Meeting 2: 6-8 p.m. Thursday, February 5
Keller ISD convened its Long-Range Planning and Citizens Bond Advisory committees for the second of five joint meetings to discuss the district’s future course, and specifically school consolidation needs.
This meeting offered the 120 committee members a deeper dive into KISD’s demographic projections, including an analysis on what factors are impacting declining enrollment. Economic conditions – like slower job growth in the region – combined with declines in home-building and homeowner mobility, along with declines in birthrates and increases in alternative education opportunities, lead experts to project that KISD’s enrollment will drop by 5,000 students over the next five years.
The committees also reviewed the work that has gone into assessing the condition of Keller ISD’s facilities over the past two years and previewed some of that analysis. More than half of the district’s current school buildings were constructed during a 10-year period between 2000-2010, meaning that mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) infrastructures are at or approaching 20-25 years old. At that age, failures in certain areas are not uncommon, and the district is faced with having to address many of those issues at one time.
Costs for repairs come out of the district’s maintenance and operations (M&O) budget, the same funds that would otherwise be used to invest in classrooms and teachers. However, with the way the Texas Legislature has set up public school funding, facility updates could be made through a bond package and paid through the district’s debt service or “interest and sinking” (I&S) account, freeing up M&O funds to invest in student learning.
Lastly, the committees previewed potential criteria for campus consolidation. The committees will be tasked with determining the community’s priorities as it relates to more efficiently utilizing KISD schools, which district leadership will then use to identify what campuses will need to be closed and consolidated. While district leadership provided some examples of what that criteria could look like, it will ultimately up to the committee to make those decisions.
Click here to view the presentation shared at Thursday’s meeting.
As this work continues over the coming weeks, be sure to stay tuned to www.KellerISD.net/Future for additional updates and answers to frequently asked questions.
Meeting 3: 6-8 p.m. Thursday, February 12
Keller ISD’s Long-Range Planning and Citizens Bond Advisory committees came together for the third of five planned joint meetings to begin developing potential criteria for more efficiently utilizing the district's resources through campus consolidation.
Superintendent Dr. Cory Wilson opened the meeting by directing the focus of the approximately 120 committee members to consider what’s best for Keller ISD as a whole, as opposed to considering what’s best for a particular school, feeder pattern, or city. He encouraged the attendees to focus on the district’s current needs ahead of any potential “wants,” and assured them that intentional time and effort will be spent ahead of the 2027-28 school year providing support for families and staff impacted by consolidation.
The committees spent time learning more about the costs associated with operating Keller ISD schools, including reviewing data about the inefficiency of operating underutilized campuses. Generally, the lower the percentage of occupancy of a campus, the more it costs, per-student, to run the school.
Committee members then spent the majority of their time brainstorming and discussing potential criteria that district leadership should take into consideration. Work first took place in table groups of 8-9 stakeholders. As tables posted their respective ideas, other committee members had an opportunity to review and cast votes for criteria statements they supported. That information will be used moving forward to help narrow down the committee's priorities when it comes to identifying campuses for consolidation.
Click here to view the presentation shared at Thursday’s meeting.
You can keep up with the work of the committees at www.KellerISD.net/Future where you can also find an ever-growing list of answers to frequently asked questions about Keller ISD’s campus consolidation process.
Meeting 4: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 24
Keller ISD’s Long-Range Planning and Citizens Bond Advisory committees met once again to discuss criteria that district leadership should consider as they develop a plan for more efficient operations through campus consolidation.
At the previous meeting, committee members narrowed their focus to 13 potential criteria statements. At this week’s meeting, members reviewed and asked questions about those topics before voting on their highest priority criteria in table groups.
Ultimately, the criteria for consolidation that the committees most prioritized were:
⚖️ Grade Alignment & Configuration
📊 Campus Occupancy & Utilization
💵 Cost of Bringing Facilities to Compliance
🚌 Transportation Considerations
Other criteria that received strong consideration from the majority of committee members included:
🏦 Prioritizing Facility Costs
💵 Cost of Relocating Special Programs
🏗️ Facility Condition Index Score
🛡️ Limiting Staff & Student Disruptions
⚖️ Program Equity Across Campuses
⚓️ Feeder Pattern & Boundary Stability
KISD leadership will now use those criteria to develop different scenarios for school closures and attendance zone alignments. Those scenarios will be presented to the committees at their next joint meeting on March 10 for consideration and feedback before being presented to Keller ISD’s Board of Trustees.
