Another North Texas public school district board has voted to permanently shut down a campus.

After a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the board announced Arlington ISD will close Blanton Elementary at the end of this school year.

The three main reasons why include declining enrollment, expensive building maintenance and low test scores.  

Enrollment

Blanton Elementary has seen enrollment drop by nearly 300 students since 2016.

District-wide, according to the Texas Education Agency, in the 2019 school year, the district had over 3,900 kindergarteners enrolled. Enrollment numbers have steadily declined since then. Last school year, their kindergarten enrollment was 3,300. 

Building Maintenance

The building is also nearly 70 years old, and the district said it's getting too expensive to maintain. 

One of their biggest concerns is that the building has a likelihood of flooding when there's heavy rain. 

Low Test Scores

This campus has also rated an 'F' for the past three years. Under state law, when a campus rates an 'F' for five years in a row, that allows the TEA to step in and possibly take the district over.

By closing the campus, it would divert a possible takeover in the coming years.

Next Steps

Trustees will decide which campuses Blanton's roughly 450 students will attend next school year at a meeting in February.