Parents and staff plead with Fort Worth ISD to not close school for bilingual students

There were 137 people who signed up to speak at Tuesday night's Fort Worth ISD board meeting. There were so many that, three hours into the meeting, nothing happened except listening to the speakers. Almost every speaker opposed the district's plan to move bilingual and special education programs into neighborhood schools.

Most are from the International Newcomer Academy, a school for students new to America or who are learning English. Students at the middle school scored a D on STAAR last year and had failed it the two years before that.

The district said students who aren't English proficient are doing better in neighborhood schools, and they want these kids to be there so they can access more resources.

Parents and teachers said it's not that simple and that these students all need extra help. They will be left behind in a classroom with traditional learners. Even the executive director of the emergent bilingual program spoke out against the way this all went down.

"I haven't spoken to the superintendent once in the five weeks he's been here," said Marie Mendoza, the executive director of emergent bilingual programs for the district. She and her deputy spoke out against the move.

Board members listened intently but hadn't made a decision as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.

It's taken most of the night just to listen to the nearly 140 speakers who showed up, cheering, jeering, and demanding that they rethink this. Amanda Inay, a former school board candidate, was threatened with removal for attacking a staff member and she refused to leave in a face-off with the board president.

The meeting will likely go well into the night. We will update this story as the board weighs in.