As Plano Growth Declines, Parents Worry the Effect School Closures Will Have on Kids, Homes

Word spread quickly Tuesday night as the proposed list of closing Plano ISD schools became public for the first time — a first, too, for the district as Plano has never had the difficult task of closing down a school for low enrollment. Now Plano residents are seeing the cold hard truth of what happens when the state’s ninth largest city slows its growth and population.

The four proposed school closures in east and central Plano include Davis Elementary near Parker and Independence, Carpenter Middle near Custer and Spring Creek, and Forman Elementary and Armstrong Middle, which are located next to each other near Park and Shiloh.

Though possible school closures have been discussed publicly since Fall 2023, a PISD email naming the four schools still caught some parents off-guard, moving them to vent on Facebook’s “Parents of Plano ISD” private group.

One unnamed parent wrote, “The specific schools that are closing got an email right after the board meeting started tonight. Giving us NO CHANCE to have a voice! […] I’ve had to tell my crying 8 year old he won’t finish elementary school that he loves and his friends are being split up to go to 2 different elementary schools!!!”

Another few parents rumbled that no schools in west Plano were named to the proposed closure list. The district is still evaluating possible closures for west Plano, district officials said at Tuesday’s nearly four-hourlong school board meeting.

However, west Plano is one of the few parts of town that has seen growth in the past five years. East and central Plano are largely built-out with aging but upper middle class neighborhoods developed between the 1950s and 2000s. The median price of a Plano home is $584,000.

Impact on Plano Homes Near Closing Campuses

Plano ISD cites the rising costs of homes as one of the factors in the district’s declining enrollment. Conversely, would school closings lower home property values or at least short term, prices? We’re probably not there yet.

When reached for comment, PISD Asst. Director of Communications Zoheb Hassanali said district officials are not conducting any interviews at this time “since the Board has not made any decisions on the recommendations presented last night.” He provided links to the district’s comprehensive “Mapping Our Future” long range facility planning website, which includes an FAQ page that will continue to be updated as they receive more questions.

The district points out at this time, there is no impact on parents and residents. All schools will continue to operate as usual throughout the 2023-2024 school year and no changes are known for the 2024-2025 school year.

“The Board of Trustees have simply asked the District to conduct the study, engage the community, and to come back with feedback and a recommendation,” the district site states.

Beginning in October 2023, parents, employees and community members began receiving invitations to participate in the Long-Range Facility Planning Advisory Committee. The planning committee is made of up of parents, district staff and school administrators including a principal of at least one proposed closing campus.

What Happens to the Buildings?

When students and teachers move out of these closing schools, who moves in? The district likely doesn’t know yet. We asked if there have been any discussions with developers or real estate investors regarding repurposing these properties as we know that adaptive reuse is very appealing to developers. Again, the district declined specific comment however the communications asst. director Hassanali pointed us to a recording of previous school board discussions and the district’s FAQs.

“While specific details are not yet known regarding the future of facilities that would no longer serve as schools if the Board approves the Long Range Facility Plan recommendation, the Board took action at the May 7 board meeting [and] […] adopted a resolution to ensure that any surplus property would be repurposed in a way that benefits the community and respects the integrity of our neighborhoods.

Possible options include:

• Re-purposing the buildings or properties for other District use.
• Converting the campus(es) back to green space.
• Partnering with the City of Plano to maintain the properties for public use.

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CandysDirt.com will continue to follow the story with updates from the district and expert insight on what effect school closures have on residential real estate.