In the November print version of FrontBurner, we look at the row over North Lake (North Lake, not Southlake) that pits the City of Coppell and the Coppell ISD against Billingsley Development Co. and the City of Dallas. After the jump, here’s a view from a trusted FBvian who resides in Coppell.
I live in Coppell and have been actively involved in trying to prevent the closure of an elementary school, Richard J. Lee Elementary. The CISD is planning to close the school and use it as a temporary (two years) site for a high school academy. The academy is the district’s answer to high school overcrowding. However, its own projections estimate that just 100 to 150 H.S. students will attend the academy – not much relief for the high school.
In choosing Lee, my son’s school, the district claimed dropping enrollment; yet this year, there are about 20 more students at Lee than last year.
Lee is a true neighborhood school and is the only one that serves Coppell’s two apartment complexes. My sons and I live in one of them. It’s a 400-unit complex that’s filled with single moms who pay $1200 a month to live there so their kids can go to the Coppell schools. There is also a large foreign contingency in the complex – not just Hispanic but also Indian and Asian.
It makes absolutely no sense to close Lee, especially as a temporary solution that won’t achieve what it’s intended to achieve – relieve the high school overcrowding. The school board used bad numbers (dreamed up by one of the board members) and held all closure discussions in special meetings with little notice.
Lee has one of the highest at-risk populations of any CISD elementary school. What’s more, about 65% of the students walk to school. Our apartment complex is on the same block – which means our kids don’t even have to cross a street. By closing the school and redistricting, these children will be forced to cross busy streets if they walk (Sandy Lake Road, Moore Road) or have to pay for busing.
So, the kids who can least afford it, the kids who already have a strike against them, are going to be the ones who pay for this foolish decision.
On top of that, we’re going to have high school students zipping in their cars to and from the academy, which causes even more of a safety issue. The board admitted that transportation and safety issues were not considered before they decided to close Lee. HUH?
There also was little consideration of the overcrowding we’re going to now see at the elementary level. Turner said in the Aug 6th board meeting that elementary class sizes will move to or near the 22-to-1 state maximum across the district, and CHS and middle school class sizes will also increase over current 22- and 23-to-1 student to teacher classroom averages.
The redistricting also is expected to affect the middle schools. It’s so frustrating!
The parent group with which I’m involved was formed to fight the Lee closure, which is scheduled to take effect in Fall 2008. The CISD now is in a redistricting mode, after voting to close Lee. We’ve created a new web site to focus on redistricting and reach out to the entire CISD community:
It provides a wealth of in-depth information on the issue. We aim to hold the board accountable for their numbers and their decisions. It also includes a very helpful Q&A page:
I personally think part of the district’s strategy was to create an overcrowding situation to give it more leverage in fighting North Lake. The sad thing is, it’s a decision that doesn’t make sense — economically or otherwise — and our children will be the ones who will have to pay the price.