Dallas, Texas Local News
Parents protesting ahead of Richardson ISD Project RightSize vote
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Parents in the Duck Creek neighborhood in Richardson are protesting the rezoning as part of the RISD RightSize plan to consolidate buildings and balance the budget
RICHARDSON, Texas — Parents are protesting Thursday ahead of a Richardson Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting, where the future of its Project RightSize plan will be decided.
On Feb. 22, the district introduced the proposal to the school community. Project RightSize, if approved, would close four elementary schools and one pre-kindergarten school later in 2025. “We have a fifth-grader who he’s been here at Dartmouth for his entire elementary school career, and I actually grew up in Richardson ISD as well,” RISD parent Pamela Hughes said.
Hughes is part of a community campaign in the Duck Creek neighborhood to fight back against how the remaining schools will be zoned.
“Totally understand the difficult position the district is in in terms of the budget. But I was shocked when I saw the line through Duck Creek,” she shared.
The move is somewhat expected, as RISD has lost more than 2,500 students since 2019. The district tells WFAA that 85% of those students are Black or Hispanic.
In December, WFAA’s Chris Lawrence sat down with RISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum to discuss the state of the district.
“We are having to, now, on the heels of that deficit budget, we have formed a community based steering committee,” Branum explained during that interview. “They have been working for nearly six months getting recommendations around how do we find deficiencies? How are we going to address this deficit budget?”
The schools slated to close under Project RightSize range from 63% to 98% economically disadvantaged and 75% 96.5% minority student population.
For students impacted by this, Hughes said she believes “they’ve gotten to see their parents and their neighbors really come to bat for them.”
When asked what happens next, if this plan moves forward, Hughes said “next stop is a great question. I think that’s varying a little bit family by family.”
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