After months of discussions, Leander ISD’s board of trustees voted unanimously June 6 to adopt new middle school attendance zones. Trustee Grace Barber-Jordan was absent from the meeting.

The new zoning scenario, known as Scenario F, will go into effect for the 2020-21 academic year, when Danielson Middle School opens in Leander.

In contemplating attendance zones, the school board discussed priorities such as keeping students together with their peers throughout their education and preventing or relieving overcrowding at schools.

During a portion of the meeting open to citizen comments, several parents and students spoke against the zoning change, citing concerns about the possibility of gerrymandering and students being separated from their peers as they move through the school system.

The approved scenario includes pure feeder patterns for Cedar Park Middle School, Canyon Ridge Middle School, Danielson Middle School, Henry Middle School, Running Brushy Middle School, Four Points Middle School and Wiley Middle School, according to district documents. A pure feeder pattern means students in these schools will move on to the same high school as their peers.

Stiles Middle School students will be split, with 52% going to Rouse High School and the remainder going to Vista Ridge High School. Leander Middle School students will be split similarly, with 49% attending Glenn High School and the rest attending Leander High School.

“We have had some really robust conversations about how to skin this thing, and with every scenario we’ve come up with we’ve received feedback from the community,” said trustee Jim MacKay during the June 6 meeting. “We’ve made good tweaks where we could accommodate them. At the end of the day we have to make a decision."

Under the approved scenario, the only middle school that is projected to be significantly overcrowded by the 2023-24 school year is Stiles, which at a projected 1,634 students would be at a functional capacity of 120% or higher, according to district documents.

The board also adopted student transfer exceptions for Danielson Middle School. No transfer requests out of the campus will be approved, but incoming eighth grade students and their siblings in LISD who are rezoned will be able to apply for a transfer and remain at the current zoned school. This will apply for the 2020-21 academic year, according to district documents.