This time I'm glad I didn't read all about it

Today the students of Lake Highlands Elementary brought home a letter from the principal reassuring us parents that, contrary to a DMN article that appeared in Sunday's paper, LHE would not be closing. 

Wow.  Thank goodness I didn't have time to read Sunday's paper!  I would've been really freaked and wondered, 'Hmm, what to do with Elsa!'

Even though the DMN says that student enrollment has shrunk and loss of enrollment means loss of dollars, as per our school principal (whose word I tend to take to the bank), RISD is NOT currently considering the closure or combining of ANY campuses.  There's been no formal or substantive discussions on the topic, and further, if closure or combining were considered, homeowners, parents, students, and staff would have the opportunity to provide input.

Now how come the DMN couldn't have reported that?  Instead, the article had a scary skew to it - to the extent the principal felt it necessary to reassure parents.  I find that a bit lazy and irresponsible on the part of a major newspaper.

 

Comments

[Keri Mitchell]

When I picked up the paper yesterday, that was the story that caught my eye, and I'm sure the eyes of dozens of Lake Highlands residents. I've already received an e-mail from a concerned neighbor today, one who doesn't have children at the school.

I think schools closing if numbers continue continue to drop is a strong possibility for RISD, which must be why they hired demographers to perform a study. That's pretty common if a school district sees its numbers shrinking or climbing in pretty significant ways. I'm sure the writer was trying to find a concrete example for readers to identify with, and since Lake Highlands Elementary has had the most dramatic drop in enrollment, that was it. It will be interesting to see what happens, but the school district wouldn't take action without holding community meetings first — that would be suicidal.

The writer did, of course, make the link between the apartments that have been torn down to build the new Town Center and the enrollment drop. Which poses an interesting question: If Lake Highlanders want to get rid of their apartments, must they be willing to give up their schools, too?

[rarepair]

A very good point/apartment comparison you made Keri. I hadn't really thought that through because I was still trying to absorb the letter from our principal and compare it to the article, which I felt was vague reporting. And I think that's my point - I found the 'article' from Principal Sullivan more meaty and gratifying then what was in Sunday's paper. I'm lucky I have another 'source', unlike the neighbor that contacted you.

[LSC]

That article had me stumped. I know Wallace is full yet they said numbers were down and Wallace might face closing. And another thing why did we build a new elementary school in LH if our numbers are down.

[rarepair]

Yes, LHE is full too. So how full is full? Who are these demographers and what is their criteria? Hey, those would have been good questions to ask and answer in the DMN article!

[Stuart]

I read that article on Sunday and I thought it was pretty clear that the district commissioned a study which suggested some schools that *could* be closed. However, the fifth paragraph specifically says that "No schools are on the chopping block for now."

The most interesting part of the article though, was talking about how redevelopment of the Skillman corridor is changing the demographic of Lake Highlands. Replacing low-rent apartments with expensive townhomes means fewer young families and fewer kids in the schools.

[Bill Kennedy]

The whole problem with the DMN writer making the link between the apartments that have been torn down to build the new Town Center and the enrollment drop is that it was wrong. As far as I know, they all went to White Rock Elementary, not all the way over to LHE!

[Brian]

I moved to the LHE area specifically because it has a neighborhood school. That article is absolutely correct that some people will move out if the school is closed.

Seems like it would be prudent to see how many young families migrate to the area as these older homes begin turning over before shuttering any of our schools.

[MG]

I am assuming that the study was undertaken before any apartments had been vacated due to the redevelopment. The newspaper article made the assumption that enrollment numbers "could" go down as more apartments were razed to make room for the Skillman redevelopment. To me, this is misleading and the newswriter should have looked more carefully at the timing of the study, or at least not used future tenses when talking about the Skillman apartment closures. Are there more apartment complexes slated for the wrecking ball that are still occupied? If so, someone please let me know. The closest complex that I am aware of is in DISD, not RISD, at Timbercreek at Skillman @ NW Highway. Also I'd be interested in learning if the commissioned study took place before or after the closure of Northwest Terrace Apartments, which fed into Lake Highlands Elementary.

[Keri Mitchell]

You know, a lot of times school districts will hire demographers to give them some substantive leverage with parents and residents. I covered education in the Houston area before coming to the Advocate, and Population and Survey Analysts (the same demographers identified in the DMN story) did a demographic survey for Goose Creek ISD right before the district launched a bond campaign for new schools.

Obviously, the issue is opposite here in RISD, at least on the face of things, and I'm not saying that the district has sneaky intentions or that the demographer is making stuff up. But if a school district has an official study of the way things could go (emphasis on the word "could"), then district officials can go to parents and community stakeholders and say, "Hey, this is what we're up against. What should we do here?" and get people talking and strategizing. Then it becomes the stakeholders' problem, too, not just the district's, so that the district isn't the "bad guy" when a decision has to be made. At least that's how it worked in Goose Creek.

If that's the desired effect, then it's already working, evidenced by the number of comments on this blog post.

[Triple Wildcat]

Attn Bill Kennedy, others: The story does not make a direct connection between the bulldozed Skillman apartments and LHE. Read it again.

The writer was talking in general terms about apartments all over Richardson, not just in LH. Besides, the closing and eventual bulldozing of the Northwest Terrace apartments is obviously the major impact on LHE. So there is a correlation, if not a direct connection.

And Keri Mitchell is dead-on: This is the RISD laying the groundwork for closing schools. LHE-Wallace and Northlake-WRE are probably going to be combined into one school in the future, unless something changes their mind.

What I want to see is a study of how many young families are likely to move into Lake Highlands if more of the low-rent apartments are eliminated. And how many LH-area students who attend private school, both currently and in the projected future, would switch to public schools if more low-rent apartments are eliminated.

I think you'd see more young families move in and more residents feel safer about sending their kids to public school if the crime problem and educational issues from the low-rent apartments were greatly reduced.

I wish the RISD had a little more faith in the rising stock of the LH area. The bulldozing of low-rent apartments is a good thing for the RISD in the long-term, but the school district seems focused only on the short-term enrollment drop.