HOUSTON – Board members with Spring Branch Independent School District have voted to close two schools and cancel a partnership with a Houston-area charter school.
The board voted during a meeting on Monday evening.
This comes as the district is facing a $35 million budget deficit in school funding. Board members have discussed the budget shortfall in a series of meetings.
Aside from the school closures, board members also voted 6-1 to revise a bathroom policy that requires students to use facilities corresponding to their gender assigned at birth.
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The two schools -- Panda Path Pre-K and Treasure Forest Elementary School will close at the end of the school year, board members said. Board members voted 6-1 on each school closure.
The district is blaming the budget shortfall on state leaders, “who throughout the entire 88th Legislative Session and four special sessions have failed to pass legislation to increase funding for public schools,” the district said in a statement.
“We are not in this position because we did not manage our money wisely or because we had too much spending during COVID,” dissenting board member Minda Caesar said. “This financial crisis is not about our actions or actions that the district has or hasn’t taken but rather the failure of state leadership to fully fund education.”
The district said students currently enrolled at the closing campuses will move to nearby campuses at the beginning of next school year.
“If we don’t respond to what Austin is forcing upon us, we’re going to ultimately end up in a worse financial position down the road where learning is going to be severely impacted,” board vice president Lisa Andrews Alpe said.
Another item that passed is the cancellation of Spring Branch ISD’s choice program partnership with YES Prep and KIPP Schools.
Board members said they didn’t take the vote lightly and that making the decision wasn’t a place they wanted to be in.
KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry will have more on this story on KPRC 2 News at 10 p.m.
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