Future middle schools will likely be constructed in the northern part of the district, which is the fastest growing area, and the center of the district, which is the densest. Future middle schools will likely be constructed in the northern part of the district, which is the fastest growing area, and the center of the district, which is the densest.[/caption]

In the next eight years, Leander ISD will need six more elementary schools, two more middle schools and one more high school to keep up with population growth, school demographers said.

Pat Guseman and Stacey Tepera of Population & Survey Analysts in College Station presented student population projections to the LISD board of trustees at an Oct. 20 meeting.

Guseman said the district saw 1,100 more students this school year, and it can expect an additional 1,100-1,350 students annually over the next 10 years.

Although the percent of annual growth in LISD has slowed because of rising home prices, LISD was still the 14th fastest growing school district in Texas last year, Guseman said.

Elementary schools

LISD is scheduled to open Elementary School No. 26 in fall 2017 directly in front of Stile Middle School on Barley Road in Leander. By fall 2019, Tepera said, Elementary School No. 27, which is slated to be built on land in the Bryson community in Leander, will likely need to open to alleviate overcrowding at Jim Plain Elementary School on the north end of the district.

Elementary School No. 28 will likely open at Ronald Reagan and FM 2243 on the northeast side of the district to alleviate overcrowding at Parkside Elementary School in Georgetown in fall 2021, Tepera said. School No. 28 could also help relieve possible overcrowding at Pleasant Hill Elementary School, off Crystal Falls Parkway in Leander, she said.

Elementary School No. 29 could open in Leander north of Jim Plain and Elementary School No. 27, but LISD does not yet own any land in the area, Tepera said.

Elementary School No. 30 could open in fall 2023, west of Mason Elementary School in Cedar Park, which will likely be overcrowded by that time because of growth in the nearby Travisso residential community, she said.

Elementary School No. 31 could open in fall 2024, north of Jim Plain and Bagdad elementary schools and could shift attendance zones north to relieve overcrowding in the central part of the district, which is the most densely populated, she said.

Middle, high schools

Tepera said LISD would likely need to open Middle School No. 9 in fall 2020, north of Leander Middle School and northwest of Wiley Middle School in Leander.

Middle School No. 10 would then likely open in fall 2023, near Reed Elementary in Cedar Park, where less growth is predicted but the density of students is greater, she said. School No. 10 would ultimately leave more room for growth in the Stiles Middle School attendance zone, in the northeast part of the district, she said.

Tom Glenn High School, which opened in the fall, is in the heart of north Leander, where much of the district’s growth is occurring, Tepera said. But by 2024, Glenn will likely reach its threshold for overcrowding, she said.

High School No. 7 could then open on the northeast side of the district, she said.

Tepera said no attendance zones have yet been discussed for any of the proposed new schools.

Trustee Aaron Johnson said the district could explore consolidating attendance zones to defer the construction of new schools further into the future. He also proposed the district create special programs at under-utilized campuses.

Superintendent Dan Troxell said he would rather target under-utilized campuses and promote interdistrict transfers than conduct a massive rezoning.

“We’ll be having more conversations on that,” he said.