Fort Worth ISD’s De Zavala Elementary to close this summer instead of 2027
De Zavala Elementary will close in about three months after school district officials announced this week they would be moving up its scheduled closure by a year.
Administrators with the Fort Worth Independent School District informed families on Wednesday night of the update to the school’s closure, citing structural issues at the district’s nearby Montessori campus that require those students to be relocated to De Zavala’s building. Officials also pointed to a continued decline in enrollment and the transfer of the De Zavala’s principal to West Handley Elementary as reasons behind the change.
The news was announced during a community meeting at the campus in Fort Worth’s Fairmount neighborhood and in an email message to parents.
De Zavala was originally scheduled to close at the end of the 2026-27 school year after the school board approved closing 18 campuses due to the district’s declining enrollment and the aging and underutilization of school buildings. The schools are scheduled to close in phases through 2029 through Fort Worth ISD’s facility master plan. In December, the school board also approved the closure of Western Hills Primary at the end of the current school year, which will consolidate into Western Hills Elementary.
Fort Worth ISD officials confirmed on Thursday there are no consolidation or closure plans for other schools at this time, and officials will engage with campus communities ahead of any potential board action. Updates to the facility master plan will be on the school board’s March agenda for approval. School board trustees and the district’s state-appointed conservator are aware of the changes, officials said.
“We recognize that this change affects your family, daily routines, and the school community you care deeply about. The decision was made thoughtfully and with great care, informed by safety data, guidance from foundation experts, facility conditions, enrollment trends, and long-term sustainability for students,” Superintendent Karen Molinar told De Zavala families in the message. “Thank you for your continued partnership and for the strong community you have built at De Zavala.”
Starting in fall 2026, De Zavala students who live north of Rosedale Street will be rezoned to Lily B. Clayton Elementary, and students who live south of Rosedale Street will attend E.M. Daggett Elementary, Molinar said. Students from the Daggett Montessori program will also move to the current De Zavala Elementary building at that time.
The building housing the Montessori program has foundation damage from ongoing soil movement, and officials said it’s unclear whether repairs would fix the issue long-term. The Montessori program is about 1 mile south of De Zavala.
De Zavala has an enrollment of about 270 students in pre-K through fifth grade, according to 2024-25 state data. The majority of students, about 68%, are Hispanic, while 76% of students are identified as economically disadvantaged. The school has received an A rating from the Texas Education Agency every year since at least 2021-22.
The school opened on its current property in 1914 and is named after the first vice president of the Republic of Texas, Lorenzo de Zavala.
District officials also informed parents on Wednesday that they can request a transfer from their child’s zoned school to another traditional campus through Parent Portal, if space is available.
De Zavala, Daggett Montessori parents weigh in
De Zavala parent and PTA member Melyssa Herrera said she was heartbroken and frustrated by the expedited closure.
“The reasoning keeps changing — from ratings, to enrollment, to maintenance costs — yet now the same building will be renovated for another program. Families offered real solutions to increase enrollment, but there was no true collaboration,” Herrera said.
District officials confirmed on Thursday that 2021 bond dollars originally earmarked for renovations at the Daggett Montessori campus will move to the De Zavala campus when students are transferred.
“Many of us chose this neighborhood because of De Zavala’s academic excellence and dual language program. Our children are now facing uncertainty, possible separation from friends, and no guarantee of placement in a comparable A-rated school,” Herrera said. “This decision has broken trust. Our community deserved transparency, consistency, and an honest partnership — not shifting explanations and a rushed timeline.”
Christian Alvarez Crivellaro, another De Zavala parent and PTA member, said the community meeting on Wednesday night felt like a “rug pull” scenario.
“It is very late in the school year for families to prepare for an accelerated school closure without good options to maintain a two-way language program in the proposed relocation campuses for the success of the students,” Alvarez Crivellaro said.
Michele Massaro, a current Daggett Montessori PTA member and its former president, said district officials also hosted a community meeting on Wednesday night at Daggett Montessori to discuss the changes. As a parent, she was initially sad to hear her daughter would be unable to spend her final year in the Montessori program at the original property, but she was relieved the program was spared from the original 18 school closures approved by the school board.
“I know that it all comes down to cost-effectiveness and what makes more sense dollar-wise, and they have to remove the emotion from it. And it seems like they did try to consider some of the outcomes, as far as the families go,” she said.
Although Massaro doesn’t have safety concerns about the Montessori campus, she said foundation damages are apparent.
“There are some areas of the buildings where you could fit your arm through the crack in between the walls,” she said, also adding that she’s seen a roughly 4-inch gap between the baseboard and the floor in a closet used by PTA members.
“Living in the neighborhood, and living in Texas in general — every area, every home, every building, has foundation and structural issues. It’s just a matter of how bad they are,” Massaro said.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 1:47 PM.
