Since the recommendation by the Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee to close Davis Elementary, Forman Elementary, Armstrong Middle School, and Carpenter Middle School was revealed at the May 21, 2024 Plano ISD School Board Meeting, many in the community have been expressing concerns about the proposals and who was at the helm of this processs.
Plano ISD finally made public the names of the individuals who comprised the Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee (AKA School Closure Committee) and “decided” which campuses should be closed.
This list was presented as part of the Long Range Facility Planning presentation at the May 21, 2024 Plano ISD School Board Meeting.
For those unfamiliar with how individuals were selected to be on this Committee, it was unlike the process for filling any other Plano ISD Advisory Committee.
Instead of applications being open to the Plano ISD community, as has been the practice for all other Plano ISD Advisory Committees, this Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee was hand-picked by Plano ISD Administration and School Board Trustees. In short, for this Advisory Committee:
- Each Trustee was to appoint 3 individuals,
- Plano ISD Administration was to appoint individuals from the 2022 Plano ISD Bond Future Forward Taskforce, and
- Plano ISD Administration was to appoint Plano ISD principals and staff.
As seen above, the listing of Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee members neglected to denote which individuals were appointed by Trustees, which were from the Future Forward Taskforce, and which were Plano ISD staff.
A member of the community anonymously shared an Open Records Request made for that information.
An analysis conducted according to best available data revealed the following details:
Most notable findings:
- Some Trustees appointed more than the 3 permitted by the Resolution the Board voted upon (Tarrah Lantz appointed 5; Jeri Chambers, Michael Cook, and Katherine Goodwin each appointed 4).
- 59% of this Advisory Committee was Plano ISD Staff:
- 61% were District Administrators,
- 15% were from the East Cluster,
- 10% were from the Central Cluster,
- 5% were from the West Cluster, and
- the remainder were identified by Plano ISD as staff that were neither District Administrators nor defined to a specific cluster.
- If you are a community member, your odds of being selected for this Advisory Committee were slim to none unless you were part of a Trustee’s social circle or served on their campaign.
The main opportunity the vast majority of stakeholders had to provide input was at the Community Feedback Meetings. People who attended these meetings reported that they were not allowed to raise questions or openly voice their concerns to all in attendance. Instead, they reported having to provide written feedback on a form that was turned in to Plano ISD administrators at the end of the meetings. These attendees indicated feeling that their feedback had no impact on decisions being made. Reviewing the Community Feedback Meetings (November 2023 to April 2024) that were being held concurrently to the Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee meetings (October 2023 to May 2024), it seems highly improbable that the Community Feedback had any impact at all on the recommendations presented to the Board of Trustees:
Additionally, one of the presenters acknowledged that the District stated goal was for campuses to have an 80% to 85% efficiency rating. However, the actual presentation revealed that even after these recommended school closures, efficiency ratings would be below this goal for both the Central and East Clusters, causing Trustee Jeri Chambers to acknowledge that this is setting the District up for additional closures while Superintendent Theresa Williams was quick to interject “I don’t want this to be doomsday.”
The lack of closures in the West Cluster affirms the 80% to 85% District goal.
The Board of Trustees has indicated that they will be voting on which schools to close at the June 25, 2024 School Board Meeting. Rest assured, if you feel your feedback has not been received, according to Trustee Chambers, you’ll have opportunities in the future to have your voice heard when they revisit school closures – coming to a campus near you!
Educate Plano 