The CFISD board approved attendance boundary changes for several high schools for the 2016-17 school year.[/caption]The Cy-Fair ISD board of trustees unanimously approved proposals for attendance boundary changes for several district high schools and middle schools heading into the 2016-17 school year. The board also approved several additional high school boundary changes for the 2017-18 school year.
The changes, first announced at a Nov. 16 meeting, are meant to populate Cypress Park High School and the unnamed high school 12—which are opening for the 2016 and 2017 school years respectively—and alleviate crowding at other campuses.
Several changes were made to the original proposals based on feedback from both the board and the community, according to Kristi Giron, CFISD’s director of general administration.
The committee of administrators tasked with updating the boundaries proposed a plan that requires only incoming 9th graders to transfer to new high schools, rather than incoming 9th and 10th graders. The only instance where both incoming 9th and 10th graders will be required to transfer is for the opening of high school 12 in the fall of 2017, Giron said.
“If [a student] started at a high school in ninth grade, they can stay at that high school until they graduate,” she said.
Trustee Don Ryan commented that this option will allow more students to be UIL eligible. The first class of 11th grade students at the two new high schools will be able to participate in all varsity team sports in the 2018-19 school year, and all students will potentially have two full years to enjoy the varsity football experience.
“It’s a blessing for those students to be able to do that,” Ryan said.
The most important priorities for the committee in determining new boundaries were to listen to community feedback and disrupt as few students as possible, CFISD Superintendent Mark Henry said.
“One of the things we want [the community] to understand is that we have received and read all your comments,” he said. “Any of those we could incorporate, that’s what we tried to do.”
Based on community feedback, two modifications were made to the middle school changes proposed in November. The changes were both made with the intention of keeping communities together.
Students in the Enchanted Valley neighborhoods—including Enchanted Valley Estates, Park Forest Trails and Jarvis Road east of Telge Road—will be transferred from Hamilton Middle School to Arnold Middle School together. A second modification will allow Cypress Mills neighborhoods—including Cypress Mills Estates, Cypress Mills and Cypress Mill Park—to stay at Spillane Middle School. Initial proposals called for Cypress Mills neighborhoods west of Cypress Rosehill Road to be transferred to Goodson Middle School.
“After reviewing community input and looking at enrollment projections, we determined we can leave all of Cypress Mills at Spillane,” Giron said.
The initial proposals for high school changes were not altered, Giron said. Rezoning was broken down by residential codes. The full report of the proposed boundaries can be found on the CFISD website.
In 2016, several residential codes in the Jersey Village High School area will be rezoned to Cypress Ridge. A portion of Cy Falls will be rezoned to Langham Creek, and the Barker Cypress Road will become the dividing line between Langham Creek and Cy Springs zones. Portions of Cy Springs and Cy Lakes will be rezoned as Cypress Park, which is under construction near Westgreen Boulevard and FM 529.
In 2017, portions of Cy-Fair, Cy Falls and Cy Woods will all be rezoned to Cy Ranch, and the portion of Cy Ranch north of Hwy. 290 will be rezoned to Cy Woods. The portion of Cy Ranch west of Fry and Mueschke roads will be rezoned to the new high school No. 12, which will extend out to the district’s western and northern borders, covering the Fairfield and Bridgeland communities.
Students affected by change and who have an older sibling in grades 10-12 may choose to stay at their original high school rather than attend the one designated by rezoning, Giron said.
Any middle school student who will also be in 8th grade for the 2016-17 school year may remain at their current middle school if parents provide transportation. Parents will not be required to pay a $25 transfer fee.
Instructional calendar
The CFISD board also approved the 2016-17 instructional calendar at the Jan. 19 meeting.
A committee composed of teachers, parents, community members, administrators and support staff proposed a calendar that adds 15 minutes to each instructional day, allowing the 2016-17 school year to end May 25, 2017.
The approved calendar, which can be downloaded on the CFISD website, includes the following details:
- students begin school on Monday, Aug. 22
- Labor Day, 5, is a holiday
- a five-day Thanksgiving holiday scheduled for Nov. 21-25
- an 11-day winter break is scheduled for Dec. 19, 2016-Jan. 2, 2017
- a one-week spring break is scheduled for March 13-17, 2017
- Good Friday, April 14, 2017, is a holiday
- Feb. 20 and May 26, 2017, are designated as inclement weather makeup days
