The Irving Independent School District

The Irving Independent School District

The Irving Independent School District was established in 1909, just six years after the city of Irving was founded. The district began in a two-room, two-story, frame school building and has grown to over 35 schools.

The district grew slowly for several decades and then was transformed by the rapid growth of the city beginning in the 1950s to the present.

This is a glimpse into the history of the district and some of the events that occurred through the years.

Edwin Cash Lively

In 1909, at the request of the people of Irving, the Texas Legislature created the Irving Independent School District.

Edwin Cash (E.C.) Lively was the area's representative to the Texas House of Representatives and proposed the legislation that created the Irving Independent School District.

Central School Grounds

Irving was a small farming community for its first 50 years of existence. In fact, all of the IISD's school buildings were located on one campus from 1909 until 1948.

When the IISD expanded the school grounds from one acre to five acres in 1913, the local paper described the grounds as "having a natural forest oak grove on one end and a natural play park on the other." By the time of the photo shown here, the play park had been replaced by the 1936 high school building.

It was not until 1948 that the school district built its first building off the original school campus.

Segregation - Separate Was Not Equal

As was the case in most school districts across America, the IISD was a racially segregated school district. Black students were not allowed to attend school with white students.

African Americans were not allowed to live in the city of Irving, but they did live in the surrounding area. So the school district build two schools to accommodate black students. The IISD operated the Lebetter School near West Dallas and the J.O. Davis School in the African American Bear Creek community on the west side of Irving.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional, but many districts resisted integration. In 1966, under federal pressure, the IISD began integrating its school, and by the end of 1967, racially segregated schools came to an end in Irving's public school system.

Crisis in the School District

In 1955, the school board fired the school superintendent. He had been on the job for six years and was well liked, so the move came as a surprise to many residents of the city. Supporters of the superintendent demanded that the board give reasons for the firing. The board gave reasons that many found unsupported or disprovable.

The board stood by its firing and in response, 116 of the 223 teachers as well as all cafeteria staff, secretaries, and maintenance and transportation employees walked off the job in support of the superintendent.

The teachers' walk out, or strike, depending on which side one took, greatly exacerbated the situation. Many people felt that no matter the issues regarding the superintendent, that teachers should never leave the classroom for any reason. This drew more people into the dispute and deepened the divide in the community. The rift was so deep that the First United Methodist Church of Irving split apart, and a new church was formed.

Soon the dispute devolved into accusations of communist influence creeping into the community.

For additional information click the "More Info" button at top right. 

To resolve the dispute, three elections were held in the span of two months. In the first, voters narrowly voted to abolish the school district as the only means of getting rid of the sitting school board. A month later, another election was held to recreate the school district and elect a new school board. This board was only in place for three weeks before the regularly scheduled biennial school board election was to be held. In this election, the pro-superintendent faction won all seven seats. The board rehired the superintendent, and all the teachers who had been fired for walking out.

This outcome did nothing to soothe the feeling of those who opposed the teachers' actions, and the rift continued to run through the community. Even 40 years after the incident, people involved in the matter were reluctant to talk about it and resolved themselves to the notion that it was better to let the matter lie.

Expansion in the 1950s-1970s

Irving went from being a sleepy farming town to a rapidly growing suburb beginning in the 1950s through the 1970s. The school district scrambled to keep pace with the expansion of the population and rapidly built schools across the developing city.

Irving High School was the district's only high school for more than 50 years. During the growth of the district during the 1950s through the 1970s, two additional high schools were opened: MacArthur High School and Nimitz High School.

For additional information click on the "More Info" button at top right.

Continued Growth

Over the years, the city of Irving has continued to grow, and along with it, so has the Irving Independent School District.

The IISD is home to 33,000+ students and 36 schools, consisting of five high schools, eight middle schools, twenty elementary schools, three early childhood schools, as well as other educational and support facilities.

For additional information click on the "More Info" button at top right.