The Dallas Independent School District is in the process of constructing a state-of-the-art school in Texas. The decision to build this $50 million "super-magnet" high school, which has the potential to accommodate over 4,000 students, was heavily influenced by big business in Dallas. This project will involve various stakeholders such as politicians, builders, developers, realtors, bankers, and businessmen. It will require a special act of the Texas legislature and has already initiated a national sales campaign to attract potential buyers for one of the largest undeveloped sites in downtown urban America.
Advocates of the new school argue that it will save operational expenses by reducing administrative duplication and offer students a wider range of course options compared to the current high schools in the district. However, it is uncertain whether the new school will improve desegregation or attract middle-class white families back into the system. Nonetheless, the atmosphere of growth and the prevailing optimism about the future motivate Dallas business leaders to think ambitiously, influencing those around them.
Walter Humann, an executive at Hunt Oil Co. who chaired the panel that recommended building the super-magnet, describes the Dallas area as dynamic, optimistic, and bold in its thinking. He believes that the new school will serve as a magnet to attract people back into the school system. He firmly believes that with careful consideration, both cost-effectiveness and boldness can be achieved simultaneously.
The catalyst for this project emerged more than a year ago during a hearing presided by U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders. The hearing discussed proposed changes to the district’s 1976 school-desegregation plan. The racial makeup of the district has shifted significantly over the past decade, with the majority of students now coming from minority groups. Currently, 50% of students are black and 20% are Hispanic. The 1976 desegregation order did not mandate the busing of high school students, leading to racial isolation in many of the district’s comprehensive high schools due to housing patterns. The magnet schools, which currently number seven, were established in response to the 1976 order but have not achieved the diverse student populations that school officials had envisioned. Most of the magnet schools have a disproportionately high number of black and Hispanic students. During the hearing, Judge Sanders proposed the idea of consolidating the district’s magnet schools onto a single campus, similar to Dallas’s Skyline High School, a renowned career-development complex that enrolls approximately 4,000 students in various fields such as building trades, aviation, computer science, and fashion design. This proposal was intended to promote integration and improve the effectiveness of the magnet schools.
Even before Judge Sanders made this suggestion, school officials were already aware of the need to enhance the district’s magnet schools, many of which were located in older buildings that had been previously closed. The idea of combining some of the schools or building a centralized academic center to serve all the magnet schools was being discussed within the community advisory committees. These committees also expressed concerns about the limited academic offerings available to students due to the small size of several magnet schools.
In response, school officials began exploring different possibilities. One option was to repurpose schools in the North Dallas area that were either being vacated or could be closed due to declining enrollment, primarily in the predominantly white section of the city. The aim was to consolidate and upgrade the facilities to create a more robust and integrated magnet school system.
Eventually, we approached the judge and requested permission to explore the possibility of studying the project with the help of the community advisory committees, which are integral to the magnet-school programs," said Mr. Ascough. These committees consist of prominent business executives in the city. "The committees expressed their support for having a ‘superfacility,’ depending on its location. Each group involved had its own perspective on this matter," Mr. Ascough explained. The arts magnet group did not want to leave the arts district, while the business community wanted the school to remain downtown. The advisers to the law magnet desired to stay near City Hall and the courts, and the committee members for the health magnet preferred being close to Baylor Hospital. And all the while, the Trinity River ran through the city, acting as a barrier between predominantly white North Dallas and the predominantly minority population in the Oak Cliff section to the southwest. "Anglo members were concerned that if the judge wanted a good balance, then Anglo students would have to come from north of the river. However, despite the primary site being right across the bridge, the Trinity River was seen as a psychological obstacle that might prevent the school from attracting kids," Mr. Ascough stated. "Others believe that a good program anywhere will attract students." The one thing the committee members agreed on was that building a new school was the logical solution to the problem. The necessary financing for the project was available, as the district could sell valuable downtown real estate to fund the construction of the new facility.
A feasibility study
The committee hired an architectural firm to conduct a feasibility study for the project, which resulted in a proposed complex costing between $35 million and $50 million and included a "creative-financing" plan. Designed to accommodate a minimum of 4,000 students in grades 9 through 12, the "super-school" would consolidate existing magnet programs in various fields such as business, law, health, human services, transportation, science and technology, as well as programs for talented and gifted students. The arts magnet program may also be relocated to the new complex. While the school would have a centralized library and combined departments for core academic subjects like English, math, and science, each of the magnet programs would have its own dedicated wing or building and retain its individual identity. Students would likely spend half of their day in schoolwide academic classes and the other half in specialized classes. In a time when most school systems in the country are struggling due to declining enrollment and financial challenges, the Dallas school board, with the support of the business community, has committed to selecting a site for the new multimillion-dollar magnet school this month. The duplication of services at smaller magnet high schools has led to inefficiency, according to Mr. Humann, an executive in the oil industry. The existing facilities are outdated and in dire need of renovation. Building a new school was seen as a solution that would be "greater than the sum of its parts." "When you consider the financial aspect, the district could save $2 million to $3 million annually in operating expenses by centralizing the magnet schools," explained Mr. Humann. "The main question was how to finance it. We assumed that Dallas should not and could not attempt to raise a significant amount through bonds to build a centralized magnet." Dallas school officials admitted that they did not expect to pass a bond issue for the funding of a new school. Therefore, the solution agreed upon by business and school leaders was to sell valuable downtown real estate.
"We must utilize the property until the completion of the new facilities," stated Robby Collins, the lobbyist representing the Dallas district in the state legislature. The predicament arises as the district also requires funds from the land sale to finance the construction of the new facilities. However, real estate experts argue that no developer would be willing to pay the school system for valuable land that they wouldn’t be able to utilize for a period of two to three years. As a solution, school officials plan to request one-time legislation from the Texas legislature that would allow the Dallas district to sell revenue bonds to finance the project. This proposal suggests that the bonds would be issued once a developer has agreed to purchase the land. Mr. Collins believes that the proposal will face no opposition as it benefits both the school district and the taxpayers.
Simultaneously, the school board is in the process of choosing between two sites recommended by the community advisory committee. These options include the current location of the arts magnet high school in the newly established downtown arts district or a site in Oak Cliff, which is situated across the Trinity River from downtown Dallas. If the board members opt for the 4.37-acre arts magnet site, the district would need to construct a high-rise magnet school. Conversely, the 21.5-acre Oak Cliff site could accommodate a community-college-style campus to accommodate the magnet programs.
Although only two board members have publicly expressed their stance on the site selection, a majority of them privately agree to vote for the Oak Cliff site. The district had purchased this site in 1976 with the intention of building a magnet school.
"Super recruiting" will be necessary to overcome the challenges facing the new magnet school, according to Mr. Wright. A public opinion survey conducted alongside the feasibility study revealed that consolidating the district’s magnet schools on a single site near downtown would not effectively contribute to desegregating the schools. The market survey also indicated that neither of the proposed sites is highly appealing to most individuals within the school system. Moreover, establishing a new magnet school in Oak Cliff would further complicate the task of attracting white students. Mr. Wright acknowledged that selling the magnet school would be an uphill battle. However, he and other school officials remain confident in their ability to overcome these obstacles.
