Facilities town hall meetings underway in Fort Worth school district

Alleviating overcrowding at Tanglewood Elementary and future planning for the Young Men’s Leadership Academy and the World Languages Institute are among issues the Fort Worth school district is exploring during a series of community town hall meetings now underway.

A community meeting is planned for Wednesday evening at Paschal High School to offer information on an upcoming facilities master plan and how it might affect Tanglewood Elementary.

Overcrowding at Tanglewood, 3060 Overton Park Drive, has drawn concerns from parents and community members from that attendance zone. They worry about the school’s reliance on portable buildings to make room for students and fear the district will change Tanglewood’s boundaries or break up the campus by building a another school.

A backgrounder compiled by the district in February stated that Tanglewood, built in 1960, has about 250 more students than its capacity of 594.

Several Tanglewood parents who have spoken at recent school board meetings have asked the district to consider transforming Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center from a special interest campus into a neighborhood school. Alice Carlson, at 3320 W. Cantey St., sits near TCU and within the Tanglewood zone but draws students from across the district based on a lottery system.

Alice Carlson parents have also attended recent school board meetings, including the one Tuesday night, to ask that their program be kept at its current location.

Jody Sanders, the father of a first-grader at Alice Carlson, said he wants the school board to find a solution that improves overcrowding issues at Tanglewood while protecting Alice Carlson.

“We don’t want to be adverse to our friends and neighbors at Tanglewood,” Sanders said.

Sanders said he expects many parents from both campuses to attend the community meeting at Paschal.

“We are proud of our school and the program,” Sanders aid. “We want to make our voices heard.”

At a town hall held at the Young Men’s Leadership Academy this week, Superintendent Kent Scribner announced a plan to build a new school for the all-boy middles and high school program in east Fort Worth. The program is housed in the Dunbar 6th Grade Center in the Stop Six neighborhood.

Details about the World Languages Institute proposed plans were not ready for release Tuesday. The Institute, at 1066 W. Magnolia Ave., is the district’s first secondary school for students from the Spanish-immersion and dual-language enrichment programs and those who are interested in international studies.

This report contains material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Facilities town hall meetings underway in Fort Worth school district."