Northway Christian Church has made concessions to neighbors concerned about its plans to host the Compass School of Texas, but residents say there’s still more work to do.
After Northway announced in April that it intended to close its preschool in May 2027 and house Compass, some residents expressed concern about the potential traffic impact and future uses of the church space.
The Compass School, which serves students in Pre-K to fourth grade, would be adjacent to Highland Park ISD’s Boone Elementary. Compass opened in 2023 and is slated to expand to serve students through eighth grade.
“The location includes more classrooms and dedicated administrative offices in addition to ample outdoor space while we build on our current campus,” explained Compass Head of School Shelly Sender. “We look forward to building a positive relationship with Northway and the beautiful surrounding neighborhood.”
So where do things stand with the plans now?
Representatives of Northway have committed to a time-limited specific-use permit, a student enrollment cap, and the placement of an off-duty officer on campus during school hours, Meagan Ranallo, a Boone Elementary parent, shared in a communication to community members.
“These are real concessions and reflect the substantive engagement many of you have been part of since the April 30 community meeting,” her June 5 message read.
Larry Hall, Dallas District 13 Planning Commissioner, confirmed that consultants for Northway have agreed to an enrollment cap in the specific use permit and project a maximum enrollment of 340 students. He said a time frame for the length of the permit remains under discussion.
“However, enrollment caps are difficult to enforce, so the city relies more on number of classrooms, which can be enforced. The applicant has agreed to a cap of 21 classrooms in the (specific use permit),” Hall added.
Ranallo said some neighbors still would like Boone and Compass’ dismissal times to be further staggered, a 5,000-square-foot storm shelter proposal to be reviewed, and a formal cost-sharing agreement with Highland Park ISD for crossing guards to be created. They also want some more questions answered.
“The neighborhood is not asking the City of Dallas to deny education to children. We are asking that any permit approved include binding conditions calibrated to the unique configuration of two independently administered schools sharing the same residentially zoned city block,” the June 5 message continued.
The plans still have hurdles to clear. The permit request needs to be considered by the Dallas Planning and Zoning Commission, which will then make a recommendation to the Dallas City Council.
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