De Zavala Elementary will close at the end of the 2025-2026 school year if the Fort Worth Independent School District board approves the move in March. Fort Worth ISD said its Superintendent, Dr. Karen Molinar, plans to make the recommendation, which will be reviewed in the March 24 board meeting . Students from Dassett Montessori school will move on to the campus sooner. Fort Worth ISD said the decision was made based on De Zavala’s principal, Marlette Martinez, taking a new job at one of the district’s ACE campuses, West Hanley. It blamed the continued declining enrollment as well. “We saw about a 2,400 student decline,” Deputy Superintendent Kellie Spencer said. “We believe that that impact was because of changes in immigration policies that we had not anticipated.” As a part of the district’s master plan approved in May 2025, to close campuses due to budget shortfalls, De Zavala was set to close at the end of 2027. But Wednesday night, the district said it held two meetings with both the Daggett Montessori and De Zavala communities, informing them of the expedited timelines. There’s no set plan for which schools De Zavala students might be recommended to attend. “We’re taking a look at some of the data now so that we can get them answers about what other future options exist for them, whether that be staying at the De Zavala campus or what that means for the dual language program, either at Daggett Elementary School or at Lilly B. Clayton,” Spencer said. Some families are now shocked to find this out, with the school year ending in three months. “I’d say we feel more than a little betrayed,” Diego Esparza, a De Zavala father, said. Patrick O’Neal, a grandparent of three De Zavala students, called the meeting at the last minute. He and others told NBC 5 they feel blindsided and not fairly considered as the district makes these changes. “They had a very clear plan to move Daggett Montessori into De Zavala, but no clear plan to handle what happens to the students that are already there,” O’Neal said. “And I think that is indicative of how this whole thing has been planned.” Jeremy Herrera, a father at De Zavala, shares the same sentiments that the closure situation hasn’t been handled fairly. “It’s hard to understand why our school in particular continues to get the short end of the stick and why there isn’t anything that we can say to convince the school board or Superintendent Molinar otherwise,” Hererra said. De Zavala is among the now 19 other schools that Fort Worth ISD said it will be closing. According to the district, it’s expected to save Fort Worth ISD $10 million over the next five years. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will be assigning a board of managers as a part of the district takeover, as it has struggled. Spencer told NBC 5 there’s no timeline on when that will happen. However, she said she doesn’t anticipate the TEA will change any plans that have already been finalized, such as closing De Zavala a year sooner than originally planned. ...read more read less