Current situation
At an Oct. 11 Georgetown Chamber of Commerce luncheon, GISD Superintendent Devin Padavil addressed a room of community members, some of whom said they have children in the school district. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May showed Georgetown is the fastest-growing city in the country with a population of more than 50,000 residents, and Padavil said the district is reckoning with a ballooning student body.
GISD currently has 600 more students than it did last year, he said.
"I don't think this is hyperbole to share with you that we're probably at one of the most critical points in the future of Georgetown ISD as a school district," Padavil said.
Looking back
Growth in Georgetown has long been a concern of district officials and community members. In 2021, voters who live in GISD approved the use of $333.42 million in bonds for the construction of two elementary schools, the construction of the new Benold Middle School and the Future Ready Complex.
One of those elementary schools is set to open next year in in the Santa Rita Ranch neighborhood. Padavil said it will provide temporary relief to increasing enrollment and capacity concerns at Wolf Ranch Elementary.
What's next
Padavil said East View High School, one of the district's three high schools, is rapidly approaching the point of tipping over from 5A to 6A, a designation assigned based on student population.
As the high school's student body gets larger, Padavil said GISD will have to re-emphasize its commitment to individualizing student learner profiles, the personalized approach to education adopted by the district in 2015. He said EVHS could easily grow to 3,000 students in the next five to seven years, and that it takes about two years from start to finish to build a new high school campus.
This is just one of the matters being considered by the district's Citizen Advisory Committee, which is currently evaluating the needs of the district, he said.
"Making those decisions early in terms of land acquisition, school location and what kind of schools is so important in this moment in time for our city and for our community," Padavil said.
