Save Our Four Points School Update Recap
savefourpointsschoolsA sincere thank you to everyone who came out last night including the Vandegrift students who spoke about their time on the Long Range Planning Committee and the impact the removal of the IB program will have on the community.
For those who were unable to make it, below are the notes from last night and we also ask that you join the board meeting tomorrow to speak or be there to support Cordelia (who worked hard on the Long Range Plan committee AND has been planning on participating in the IB program).
Here is how:
Meeting Time: 6:15 (doors open at 5:30)
Meeting Location: Cedar Mark Middle School Library
Meeting Address: 2100 Sun Chase Blvd
How to sign up to speak: You can sign up between noon today 2/12 and noon tomorrow 2/13 here: https://bit.ly/41O3cFH
RECAP
First and foremost… the entire Vandegrift feeder pattern is one community… and we really can’t fall for the division. We need to be including everyone in the conversations and working together towards solutions.
We gave a full recap on how we got to where we are now.
Back in February 2023, an update came out mentioned that the bond had a line item that involved repurposing an elementary school in the southern part of the district. At that time, the community mobilized and we had very specific goals:
- See what the data shows post-COVID/Real estate boom;
- Provide transparency; and
- Give us a voice for our community
In turn, they expanded the long-range plan committee, and welcomed many of us on committees and to be a part of the solution. We felt like we had made a positive change that would impact the district for the better, from the north to the south and everyone in between.
This general committee was to put student experience first, focus on fiscal responsibility and delay new construction as long as possible.
The facilities optimization subcommittee was given the task of coming up with a process for identifying schools that could be repurposed.
From there, the subcommittee was tasked with 3 distinct projects that they were to match with under-enrolled campuses. They met with the stakeholders for each project and spent hundreds of collective hours.
The options were presented in a committee meeting in May. The larger committee began debating when we were then provided the 4th option from the district, at the direction of the board. This was NOT agreed upon and fractured the committee. The larger committee was never given the opportunity to vote on which of these scenarios to take to the board.
NOTE: It was NEVER an “exercise” to create a tool. The recommendations were supposed to be presented to the board.
The facilities optimization subcommittee also presented ideas that had surfaced regarding “what to do” with under-enrolled schools that don’t fit the project specs. This committee was comprised of students, administrators, principals in and out of the southern part of the district, and parents in the south, central and northern part of the district.
The subcommittee synthesized all the data that was used in making the recommendations for the 3 projects they were tasked with and then tried to address:
- Student experience
- Enrollment numbers
- Honoring the neighborhood schools and not closing down campuses inside of a neighborhood
- District needs/projects for space
- Traffic
- And more…
They then went through and looked at scenarios for repurposing all elementary schools in the south, with the exception of River Ridge and both middle schools and gave the pros and cons for each. We later found out that there are deed restrictions in place that would need to be addressed. (Ex. LWBE can’t be repurposed til 2026, CRMS 2027, FPMS/VHS property can’t have more than 5500 vehicles in/out per day per the deed, etc.)
We presented this as a conversation starter to the main long-range planning committee after admin had run the scenarios with the different projections.
In September, Sarah Grissom gave an update to the board as to what the work was that we were doing and where we were and they rejected the work we had done and the recommendations that had come out of the subcommittee in full and changed the charge for the committee.
The 3 subcommittees presented their work on 9/9/2025.
Following that, it was turned into a Steiner v. Riverplace situation, sowing division and creating problems. The committee, subcommittee, and members of subcommittee were blamed for the public outcry. Sadly, administration didn’t standby the directive they gave the committee/subcommittees.
UPDATE FROM GEARING/BOARD OF DIRECTORS
As many of you are aware, Dr. Gearing dropped an update last week, announcing the cutting of a number of staff positions and programs to address the budget shortfall.
NOTE: This came on the heels of SB2 passing the Senate. While the state certainly has some responsibility in the funding issues, we need to make sure we’re not falling for the diversion tactics. If we’re focused on the state, then we’re not looking locally.
