"Don't tax you.
Don't tax me.
Tax that fellow behind the tree."
— Louisiana Senator Russell B. Long
In local school politics, that political adage might be:
Don't close your school.
Don't close my own.
Close that school way across town.
With votes Thursday evening, March 21, 2024, the Richardson ISD officially
moved to close four elementary schools all over town. In December, I called
school closures the "third rail of local school politics. Touch it and you
die." I knew that no matter how long RISD dragged out the community
discussions, the community would never reach agreement on which schools to
close. So just two months later in February, when I first heard of Project
RightSize, I said, "Bold. Quick. Decisive. Well done." Now, a month later it's
official. And I was wrong (again).