Parents, former staff urge board not to close Shields Elementary

Several parents, former staff and neighbors addressed the Victoria ISD Board during the public forum to urge trustees not to close Shields Elementary.

A public commenter addressed as Mister Svetlick cited Texas Education Code 247.2 on educator ethics and alleged the district's bond campaign materials never used the word "close," saying that parents of more than 1,300 children from Shields, Smith and O'Connor were not told about potential closures. He asked why local media had not reported what he described as omissions. The attendee stated, "Could it be that VISD purposefully hid information from parents of pending school closures?" The transcript shows variants in how his name was spelled in meeting dialogue; the transcript uses 'Svetlick' in the initial address.

Another resident criticized the bond's priorities, saying, "If you have $240,000,000 and you said that the school would cost $38,000,000, you ought to see at least 6.5 schools out of this," and warned of disruption from bussing and crowding other campuses. Robbie Woodson, who identified himself as a neighbor and alumnus, said Shields "has good bones" and warned the consolidation process had caused trauma in prior reorganizations.

Christina Cornish, who said she had taught at Shields and is a parent, recounted her child's plea at a town hall — "please do not close my school" — and criticized district text messages for not explicitly stating that a closure was under consideration, saying clearer notice would likely have brought more parents to meetings.

Speakers asked for transparent cost estimates and community-based planning rather than immediate closures. The board closed public comment following those remarks and did not respond during the forum due to meeting rules.