Do we want to add something here about ‘Pape’ about budget discussions for the next 4-5 months.
On January 23rd, Trish Bode questioned the recommendation for opening 2 new elementary schools in the same year (2028) and how it would impact M&O and also cause 3 more schools to be underenrolled. Given this update, this seems to be more of a concern as to where the money will come from to staff these new buildings beyond just the classroom teachers. They will require admin, specials, IAs, custodians, kitchen staff, etc., yet we can’t afford to staff what we already have.
As such, they are taking away programs like IB, which is the one true innovative program LISD has and they promote it extensively to the kids in the community. But, on 1/9, they were excited about pie-in-the-sky innovative ideas the district can’t simply afford.
The community outcry was substantial and prompted a response from the Gloria (board president) on behalf of the Board of Directors the following day, stating that budget discussions are ongoing and will be going on for the next several months, and then nothing had been decided.
Many question whether the district can simply cancel programs without direction from the board.
It is important to speak out at the board meetings (parents, students, and concerned members of the community)
Combining schools may be smart because it would eliminate the positions mentioned above for one of the campuses, but not to simply have new schools built that will require the same staffing.
A community member suggested that student, parents and community members reach out to elected representatives for help and to have them contact the board members on behalf of the constituents.
We also have to be concerned with what this would do to property values. Paul Gauthier gave a statistic that closing a neighborhood school would cause home values to drop by as much as 55%.
WE NEED YOUR HELP 🙂
We are excited to share 3 key initiatives that require volunteers to make a meaningful difference in our community and schools. Below are the areas where your involvement can create a impact:
Please Sign-Up: https://forms.gle/NNi1KrMSTKUDhSCAA
- Innovative Programs including the IB Program
We’re looking for volunteers to help save the innovative educational program we have at LISD today – the International Baccalaureate (IB) program as well as recommendations for other Innovative options. This will provide our students with more enriching academic opportunities and a global perspective. Your expertise and ideas will be crucial as we develop and implement these initiatives.
a. Save the IB Program: Evaluate how open enrollment can provide more of open enrollment, which could provide more revenue for the district. If individuals are willing to move from Canada or wake up at 5 am to drive across the district to Vandegrift for school for the IB program, individuals in surrounding districts may want to do the same. Starting ideas from last night:
ii. Open Enrollment: Possible evaluation of open enrollment, which could provide more revenue for the district. If individuals are willing to move from Canada or wake up at 5 am to drive across the district to Vandegrift for school for the IB program, individuals in surrounding districts may want to do the same.
ii. Open Enrollment: Possible evaluation of open enrollment, which could provide more revenue for the district. If individuals are willing to move from Canada or wake up at 5 am to drive across the district to Vandegrift for school for the IB program, individuals in surrounding districts may want to do the same.
iii. Maintenance & Operations (M&O) Reduction: Volunteers can help us explore solutions to reduce cost to pay for the IB programs:
- Fill Current Schools vs building new schools: New school builds may increase M&O costs
- Solar Panels: If we add solar panels from bond funds, we could reduce operational costs.
- Create programs of choice and market them district-wide.
- Etc.
2. Repurposing Schools
On March 11, 2023 after the Vandegrift community meeting with Dr. Gearing and the board members, we shared the district thought exchange that was geared towards providing the district with ideas to repurpose our schools. Hundreds of ideas were shared at that time and then thoroughly discussed with several board members over the last two years. However, in an effort to re-submit ideas and gather new ones, we are asking for volunteers to help brainstorm creative ways to repurpose our schools in order to keep our buildings in use and maximize resources. Your input will help us present viable options to the school board that will benefit both the district and our students.
a. Repurposing Partial Schools to keep current students intacct:
i. Children’s Library in LWBE
ii. Paid Pre-K at RRE
iii. Etc.
