Four Amarillo Schools Facing Closure. Four More In Danger.

Last night, Tuesday, December 3, the Amarillo ISD board got together and held a board meeting to discuss several different topics, but there was one that loomed that largest and hung over the meeting until it was discussed.

The biggest topic last night was schools that were being placed on the watchlist for possible closure. These decisions are not something that come lightly as they impact families in many different ways.

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By consolidating schools, it means the school some kids go to are further away from home and can change how a kid gets to school, friends being split up potentially, and several other factors. Getting to know a new school is tough, I know from experience many times.

There were eight schools that were officially placed on the watchlist last night, and it was all based on enrollment numbers.

According to the district's guidelines, schools are placed on the watchlist if enrollment slips below 300 students, and it becomes a candidate for closure if that number dips below 250. Four of the eight schools placed on the watchlist fall in the potential closure category.

Park Hills Elementary is at the highest risk of closure as they showed an enrollment of only 174 students, well below the threshold. Next on the list was Sunrise Elementary with 196 students enrolled.

They were followed closely by Pleasant Valley Elementary with an enrollment of 197, with Allen 6th Grade Campus rounding out the possible closure list with an enrollment of 210 students.

There were four other schools that were placed on the watchlist that exceeded the 250 number so they aren't at risk of closure, but they are being watched closely. Those schools were Landergin Elementary, Travis 6th Grade Campus, Lamar Elementary, and Hamlet Elementary.

Enrollment in school has dropped dramatically over the last seven years as Doug Loomis, superintendent at Amarillo ISD stated.

In 2017, there were 33,600 students enrolled in the AISD school system. Today, that number sits at 29,310. That's a drop of over 4,000 students and it's been caused by several different factors.

At a previous meeting, they had a Texas economist at it and they stated that a declining birth rate is contributing to the lower enrollment. There are also many others who are adopting the home school system.