FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth ISD says eight of its elementary schools will have to begin sharing librarians next school year as enrollment is on the decline.
The district confirmed each of the schools has a projected enrollment of less than 300 students, those schools being:
- A.M. Pate Elementary School
- Charles Nash Elementary School
- De Zavala Elementary School
- Edward Briscoe Elementary School
- Kirkpatrick Elementary School
- Maudrie M. Walton Elementary School
- Riverside Applied Learning Center
- Washington Heights Elementary School
Fort Worth ISD clarified in a statement to WFAA that no current librarians will lose their jobs and no school libraries will have their operating hours reduced due to this change.
The district had an issue with its libraries last August when they were shut down for books to be inventoried after there was some concern over possibly inappropriate books being on the shelves of the district's libraries.
House Bill 900 by Frisco Republican Rep. Jared Patterson – known as the READER Act – was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. It aims to keep sexually explicit content away from children across nearly 9,000 Texas K-12 campuses.
Under the new law, “sexually explicit” books will be taken off shelves, and “sexually relevant” books will go through a first-of-its-kind rating system before they're made available to students and will require parental consent.
In March, Fort Worth ISD's Board of Trustees also voted to consolidate one of its sixth-grade campuses as it anticipates a budget deficit next school year.
FWISD is still calculating cost savings for the combined schools, but the district is convinced it will help with budget concerns.