b. Repurposing of full schools to fully maximize, if we’re unable to repurpose partial schools in a fiscally responsible way:
c. Recommend watching the board meeting from 1/9 where “innovative academies” were discussed. I can’t figure out how to downloads to my hard drive to upload to otter for transcripts.. but I think watching his helpful as a starting point for things the district already has an appetite for. (time stamp)
3. Exploring Alternative Options for the Vandegrift Feeder Pattern
We are exploring the possibility of a beneficial exit for both LISD and the Vandegrift feeder pattern. Volunteers are needed to research legal and financial options that will guide us in evaluating whether this would be the right move for our community and the district. We need your help in assessing all potential outcomes.
a. Maybe also mention that there’s been mention by board members about a South/Central/North district. Can they figure out a way to have ‘sub districts’ essentially?
We are excited about these opportunities to improve our district, and we need your support to make it happen. If any of these areas resonate with you, please reach out to get involved. https://forms.gle/NNi1KrMSTKUDhSCAA Together, we can make a significant impact!
Thank you for your time!
RECAP
We gave a full recap on how we got to where we are now.
- Brief recap as to how we got here.
- Long Range Plan update
a. Heather intro
b. Unenrolled campuses and district needs -> Central had options…we didn’t
i. New Hope High School
ii. LEO
c. Steiner schools -> Two schools
d. Repurpose schools
e. Admin ran scenarios
f. Data we had
g. Charge: Prioritize students, delay construction, maximize fiscal responsibility
h. We used 60% as a guideline to consider a campus for repurposing. New demographic update puts a lot of schools in that zone. Steiner schools always came up to the top, but were not centrally located. (No real dog in the fight here other than the additional costs to us in terms of building and staffing two new schools and causing 3 to become under enrolled). – DESPITE the claim this was an exercise, it was, in fact, a directive.
i. We then took the insights we had gleaned from matching specific projects with potential campuses and applied some of that to the South to brainstorm options.
j. Looked at enrollment, student experience, teacher feedback, traffic, neighborhood schools, etc. Since we had no projects, we were trying to brainstorm innovative ways to meet the goals of the LRPC. To ensure that it was fair and not biases, we looked at repurposing:
i. GVH
ii. SRE
iii. RRE -> deed 2032
iv. LWBE -> deed
v. CRMA
vi. FPMS
k. We had several proposals. Ultimately got skewered before we could even start conversations and some on the board have now turned Steiner v. RP.
*** Would be great if we can Cordelia to speak to this ***
3. Recent update from Gearing
a. Taking away IB
i. LISD claims district of innovation. This is the only true innovative program we have. Yet innovative academies some pie in the sky ideas that we simply can’t afford.
ii. Had survey of Vandegrift -> 40 kids
b. Removing a lot of staff positions – but potentially moving them to the new schools being built in the district.
i. 2 new schools opening in a few years with a lot of staffing needs beyond just classroom teachers. (Ex. RRE has ~ 23 classroom teachers and over 70 total staff members so a lot of extra expense so they’ll be looking for more cuts)
ii. If we actually are trying to cost cut, combining schools would be smart because it would eliminate a set of admin staff, specials teachers and janitorial staff.
c. Board contacted by Senate and house
d. Timing
i. Released right after SB2 passed
- This is NOT a forum to discuss the pros and cons of vouchers or whether people are or are not supporting things, but rather the timing.
- LISD has some culpability. It was either cover to show that they can’t afford to staff two new schools in 2 years and not be able to staff (RRE has 23 classroom teachers and double that in other staffing). OR it was to deflect blame from the district.
ii. Gloria/BOD sent out a message the following day countering Dr. Gearing’s message and claiming none of this was decided.
- Speak out at the board meeting (IB)
4. Pros and cons of smaller campus
a. LISD data shows 250 is ideal for elementary campus
i. Teacher PLCs
ii. Student experience
iii. Teacher workload
iv. Gearing said we didn’t have to do anything with smaller schools right now and that lots of district have smaller campuses throughout TX. he did also say that we can keep low enrollment schools open but we may not be able to staff them.