$137 Million Plan Would Improve Nine DISD Schools

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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Parents at some Dallas public schools, who have long hoped for school building improvements, see an opportunity on the horizon.

DISD is proposing a bridge plan that would meet the most pressing needs at nine campuses. It 'bridges the gap' so to speak, until the district's larger bond package comes up for vote.

If the bridge plan is approved by the Board of Trustees in late March, improvement plans for facilities could begin this spring. That's earlier than activity tied to the proposed $1.5 billion bond package, which would be voted on no earlier than November.

In East Dallas, parents from Lakewood Elementary School and Stonewall Jackson Elementary School are preparing to make their voices heard in support of the proposal.

They plan to address the board during public comment starting at the February 26th meeting, even though the issue is not on the agenda.

"I'd like the board to understand we're watching, we're listening and we're reading what comes in front of them, and that we're in support of this," said Amy Cuccia, a Lakewood parent.

The bridge plan is a proposed $137 million for nine schools. In addition to Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson, the list includes B.H. Macon Elementary, Nathan Adams Elementary, Tom Field Elementary, Seagoville Elementary, Edward Titche Elementary, W.E. Greiner Elementary, and W.T. White High School.

"Because we have a loud voice, we could be a voice for other schools that are on this list," said Shannon West, PTA president at Lakewood.

Through the community-driven Lakewood Elementary Expansion Foundation capital campaign has already raised more than $300,000 for expansion plans that would meet the needs of future generations.

If the $137 million bridge plan is passed this spring, Lakewood would receive $12 million to address overcrowding and renovation needs. Stonewall Jackson stands to receive $5 million.

West says that money would be a huge first step. She says this is the closest they school has come in years to receiving large funding for facilities.

Built in 1951 to accommodate 350 students, Lakewood Elementary School is overcrowded today.

Additions over the decades have expanded capacity to 600. Enrollment, however, is close to 840 students today. A projected 900 students could attend the next school year.

For this campus that means more than 14 portable classrooms. Soccer balls kicked by first graders have punched holes in some of the exterior classrooms, which staff members have patched over and over again.

The teachers' lounge is now an art room, and a science lab was converted to a speech classroom.

Lunch starts at 10:15 and lasts for almost three hours, to accommodate all the students.

"The staff is phenomenal. The administration is phenomenal. The friends [kids] make here are phenomenal, but the conditions these people operate in every single day are severely lacking," said Cuccia.

For Assistant Principal Sharon Lewis, the biggest concern is space, especially the number of portables connected only by walkways.

Safety is a concern. So is security. Students have to go outside to get to the water fountain and restrooms in the main building.

"We have to constantly work on the air, work on the heating [in the portables]," said Lewis.

She says the school, which is Kindergarten through 5th grade, is projected to add at least one more class next year.

"If we have to add new classrooms next year, we're out of space," Lewis said.

Parents plan to address the trustees again on March 5. The bridge plan will likely not go to vote until March 26th, a DISD spokesperson said.

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