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Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth issues $57.2 million permit for a new J.P. Elder Middle School

Fort Worth, Texas issued a $57.2 million permit Oct. 28 for a 115,000-square-foot middle school on the J.P. Elder campus, the Northside school that will take in Kirkpatrick Middle's students under the district's closure plan.

By Morningline Research · November 11, 2026

Fort Worth, Texas has issued the building permit for a new middle school on the Northside. The permit, issued Oct. 28 for 709 NW 21st St., covers "new construction of a 115,000 sf middle school that will directly connect to an existing building," with a reported value of $57.2 million.

That address is J.P. Elder Middle School, whose three-story brick school building went up in 1927, according to Candy's Dirt. It's the campus Fort Worth ISD picked to rebuild when it decided last year to close Kirkpatrick Middle and send those students to Elder.

Three permits in a week

Timeline of the permits and milestones for the new middle school at 709 NW 21st St.
Graphic: Morningline Research, from city building permit records and the reporting linked in this story.

The new school isn't the only work on the site. On Oct. 22 the city issued a $4.3 million permit to renovate an existing building there: fire alarm replacement, sprinkler upgrades, new windows, a first-floor renovation and the "connection to new building construction." A $75,000 permit the same day covers a storage shed for athletic equipment.

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The big permit came six days later. Besides the new building, it calls for demolishing two existing buildings, and "the entire site is to be reworked to include new parking lots, fire lanes, and a track." The permit doesn't say which of the campus buildings come down.

Permit values are estimates filed with the city, not contract amounts. The district's own number is larger. Its bond program page puts the project budget at $100.2 million, covering 115,075 square feet of new construction and 44,155 square feet of renovation.

A 2021 bond, a 2025 vote

The money goes back to November 2021, when Fort Worth voters approved a $1.2 billion bond, the largest in the district's history. Most of it was set aside for the district's aging middle schools, American School & University reported.

The Elder project grew out of a later decision. On May 20, 2025, the school board voted 8-0 to close 18 campuses over the next few years, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Kirkpatrick Middle is on that list for June 2029. Community meeting documents showed its students moving to a "newly constructed J.P. Elder Middle," and Elder slated to be rebuilt, the Star-Telegram reported that month.

The district pointed to enrollment. It has lost more than 12,000 students in five years and projects 6,500 fewer by 2030, CBS News Texas reported. The district estimated the closures would save $77.3 million over five years.

The district's bond page calls the work the North Side Pyramid Middle School Consolidation. Its list of what's included runs from new classrooms and science labs to a media center, cafeteria, secured front entry and removal of portable buildings.

The district's leadership has changed since the vote. In March, the Texas Education Agency appointed a nine-member board of managers and a new superintendent to run Fort Worth ISD in place of the elected board, the agency announced.

Schools keep the planning numbers up

Schools have helped carry the national planning numbers this fall. Institutional planning, which includes schools and hospitals, jumped 9.4% in September on the Dodge Momentum Index, led by education and healthcare, Construction Dive reported. In October the index fell 9%, mostly on weaker data center and warehouse plans, while institutional planning slipped just 1.5%, Construction Dive reported.

The district's bond page lists construction starting in the first quarter of 2027, wrapping up in the third quarter of 2029, with the new school opening in August 2029. The permits are now in hand ahead of that start.

See Fort Worth's latest permit numbers, updated weekly.

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More numbers: Fort Worth, TX building permit activity, updated weekly.