Amarillo ISD Shares Big Update On Schools Permanently Closing

One of the hot topics in Amarillo, TX. has been the talk of schools closing their doors due to enrollment slipping at some of the different campuses around town. This has left a lot of parents and students unsure of where they may be attending school in the coming years.

Well they all got some good news last night after the Amarillo ISD Board gathered for a meeting on the topic.

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One of the big things that was being brought up in the talk of school closures was the funding for the schools. Some schools mentioned they had certain classrooms and sections of the school essentially blocked off because they didn't have the students to fill those spots.

Lights were kept off and certain wings of the schools weren't heated as much as others in an effort to cut costs there. The idea of just shutting those schools down and sending kids to other campuses was the solution that got brought up.

Well, a unanimous vote killed the idea of closing any of the AISD schools, and now Superintendent Doug Loomis has an idea of where to go next.

Instead of shutting down schools, the district is going to explore other streams of revenue for these schools so they can all remain open. One idea brought up was a tax ratification election, essentially leaving it in the hands of the voters to decide the fate.

The only problem there is that voters could shoot the idea down because they don't want to pay any kind of extra taxes, and we could end up back at square one. Furthering the issue is that voter turnout in a non-Presidential election year tends to be low, and that can significantly skew results.

Amarillo ISD did go on to say that they are not projecting any growth in the student population, and that closing schools in the future could still be on the table, but after last nights vote, no schools will shut their doors for the 2024-25 academic year.