DFW News App

Faced with a budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year, Northwest ISD administrators say they had to move “big rocks” to close the gap. Now, some students and parents say those rocks are crashing down on them.Following a unanimous trustee decision in January to increase class sizes and reduce 101 staff positions, Northwest ISD will eliminate its Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, and Reading Recovery programs for the 2025-26 school year as part of its effort to cover a $16 million budget deficit.The program cuts, confirmed in a letter to staff and families Feb. 11, ignited reactions from students and parents who credit these programs with their academic success.“I implore you, do not take the program that made me college and career ready,” Sophia Brumley, a sophomore at Northwest High School, told trustees during their Feb. 10 meeting. “AVID changed my life. … I didn’t know how to take notes, apply to college.”AVID is an academic support program designed to improve students’ college and career readiness. The program, offered at Chisholm Trail Middle School, Pike Middle School and Northwest High School, emphasizes skills like inquiry, collaboration and organization to support academic growth and provides intensive support through tutor-facilitated study groups and student-teacher collaboration.Of the campus’ nearly 2,600 students, 94 participated in AVID at Northwest High School during the 2024-25 school year, Northwest High student Makenzie Walker told trustees. The programs were eliminated, the letter said, because of low enrollment.The program had been “life-changing,” Sophia’s mom Jill Brumley told trustees. But officials said they could no longer offer those services and plan to transition AVID and Reading Recovery teachers into other teaching positions. Alternative student support options are still being discussed, according to a district spokesperson.“Once we find appropriate replacements, we will work with counselors to provide those recommendations and work with students for choices that best fit them,” district spokesperson Anthony Tosie told the Report.The program eliminations are among several cost-saving measures the district recently announced as it grapples with an ongoing lack of funding. Officials have repeatedly pointed to the Texas Legislature not increasing per-student funding since 2019, despite rising costs.In November, voters rejected a 3-cent tax rate hike that would have increased property tax revenue to fund district operations. Without that additional funding, district leaders say they had no choice but to move forward with staffing and program reductions.“Hey, we’re serving your kids. They’re gonna get a great education here,” Superintendent Mark Foust said during a Jan. 23 school board meeting. “We’re just doing it differently.”The most immediate and visible change will be increased class sizes across nearly all grade levels:Second-, third- and fourth-grade classrooms will move from a student-to-teacher ratio of 22 to 1 to 24 to 1, requiring an exemption from the Texas Education Agency due to class size limits.

In middle and high schools, teachers will now oversee 180 students per day, increasing the average class size to 25.7 students in middle school and 30 students in high school.

101 teaching positions and $6 million in support positions will be eliminated.The district will also reduce the number of athletic class periods at each high school, reallocating teachers to academic classes to avoid hiring additional staff. Fine arts staffing will be reduced by 15%. Some teachers may now split their time across multiple campuses.Officials are also targeting $3 million in non-payroll savings through adjustments to technology contracts, supply budgets and operational expenses. Additional savings may come from renegotiating outsourced contracts, reducing travel and conference budgets and scaling back some districtwide programs, like dyslexia or English as second language programs.The district is also exploring new revenue sources, like increasing facility rentals, boosting tuition-based program enrollment and seeking grants and private partnerships.The next school board meeting is set for Feb. 25. Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.