In view of the opportunity to learn more, parents and stakeholders have expressed concerns about possible closings and consolidations.
Killen, Texas – Killen ISD moves forward with his planning process for district optimization and actively searches for the community's input. The initiative aims at how the district uses its institutions, employees and academic programs.
It could possibly lead to the consolidation or closure of some campus.
“The why behind the optimization is to ensure that the district uses our resources as clever as possible,” said Karen Rudolph, Executive Director of Killen ISD. “So the optimization offers us a framework that we should pay attention to, and the reason is that we have experienced a declining enrollment not only in Killen ISD, but throughout the country.”
A consolidation plan during the meeting was to use the capacity at Willow Springs Elementary for bilingual programming.
The district says that the idea is very advantageous for the growth of the students.
“If you look at the data, this is a great opportunity to expand programming at locations that are already successful,” said the incumbent superintendent Teri Osborne. “That's why we see Willow Springs as a program expansion. You have space and obviously you also have the strategy.”
However, many community members expressed possible concerns for students and employees and had other questions.
“We have a question about consolidation effectiveness,” said a member of the parish. “How would that affect classroom management and the sizes of the classrooms?”
“How are employees or faculties placed? Who has priority? The employees who are already in the building, or is it based on the office?” Said an elementary employee of Cedar Valley.
The meeting on Monday evening was just an information meeting. No decisions were made.
Those who still want to express their opinion on this matter can take part in the meeting of the optimization plan on Thursday, September 11th at the Ellison High School or take part in an online survey.