Flower Mound panel backs removal of 15 specimen trees so Lewisville ISD can replace Forestwood Middle track

The Flower Mound Environmental Conservation Commission on Feb. 12 recommended approval of a permit allowing Lewisville Independent School District to remove 15 specimen trees at Forestwood Middle School so the district can install a regulation-size track and field.

The commission approved the recommendation by voice roll call; Commission members Sharma, Workman, Vice Chair Bowman, Spurlock, Fulbright and Moffitt each answered “Aye,” and the chair announced the motion passed.

Lewisville ISD officials told the commission the site—about 21 acres adjacent to Wilkerson Park and a floodplain—has had an irregular, substandard track since the school was built in 1994 and that most other district middle schools have full-size fields. “All middle school campuses have access to a standard practice field and track,” said Christie Lyles, Lewisville ISD athletic director, summarizing the district’s equity argument for the project. Lyles and Randy Fite, the district’s executive director of construction, described two design concepts: one that…