Several of Preston Hollow’s W.T. White High School community members are not happy with the school’s state of disrepair, and they’ve started taking steps to ensure that the Dallas ISD Board of Education knows just that.

As the school board considers increasing South Oak Cliff High School’s bond budget to $52 million, W.T. White advocates wonder why the North Dallas high school has not received the same financial support.

“Because we are North Dallas, there is a very wrong perception that this school has it made,” parent Susan Nurre says.

Louisa Meyer, a parent of W.T. White alumni, believes the district is not using data from its 2013 Facilities Condition Assessment report to properly allocate funds. During the board briefing on Oct. 13, Meyer told the school board that South Oak Cliff is not the only Dallas ISD school in need of repair.

“The needs of the most overcrowded campuses are only being partially addressed with their projects being pushed out several years from now,” she said in a statement. “Because of rising costs, their needs may not be met at all.”

Read the statement in its entirety here:

 

While W.T. White has received $21.7 million to construct a 30-classroom addition and replace the school’s windows as part of the interim bridge plan, community members are concerned the project does not address longstanding problems.

“I believe that there a lot of cosmetic things that are not as important — the ugly tiles and things like that,” Nurre says. “It’s the issue associated with overcrowding and that the new wing is replacing the portables.”

The Facebook group Renovate W.T. White High School has become public and lists a number of concerns, including congested athletic facilities and limited fine arts rooms.

“We need space, and we’re squeezing 10 pounds of flour in a 5-pound bag,” Nurre says.

District 1 Trustee Edwin Flores says the schools that are the most overcrowded and have the lowest income students should be the administration’s main priority. There needs to be standards established, he says, and plans to meet them.

While South Oak Cliff has been vocal about the state of its campus, Flores says there are schools districtwide facing the same issues.

“Are we setting a dangerous precedent by going with the loudest voices?” he says.