The Numbers Don't Lie
All data below is drawn from PISD's own published metrics — the same data the district says it used to make its recommendations. Elementary schools in red are being considered for closing. Schools in blue will stay open. Click any chart to enlarge it.
Fifteen schools in the district have a higher operating cost per student than Windermere Elementary. Of the four proposed elementary school closures, the projected one-year and three-year savings from closing Windermere are actually less than the savings that would come from closing Dessau or Parmer Lane — despite Windermere having significantly more students and stronger academic performance. Adding to the concern, the data presented to the board did not include operating cost savings projections for the schools not on the closure list — so there is no way to know from the published data whether other schools could be closed that would save the district even more money.
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Windermere Elementary is the 4th largest school in the entire district with 665 students. Closing its doors would displace more students and uproot more families than closing many of the schools with significantly lower enrollment. Windermere currently sits at 99.4% of its 2021–22 enrollment — nearly fully recovered from pandemic-era declines. By contrast, eight other schools in the district are currently below 90% of their 2021–22 enrollment, indicating far steeper and more sustained declines. Closing a school that has retained its student population while smaller, declining-enrollment schools remain open is difficult to justify on the data.
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Windermere is still projected to grow its enrollment over the next five years — one of only six schools in the district with a positive projection. Four schools are expected to see their enrollment decline by 20% or more over the next five years. Of those four, only one was included in the district's closure proposal. Closing a school with a positive enrollment trajectory while allowing schools projected to lose a fifth or more of their students to remain open is a hard decision to explain to families and taxpayers.
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The Texas Education Agency awards campuses "distinctions" for exceptional performance in areas like academic achievement, growth, and closing achievement gaps. Windermere Elementary earned three TEA distinctions — more than all but one school in the district. Meanwhile, 13 schools received zero distinctions from the state. Closing one of the district's most recognized campuses while lower-performing schools remain open sends the wrong message about what PISD values. You can look up TEA ratings for any Texas school at txschools.gov.
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Each year, the Texas Education Agency assigns every public school campus an overall letter grade — A through F — based on student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps between student groups.
Four PISD elementary schools received a D or F rating from the TEA. Yet only one of those four was included in the district's proposed closure list. Three low-rated schools — campuses the state itself has flagged as underperforming — would remain open while higher-rated schools close.
The situation is especially urgent for the two schools that received an F rating: they are already 40% of the way toward the threshold that makes a school eligible for state intervention or closure. Under Texas law, a campus that receives an unacceptable rating for five consecutive years becomes subject to state action, including potential forced management changes or closure. These schools are two years in.
Meanwhile, Windermere received a higher TEA grade than 12 other schools in the district. Closing a B-rated campus while F-rated schools remain open is difficult to justify on any academic or financial basis. You can look up current TEA ratings for any Texas school at txschools.gov.
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📄 PISD District Optimization Page
📄 March 5, 2026 Board Presentation — Draft Scenarios (PDF)
📄 Campus Profiles — All PISD Schools (PDF)
📄 Texas Education Agency — School Ratings (txschools.gov)