The Judson Independent School District school board on Tuesday voted to close three elementary schools during a special meeting.
The board voted 5-2 to close Park Village Blended Learning Academy, Ed Franz Leadership Academy and Rolling Meadows Elementary.
Other schools considered for closure included Spring Meadows Elementary/Spring Meadows College Prep and Millers Point Elementary.
Families shared their heartbreak immediately after the decision was made.
“Ed Franz is one of the greatest schools that you or me or anybody else can go to, but now that it’s closing, I don’t think I can handle it,” Ed Franz student Simon Smith said.
Rolling Meadows student Miriam Omar spoke to KSAT after the special meeting.
“It was important for me to talk because Rolling Meadows is an exceptional school,” Omar said. “I don’t think it deserves to be on that list of closures.”
Tuesday’s vote comes eight days after the board voted to close Judson Middle School. The board is working to make up for a $37 million deficit.
“Our gen ed kids don’t understand it. How do we explain it to our special non-verbal kids?” a Rolling Meadows educator said.
Most recently, the school board held a public meeting on Saturday to hear comments from families within the district.
During a Feb. 4 meeting, the school board also voted to terminate Superintendent Milton “Rob” Fields and hired Mary Duhart-Toppen as his interim replacement at the same meeting.
Last week, the board elected to replace Duhart-Toppen with Robert Jaklich as its newest interim superintendent. It is unclear why a new interim superintendent was named.
The district told KSAT the four schools slated to close, along with Coronado Elementary, which closed last year, are the only Judson ISD schools to close in the past decade.
See below for the district’s statement regarding the closures.
The Judson ISD Board of Trustees has approved the closure of Franz Leadership Academy, Rolling Meadows Elementary, and Park Village Blended Learning Academy effective for the 2026–2027 school year. This decision follows an extensive review of districtwide data, including current and projected enrollment, campus capacity, student travel distances, facility age, and overall maintenance and operational costs.
The district remains focused on ensuring all students receive high-quality educational opportunities. Programs, initiatives, and effective practices from the impacted campuses will be evaluated for integration into other Judson ISD schools.
Judson ISD will schedule community meetings in the coming weeks to gather input regarding potential future uses for the affected facilities.
Lexie Greathouse, director of communications at Judson ISD
More Judson ISD coverage on KSAT:
- Community members pack meeting as Judson ISD weighs closing 3 elementary schools
- ‘Now we got to figure out transportation’: Judson MS closure poses new challenge for families
- Judson ISD board president asks for removal of trustee after vote to close Judson Middle School
- Judson ISD board votes to close Judson MS, names interim superintendent amid $37 million deficit
