As Dallas ISD considers closing early learning centers, South Dallas parents are fighting to save theirs

As the district faces a budget deficit of more than $100 million, families say their neighborhood schools offer more than just a place for young children to learn

Taylor Estelle says his 3-year-old son is learning to count, make friends and develop a love of learning at Joseph J. Rhoads Early Learning Center in South Dallas.

But now, the school could close.

J.J. Rhoads is among six Dallas ISD campuses being considered for closure or consolidation as the district faces a budget deficit of more than $100 million. Three of the campuses are early learning centers.

“We need programs like this here in Dallas, specifically in inner city communities,” Estelle says, “where children can come and feel like they are being supported, loved, and they’re being nurtured.”

The district says the proposed consolidation could save about $2.6 million per campus closure.

But school board trustee Ed Turner, who represents J.J. Rhoads, questions how much the district would actually save by closing a school that’s nearly full. Turner says Rhoads currently has 122 students enrolled, with room for 130.

“I was shocked that J.J. Rhoads was even considered in this first round,” Turner says.

Turner said Dallas ISD spends about $1.7 million annually to operate Rhoads.

“For every $100 of our budget, it costs 9 [cents] to operate J.J. Rhodes,” he said. “So, are you saying that our investment is not worth the dime?”

Turner also questions whether closing the early learning center would generate significant savings because the building would remain open. It also houses a family resource center that provides services for Dallas ISD families.

“I’m not against consolidation,” Turner says. “I’m for smart consolidation.”

Under the proposal, some students would move to H.S. Thompson Elementary, which serves children from pre-K through fifth-grade.

For Estelle, the possibility of losing Rhoads is about more than finding another school. He said the early learning center has served South Dallas families for decades and has become a pillar of the community.

“The teachers create an environment that allows them to feel seen, feel welcomed,” Estelle says. “They’re able to thrive.”

Estelle has gathered more than 560 signatures in support of keeping the school open. Formerly an elementary school, Rhoads was converted to a pre-K learning center with an attached resource center. The Resource Center South opened in 2024, constructed as part of the 2020 bond package.

Parents say the school’s extended hours are particularly important for working families. Children can arrive around 7 a.m. and stay until 5:30 p.m.

Lemarion Patterson has a 4-year-old daughter in pre-K3 at Rhoads. She’s already learning letter sounds and writing her first and last name, Patterson says. She’s worried about moving her daughter into a larger school with older students.

“I can’t imagine her having to go anywhere else at this age with other people because this school is like a community,” Patterson says.

She says she would move her daughter to private school if Rhoads closed.

The proposed closures are raising similar concerns in Oak Cliff, where N.W. Harllee Early Childhood Center is also on the consolidation list. School board trustee Byron Sanders, who represents Harllee, met with families and community members Monday night.

He told them Harllee’s dwindling enrollment is too low to justify the cost of maintaining a separate campus. He argues the district’s financial problems are part of a larger challenge facing Texas public schools.

“We’re dealing with this because we don’t have enough money coming from the state,” Sanders says. “Austin ISD has a significant deficit. Houston has a deficit. Richardson, pick a school district across the state. They have a deficit.”

He said school districts needed a much larger increase in per-student funding from the legislature to keep up with rising costs.

Lawmakers did approve billions of dollars in additional public education funding [last session}, but Sanders says much of that money was restricted to specific purposes, leaving districts with little flexibility to cover everyday operating expenses.

The result, he says, is that Dallas ISD must find ways to cut costs, including consolidating campuses.

This year Dallas ISD expanded access to full-day pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds across the district, regardless of family income. Sanders says that means families have more options, even if some stand-alone early learning centers close. 

“I would love to keep them both,” Sanders says. “But if we had to choose, we’d rather have the universal pre-K option available districtwide.”

Families affected by the Harllee closure would eventually have the option of attending the new Cedar Crest Elementary School, which is being built with 2026 bond funds.

Sanders says he also wants community members to have a say in what happens to the historic Harllee building if the school closes.

Harrell Budd Elementary School, Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary School, Arlington Park Early Childhood Center, and Boude Storey Middle School are also schools that are being considered for closure.

The school board is set to discuss the consolidation plan on Thursday.

This article originally appeared in KERA at https://www.kera.org/2026/11/04/dallas-isd-jj-rhoads-school-closures-consolidation/.