The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD school board is likely to vote to approve the closure and consolidation of two elementary schools for next school year.

This comes after a meeting Monday night where a planning committee laid out potential plans to the board of trustees. The campuses on the chopping block are Bransford Elementary and Dove Elementary.

Maggie Taylor is a parent within the district and is against the closures. "Why are we dismantling one of our most innovative, cost-effective, success stories?" she said at Monday's board meeting. "Why close a school that scored in the middle of your own rubric when schools with more rapidly deteriorating infrastructure remain open?" 

According to an email sent to GCISD parents from Superintendent Dr. Brad Schnautz, students at Bransford will likely consolidate with Colleyville and O.C. Taylor Elementary schools. Students at Dove will consolidate with Cannon and Silver Lake Elementary schools. Attendance zones are also likely to change.

The recommendation to the board also included selling several properties and finding new ways to generate revenue.  

Some of those options included selling more advertising rights like signs and scoreboards, exploring microschool/ homeschool co-op programs that would involve a fee or tuition, and expanding their early childhood programming to 2-year-olds.

GCISD will hold a special meeting on Dec. 2 at Grapevine High School at 6 p.m., where parents can voice concerns.

Then, the Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Dec. 10 at school headquarters at 5:30 p.m., where they will vote on the closures.

When students return from winter break, the district said there will be meetings for parents at Bransford and Dove, and a consolidation task force will be created for those campus closures, which makes the proposal sound like a done deal.

How did GCISD get here?

According to data presented by a planning committee at Monday night's meeting, GCISD is down nearly 1,500 students since 2019. The decline for them, along with other districts, started during the pandemic.

Districts receive funding from the state based on students who show up to school per day. That means the planning committee cited they've seen a drop in revenue of about $11 million.

The planning committee cited that families are moving to virtual schooling options, and with the state voucher program starting next school year, GCISD leaders anticipate more families will turn to private education.

Add that on top of aging communities where younger families are not moving and that creates a decline in enrollment through the years.