board approval, including: Expanding the Marquette Montessori program to Pre-K-8 in the 2025-26 year. Expanding the Marshall Traditional program to Pre-K-8 over the next few years, with completion in 2026-27. Pending board approval, moving the Kennedy program into the LaSalle facility, creating a "school-within-a-school." Officials recommended using the Kennedy building for a new K-8 alternative education program and a location for Rise-Up Academy after the end of this school year, along with spaces for Adult Education and other programs if space allows. Pending board approval, creating a career and technical education (CTE) center that would centralize the district's CTE programs. Completing additional projects at Edison over the summer, including installing two kindergarten restrooms, lowering drinking fountains and adjusting the first-floor bathroom sinks. This has a soft completion date of August 2025. Completing additional projects at McKinley, including finishing a parent waiting room, installing additional drinking fountains and securing the locker room areas of the gym. This has a soft completion date of August 2025. Installing a secured entrance, new library doors and an electric switchgear panel at Dickinson K-8, with a soft completion date of August 2025. Several capital projects across the district are moving forward, administrators said, including: Repairing exterior masonry at LaSalle and Adams High School. Replacing sections of the roof at Washington High School. Upgrading HVAC units and exhaust fans in schools around the district. Replacing outdated boilers and chillers in schools around the district. Officials said 76 boilers and 17 chillers will be replaced, while 12 chillers will be repaired. Replacing energy management systems at Clay International Academy, Marshall and Swanson. Renovating four bathrooms at Darden with Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant toilets, urinals and sinks. Installing fall zones in playgrounds at Muessel, Nuner and Harrison. The officials said the disposition of Eggleston, Old Marquette, Greene and Studebaker is on pause and awaiting board approval. Officials said the Medical Magnet project is moving forward, and the district has been working with an architect on designs. The goal is to have a soft opening in August 2025. The project entails renovating classrooms to accommodate the program, installing a set of student bathrooms, moving the dental lab from Clay to Washington, creating a separate student entry for the program, updating offices and a conference room and replacing sections of the roof. According to district officials, the merger that would combine Kennedy K-5 and LaSalle 6-8 into a K-8 school housed at LaSalle is paused and awaiting board action. The district already bought a playground for the K-8 school that arrived at the end of January, and officials said they are waiting on the board's decision to install or repurpose it. The project has a soft completion date of August 2025, and administrators said timing would be an issue if the project moves forward, as it would require some construction, including: Installing two kindergarten restrooms for three classrooms. Renovating three science classrooms. Repairing the parking lot asphalt. Addressing lighting, carpeting, window treatments and painting as needed. Resurfacing the gym floor. Lowering drinking fountains, sinks and urinals. Installing rubberized treads on two stairwells. District Chief Financial Officer Ahnaf Tahmid said the Kennedy/LaSalle move should be a priority, as parents and staff at both schools are waiting to hear if and when the merger will take place. After the presentation, trustee Mark Costello put forward his own structural plan, which would entail using K-6 schools and 7-8 junior high schools throughout the corporation to encourage students to stay within their own feeder district. He said his plan will help keep students in the corporation by specifically targeting sixth grade — as, according to Costello, the majority of students who leave South Bend schools do so before middle school. Several community members asked the board for more communication on the LaSalle/Kennedy merger. A community member and the vice president of the Kennedy Parent Teacher Association, Jacob Wise, shared concerns that the move might result in overcrowding or insufficient facilities. "Just because the school is performing well in its current location doesn't mean it performs well after the move," he said. Attendee Janelle Phillips said she has two children at Kennedy, and she'd support a move to LaSalle. But she expressed frustration with the "abrupt changes" she's seen. "When my family decided to enter the district in the fall of 2019, I had a straightforward educational path from K to 12 in my mind," Phillips said. "But since then, because of a multitude of district changes, I've given up on having certainty of what my children's educational path will look like, and I've instead adopted a one-year-at-a-time mentality. … I need to know where my kids are going to school in six months from now." Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rdeaton@ This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend school officials update on facility plan, Kennedy/LaSalle
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Input sought for library improvement project
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Those at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County are looking for input on a library improvement project. As part of the Facilities Master Plan, community members are asked to share their thoughts on how library facilities and services can adapt to better meet the needs of the Valley moving forward. 'We want to listen to the community to continue to find ways to create spaces that facilitate the love of lifelong reading and literacy, learning, creativity and make community collaboration possible. The facilities master planning process is the way in which we undergo a broad community study and seek input to help shape nearly every major facilities decision we make as a library system,' said Aimee Fifarek, director and CEO of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. From February 1-14, community members can weigh in on feedback boards, which will be displayed publicly at each of the library's branches. Participants will answer questions such as what library space they value most and what spaces they want to see as part of the library. The feedback boards are based on prior patron survey responses, studies and input from staff — a process that began last year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
