Dallas, Texas: Dallas ISD Weighs Closing Six Campuses as South Dallas Parents Fight to Save Their School

Dallas ISD is weighing whether to close or consolidate six campuses, three of them early learning centers, as the district faces a budget deficit of more than $100 million for the current school year. Trustees were set to discuss the consolidation plan on Thursday afternoon, and parents in South Dallas and Oak Cliff are already fighting to keep their schools open.

The six campuses on the list are Joseph J. Rhoads Early Learning Center, N.W. Harllee Early Childhood Center, Arlington Park Early Childhood Center, Harrell Budd Elementary School, Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary School and Boude Storey Middle School. The district says the proposed consolidation could save about $2.6 million per campus closure. If the closures are approved, they would take effect for the 2027-28 school year. The last time Dallas ISD closed campuses to save money was 2012.

Trustees were scheduled to meet at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the Turney Leonard Governance and Training Center to discuss the plan.

A nearly full school in South Dallas

At J.J. Rhoads in South Dallas, trustee Ed Turner, who represents the school, questioned how much the district would save by closing a campus that is nearly full. Rhoads has 122 students enrolled, with room for 130, and Turner said Dallas ISD spends about $1.7 million a year to operate it.

"I was shocked that J.J. Rhoads was even considered in this first round," Turner said. "I'm not against consolidation. I'm for smart consolidation."

Turner also noted that the Rhoads building would stay open even if the school closed, because it houses a family resource center. Under the proposal, Rhoads students would move to H.S. Thompson Elementary, which serves children from pre-K through fifth grade.

Parents describe Rhoads as a neighborhood hub. Children can arrive around 7 a.m. and stay until 5:30 p.m., hours that working families rely on. One father, Taylor Estelle, whose 3-year-old son attends the school, has gathered more than 560 signatures in support of keeping it open. Another parent, Lemarion Patterson, said she would consider private school for her 4-year-old daughter if Rhoads closed.

The same fight in Oak Cliff

In Oak Cliff, trustee Byron Sanders, who represents N.W. Harllee, met with families and community members on Monday night. Sanders told them Harllee's enrollment is too low to justify the cost of a separate campus, and he pointed to state funding as the root of the problem. Lawmakers approved billions in added public education funding last session, but Sanders said much of that money was restricted to specific purposes, leaving districts little flexibility for daily operating costs.

Sanders also noted that Dallas ISD expanded full-day pre-K for 3 and 4-year-olds across the district this year, regardless of family income, so families would have other options if stand-alone early learning centers close. Families affected by a Harllee closure would eventually have the option of the new Cedar Crest Elementary School, which is being built with 2026 bond funds.

No final decision has been announced. Nothing is final until trustees vote, and families at all six campuses are watching what the board does next.