COPPELL, Texas — Monday night at a school board meeting in Coppell, parents and even a board member cried as the board voted to close Pinkerton Elementary School, the oldest public school in the city.
The vote comes following parent and student pushback weeks after the superintendent said enrollment is down and the budget deficit is big: $6.8 million, according to staff.
The board considered several cost-cutting options and eventually decided to vote Monday on whether to close Pinkerton Elementary and send its students to other campuses, which would save a projected $2.1 million.
They also planned to vote on whether to consolidate the bilingual, dual-language programs that currently exist on two elementary campuses into one, which would save about $280,000. But that decision would also force Spanish-speaking students to move campuses too.
“I’m just really nervous,” Pinkerton parent Julie Waters told WFAA in advance of the meeting. "Really nervous and anxious because there’s a lot at stake tonight.”
“To break those kids up now I think is detrimental to them,” district parent Randi Pearson added.
58 people made their case one last time to board members Monday night during the meeting's public comment portion. Several Pinkerton students addressed the board, some too short to even reach the podium.
“I love that I can walk to school with my mom and dad,” one child told the board.
“My friends and I will have to go to different schools,” another said.
In the end, the majority of the board said they could not wait any longer to make what they called a very difficult decision, citing statistics district staff provided about projected continued enrollment decline and the budget deficit.
After several hours of public comment and debate, the board voted to close the school, but to revisit the discussion about whether to consolidate the dual language programs. They also will revisit which campus the now displaced International Baccalaureate program at Pinkerton will move to.
Several speakers at public comment expressed concern that if the language programs for Spanish-speaking students are consolidated into just one campus, families might sacrifice the important program in exchange for keeping their children on their current campus.
Pinkerton will close before the next school year.