Beloved Arlington elementary school will permanently close, board decides

After an hours-long meeting on Tuesday night, the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to permanently close Blanton Elementary School in east Arlington, a primarily Hispanic school that has faced declining enrollment, failing grades from the Texas Education Agency, and aging infrastructure.

“If we don’t make this decision now, the state of Texas will make it for us — and that decision would not just affect Blanton,” board president Justin Chapa said to the small group of parents and community members who still remained in their seats after 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

Chapa said the decision was one of the hardest that he has ever had to make as the board’s president.

The decision came roughly a week after Arlington ISD officials met with parents to discuss the possible closure of Blanton. The move comes as the school has received failing grades from TEA for three straight years. Under Texas state law, if a school receives failing grades for five years in a row, a state commissioner must close the school or appoint a board of managers to oversee the entire district.

Arlington ISD officials, they said, want to avoid that outcome.

Several Blanton parents, some who were former students, had signed up hours earlier to speak against the closure at the meeting.

“I feel like we don’t have an option, like this is already a decision,” Mariela Torres, whose son attends Blanton, told the board during the public-comment section of the meeting. “I’m here to speak up for everyone, even the custodians, and the staff members in the kitchen.”

After hearing those public comments, the board heard a presentation from Arlington ISD officials including deputy superintendent Jennifer Collins and superintendent Matt Smith.

Collins rehashed details from previous presentations, explaining that Blanton’s 69-year-old campus needs significant repairs, and said that the school’s declining enrollment is expected to drop even further.

Kelly Horn, Arlington ISD assistant superintendent of facility services, gave the board a presentation detailing the repairs needed at the school, including a new roof and windows, signs of cracking in the masonry, stormwater drainage concerns, and a completely new cafeteria, gym, and storm shelter. According to Horn, it would cost roughly $34.8 million to repair the school.

Most school buildings are built for a 50-year life cycle, Horn said — meaning Blanton is 20 years past its prime.

District officials also provided an updated map of school zones, breakdowns of where students would be relocated, and potential class sizes at the new schools. Blanton’s students would be distributed between four nearby elementary schools — Burgin, Crow, Goodman, and Swift.

Three of the schools — Burgin, Crow, and Goodman — have bilingual programs, district officials said. Bilingual Blanton students automatically zoned to Swift Elementary would attend Crow for its bilingual program.

All current staff will be offered a reassignment in the district for the 2026-2027 school year, and Blanton staff will be eligible for the district’s internal transfer process.

After that presentation, the Board of Trustees took up the proposal for discussion before their vote.

“This is a tough decision, not just for the adults in the room, but for the very people that we represent, the children of this community,” said board member Larry Mike.

Board member Brooklyn Richardson asked her colleagues to especially consider special-needs students who walk to school. Taking a new route to a new school, or riding the school bus, may simply be a non-starter for those students, Richardson said.

“Thank you for being kind, during this process, to our families,” Richardson told the district officials. “You gave us data, you gave us the opportunity to have a conversation and dialogue, and now you’re giving us a choice.”

After several hours of presentations and public comments, Chapa moved to bring the decision to a vote, saying he supported the administration’s recommendation to close the school.

“This hits close to home to me because this is the part of town that I grew up in,” Chapa said.

Chapa explained that he would much rather wait to get money to replace or improve Blanton — but with the TEA staring down the district, administration officials just don’t have that kind of time.

Blanton will close at the end of the school year, officials confirmed at the meeting, and a majority of the campus will be demolished.