Lubbock ISD has unveiled its shiny new District Optimization Framework, a very official-sounding checklist to decide which schools get to keep existing. To stay safe, a campus now needs more than 450 students, at least 70% of its building actually being used, and expenses within 5% of the district average. Miss all three and—congrats—you’ve earned a spot in the “let’s talk about closing you” conversation. Don’t worry though, no schools will close this year. Pinky swear.
District leaders say this will all be “transparent,” with a dashboard anyone can view online. According to LISD’s innovation team, parents and community members will be able to click around and see the numbers that determine their neighborhood school’s fate. Because nothing says community trust like a data portal quietly explaining why your kid’s campus is now a “consolidation opportunity.” The framework will start reviewing elementary and middle schools next academic year, giving everyone just enough time to feel uneasy.
Meanwhile, at the state level, Texas is already playing the nuclear option. Under Texas law, a single campus earning an F for five straight years can trigger a state takeover of an entire district—elected school boards removed, decisions handed to Austin, and local control tossed in the nearest recycling bin. According to reporting from the Texas Tribune, the campuses most likely to trigger these takeovers overwhelmingly serve low-income students and Black and Hispanic communities. Shocking, truly.
State officials insist this is about “accountability” and helping kids succeed. Critics counter that it’s hard to fix test scores when schools are also expected to solve poverty, housing instability, racism, and chronic underfunding—often without the resources to do so. The state points to Houston ISD as a success story, while conveniently glossing over the teacher exodus, community distrust, and voters rejecting a massive bond meant to fix crumbling schools.
So here we are: locally, LISD is building a tidy formula to decide which campuses are worth the overhead, while statewide, the Texas Education Agency is ready to pull entire districts into receivership based on test scores that correlate suspiciously well with poverty and race. Data-driven, efficient, and totally not missing the point.
If spreadsheets and standardized tests are the cure, why does it keep feeling like the same communities are the ones getting “optimized” out of existence?
https://www.kcbd.com/2026/01/26/lisd-approves-new-criteria-closures-consolidations/
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/27/texas-school-takeover-trigger-f-grades/