The Pflugerville ISD school board previewed Jan. 21 proposed boundary changes ahead of three new campuses coming online by the 2022-23 academic year. The Jan. 21 discussion followed four town halls, and several residents spoke out against the proposed changes, which aim to mitigate overenrollment and misaligned feeder patterns.
Why boundary changes?
The proposed changes come in response to overcrowding in certain district campuses and the need for realignment in others, said Brian Dawson, the area executive director of PfISD's Wolf Learning Community.
Overenrolled campuses are those defined as when current enrollment exceeds the building's capacity, which could include architectural capacity and functional capacity. Architectural capacity refers to how many students a building can hold by design, whereas functional capacity is the capacity of a campus once campus programs are considered. Neither capacities accounts for temporary or portable buildings on campuses, Dawson said.
What is proposed
Jessica Carpenter Elementary and Bohls Middle School will open in the summer ahead of the 2021-22 school year. Elementary School No. 23 will open in advance of the 2022-23 academic year.
The following maps highlight proposed elementary school changes for the 2021-22 school year:
If the proposals are approved as presented, the following campuses will be impacted for the 2021-22 school year:
- Mott Elementary School
- Cele Middle School
- Dessau Middle School
- Kelly Lane Middle School
- Park Crest Middle School
For the 2022-23 academic year, the following campuses will be impacted by current proposals, if approved:
- Mott Elementary School
- Students south of Kelly Lane and west of Weiss Lane would move from Mott Elementary to Elementary No. 23.
- Sorento neighborhood homes, excluding the Pacesetter homes, would move from Mott Elementary to Elementary No. 23.
- Some portions of Riojas Elementary's and Rowe Lane Elementary's boundaries "that are in close proximity" to Mott Elementary would relocate to the campus.
- Rowe Lane Elementary School
- The neighborhoods south of Spiedel Drive and west of Farm Pond Lane would move from Rowe Lane Elementary to Riojas Elementary.
- Misty Shore Lane would relocate from Rowe Lane Elementary to Riojas Elementary.
- Students south of Plover Rain Way would move from Rowe Lane Elementary to Riojas Elementary.
- The region south of Blarney Lane would move from Rowe Lane Elementary to Mott Elementary.
- Murchison Elementary School
- Students in areas east of Diablo Drive would move from Murchison Elementary to Riojas Elementary.
- Butler National Drive would relocate from Murchison Elementary to Riojas Elementary.
- Riojas Elementary School
- The region south of Kelly Lane would relocate from Riojas Elementary to Elementary No. 23.
- Plough Shores Lane, Cherubini Trail, Shining Isle Run, Dunstan Beacon Lane, Druid Path and Seven Sea Place would all relocate from Riojas Elementary to Mott Elementary.
- The neighborhood southeast of Abigail Way—including Burrowbridge Road, Tristan Stone Drive, Brean Down Road and Stembridge Run—would move from Riojas Elementary to Mott Elementary.
- Pflugerville Elementary School
- Bohls Place students would move from Pflugerville Elementary to Brookhollow Elementary.
- Brookhollow Elementary School
- Brookhollow Elementary would accept students from the Bohls Place neighborhood.
- Wieland Elementary School
- The region from Anhalt Drive to the greenbelt would relocate from Ruth Barron Elementary into Wieland Elementary.
- Ruth Barron Elementary School
- The region from Anhalt Drive to the greenbelt would relocate from Ruth Barron Elementary into Wieland Elementary.
- Weiss High School (for Bohls Place residents)
If the proposals are approved as presented, the following campuses will be impacted for the 2021-22 school year:
- Park Crest Middle School to Kelly Lane Middle School
- Boone Valley Drive and the region to the north of Boon Valley Drive would relocate from Park Crest Middle School to Kelly Lane Middle School.
- Kelly Lane Middle School to Cele Middle School
- Butler National Drive would relocate from Kelly Lane Middle School to Cele Middle School.
- The region south of Speidel Drive and east of Kennemer Drive would move to Cele Middle School from Kelly Lane Middle School.
- Diablo Road and the neighborhoods east of Diablo Road would move from Kelly Lane Middle School to Cele Middle School.
- The region north of Speidel Drive and east of Crooked Stick Drive would relocate from Kelly Lane Middle School to Cele Middle School.
- Dessau Middle School
- Henneman Drive and the neighborhoods east of Henneman Drive would relocate from Dessau Middle School to Bohls Middle School.
Community concern
Feedback gathered from district families included significant concerns voiced by residents of neighborhoods such as Avalon, Bohls Place, Fairways at Blackhawk and Verona, Dawson said.
Amanda Dean is an Avalon resident and a parent of a kindergartener at Riojas Elementary. While her address is not impacted by the proposed changes, she said she stands in solidarity with parents proposed to send their children to Mott Elementary instead.
Many families purchase homes specifically to align with their preferred school campuses, she said. Splitting Avalon between Riojas and Mott does not follow the guiding principles established by the district during this proposal process, she said.
Heather Smith's house falls in line with the proposed move from Rowe Lane Elementary to Riojas Elementary. The proposal is not ideal on three grounds, she said: geography, numbers and splitting the neighborhood.
From a geographic standpoint, Smith said Riojas Elementary is twice the distance from her house as Rowe Lane. Of approximately 50 elementary school students in her neighborhood, nearly half would not continue to attend Rowe Lane alongside their fellow classmates.
Being overcapacity might not be ideal, but neither is splitting up neighborhoods, Smith said.
Next steps
Following feedback received during town hall meetings and the board's Jan. 21 meeting, the PfISD board of trustees will discuss amended proposals more in depth at the workshop scheduled for Feb. 4.
Residents are still welcome to submit questions to the rezoning subcommittee via PfISD's Let's Talk app.
"We are a fast-growth district, and so we encounter this scenario every couple of years, and it is never easy in Pflugerville or any other district," board President Vernagene Mott said. "Residents and homeowners take pride and ownership in their community and the neighborhood situation, and we're doing the best we can."
