The board’s vote completed a monthslong rezoning process that began in September and included four zoning proposals, community feedback and multiple district meetings.
A closer look
Students from several northern elementary campuses will be rezoned as Elementary School No. 30 will open in August at the intersection of San Gabriel Parkway and North Bagdad Road.
Over 920 students will be impacted, with 552 zoned for Elementary School No. 30, according to district documents. Click here to view the district’s interactive zoning map.
- 302 from Bagdad Elementary to Elementary School No. 30
- 250 from Plain Elementary to Elementary School No. 30
- 173 from Larkspur Elementary to North Elementary
- 144 from Tarvin Elementary to Larkspur
- 31 from Plain to Camacho Elementary
- 27 from Camacho to Bagdad
The backstory
The adopted zoning scenario was created after the district updated the functional capacities for elementary campuses at the request of the board.
The board rejected administration’s initial recommendation to move forward with a third scenario in January due to concerns that it increased the functional capacity at North Elementary, underutilized Elementary School No. 30 and overutilized Whitestone Elementary.
The district worked with a consultant to develop a new functional capacity formula that involves multiplying the average class size by the number of classrooms, which is then multiplied by an efficiency factor of 85%, Chief of Staff Sarah Grissom said. Previously, the district determined functional capacity using information provided by campus principals, she said.
The functional capacity at some campuses increased up to 327 students and decreased as much as 92 students under the new formula, according to district documents.
What else?
The updated functional capacities may allow the district to push the opening of Elementary School Nos. 31 and 33 back a year to the 2029-30 school year, Disler said.
The district is expected to open Elementary School No. 32 in 2027 and an early childhood center for its prekindergarten students, which are currently housed at elementary campuses, in 2026.
What they’re saying
“We recognized an issue, and we’re gradually improving it as we go,” Place 4 board member Anna Smith said about the rezoning process. “I’m going to be a very big advocate for this, to make sure this next process, when we go through it again, which we will, ... I’m going to be pushing for us to be better.”
What’s next
District officials will now work to finalize which students will be allowed transfer exceptions.
The district has historically allowed fifth grade students and their siblings to stay at their campus but does not anticipate providing transportation services for those students, Grissom said.
