Arlington school board to decide where students at closing elementary will go
After voting to close a troubled but beloved east Arlington elementary school in January, the Arlington school board will vote at its meeting on Feb. 19 on the enrollment boundaries for the students who will be transferring to new schools.
Roughly 500 students are enrolled at Blanton Elementary School. It has been failing on the Texas Education Agency’s report card since 2023. The school, opened in 1956, is built to serve between 800 and 900 students.
The school needs over $30 million in repairs, the district has said, and has faced declining enrollment for several years. State law says that if a school receives failing grades for five years in a row, a state commissioner must close the school or appoint a board of managers to oversee the entire district.
Closing Blanton before that happens, the board said, will keep a tough and emotionally fraught situation close to home and give parents more agency over the process.
After multiple meetings with parents, board members ultimately voted to close Blanton at the end of the school year and funnel students into four other Arlington elementary schools: Burgin, Crow, Goodman, and Swift.
The district has been working with a demographer — Zonda Demographics, according to the Feb. 19 board meeting agenda — to draft changes to the schools’ enrollment boundaries that will decide how those students are moved around in the district.
Burgin Elementary School will receive 19%, or 85, of Blanton’s students, according to the school district. Burgin has a ‘C’ rating from the TEA report card. The student population including Blanton students would be 646. The incoming Blanton students would bring the school’s capacity from 85% to 98%. The teacher to student ratio is 12.5 to 1.
Crow Leadership Academy will receive 14%, or 61, of Blanton’s students. Crow has a ‘C’ rating from the TEA report card. Crow’s student population with Blanton’s students would be 517. The incoming Blanton students would bring the school’s capacity from 84% to 95%. The student to teacher ratio is 12.3 to 1.
Goodman Elementary School will receive the highest number of Blanton students — 33%, or 145 of them. Goodman has a ‘C’ rating from the TEA report card. The student population including Blanton students would be 598. The incoming Blanton students would bring the school’s capacity from 73% to 97%. The student to teacher ratio is 11.1 to 1.
Swift Elementary School will receive 14%, or 61, of Blanton’s students. Swift has a ‘C’ rating from the TEA report card. The student population including Blanton students would be 534. The incoming Blanton students would bring the school’s capacity from 77% to 87%. The student to teacher ratio is 13.5 to 1.
Blanton students zoned to Swift who are in Blanton’s bilingual program will be assigned to Crow for its bilingual program.
There are also about 80 transfer students at Blanton, who are not automatically reassigned. All Blanton families will receive a priority transfer window in April.
Blanton Elementary has a ratio of 11 students to one teacher, according to TEA data.
The Arlington school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at the administration office, 690 E. Lamar Blvd.
