Letter from the Board and Leadership

Dear Plano ISD Community,

For the past two years, the Plano ISD Board of Trustees has been engaged in Strategic Planning work to set a vision and develop plans for the future of our great school district. As part of Strategic Plan 2023-2028, the Board of Trustees tasked the district administration with long range facility planning. To further that goal, the Board authorized a study of all Plano ISD facilities. The study was designed to accomplish the following: 

• Analyze the student enrollment at each facility
• Consider whether each facility is being used efficiently
• Determine whether resources are fairly distributed to support all students
• Consider possible program expansion opportunities

On September 19, 2023, the Board passed a resolution to establish a committee with the following charge:

Develop a comprehensive 10-year plan that includes the actions and desired outcomes for students, staff, programs, resources and properties using the Guiding Principles and Efficiency Framework Criteria no later than May 21, 2024.     

This document and the information presented on this webpage represent the culmination of the Long Range Facility Planning Committee’s work and the recommendations presented to the Board of Trustees to position Plano ISD for long-term success. This plan was approved by the Board on June 10, 2024.

Long Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee

The Board appointed a committee of more than 70 individuals, including parents, staff and other community members, to evaluate every instructional facility in the district and make recommendations for our facility usage moving forward. The Board chose to take this step with the primary goal of maximizing student opportunities and meeting the needs of students with equitable and robust learning conditions. That goal has been at the center of this process to ensure that we continue to provide students with optimal facilities, while demonstrating our commitment to fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of taxpayer resources. The committee conducted their work in alignment with the guiding principles established by the Board:

Guiding Principles

• Expand opportunities for student learning through economies of scale and expand choice offerings through streamlined locations
• Align resources to students’ needs and geographies
• Maintain equity of resource deployment across all campuses
• Maintain integrity of feeder patterns, if possible
• Balance enrollment demographically as much as possible
• Consider transportation times (length of time the student is on a bus)
• Consider impact on staff including a hold harmless for compensation and retention to ensure job security for current employees 
• Consider solutions to mitigate any disproportionate impact on economically disadvantaged students
• Phase changes over time to allow for relocation of staff
• Ensure comparable and equitable facilities across the district

Factors Considered

In developing this plan, the committee, consistent with the guiding principles adopted by the Board, considered a variety of factors including: 

• The district’s declining enrollment
• Large disparities in both enrollment at different campuses and the quality of facilities students attend
• Facility ages and renovation history
• Operational cost savings
• Capital improvement cost savings
• Future cost avoidance of building replacement
• Opportunities for expansion of access to programs
• Demographic implications of potential changes

Feedback Gathered

District leaders and Board members hosted six community meetings to provide information and gather feedback regarding the district’s instructional facilities. That feedback was presented to the committee and the Board in considering the actions that became a part of this plan.

Limitations  

Advisory committee members encountered some limitations during the course of their eight-month study. In addition to considering facility conditions, they also reviewed a variety of factors such as student utilization, facility operating costs, enrollment trends, high-quality programming and transportation impact. Despite a 12-year trend of declining enrollment, which demographers expect to continue, some areas in the district are experiencing programmatic growth and have limited capacity to accommodate student program needs. Furthermore, there are areas of the district where facility utilization is inefficient, yet are too far away in proximity to accommodate those growing needs, particularly in the West cluster. Due to the scope of the work and limitations, the committee recognized that the West cluster of the district requires long-term programmatic changes to address its needs and therefore recommended further study.

The Plan

The Board of Trustees approved this plan as part of their commitment to govern the district for success. This plan calls for the closing of four instructional facilities—Davis Elementary, Forman Elementary, Armstrong Middle and Carpenter Middle—and adjusting attendance boundaries related to those closures. Additionally, the Board directed the administration to develop detailed recommendations to address program-related challenges in the West cluster of the district and present those to the Board by December 2024 for implementation with all other changes beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

Transparency

This webpage provides detailed information regarding the plan and includes a place to submit questions or concerns. The submitted messages will be closely monitored by our staff and FAQs will be updated based on common questions received.

Our Focus

We recognize that changing schools can be emotional for students, families and staff. However, we also recognize the opportunity for us to come together as a community to support and welcome those students and families who attend new schools in the 2025-2026 school year. The district is committed to improving the educational experience of all of our students, and we know success depends on solid partnerships with families. Thank you for choosing to be a part of Plano ISD. We appreciate your continued support as we remain committed to excellence, dedicated to caring, powered by learning and Plano ISD proud.

Sincerely,

Plano ISD Board of Trustees and Leadership