“This is just the start,” said Trustee Amy Weir, who also serves as the chair of the facilities and finance committee for the board. “We’re not done. We’re definitely still working on this.”
Should the concept plans advance, boundaries could be altered to relieve overcrowding at elementary schools and realign feeder patters for middle and high schools. Before any plans can be adopted, two public hearings must take place, per board policy. Attendance changes must be approved by March 1, Weir said.
“We’ve got a lot to discuss on these, a lot of options,” board president Chad Chadwell said.
Trustee Nikki Gonzales said the maps as presented Nov. 21 were not detailed enough to provide a thorough understanding of the proposed boundary changes.
“This really doesn’t help me at all,” Gonzales said. “I need to know how many kids we would take out and where we would put them.”
RRISD Chief Operating Officer Terry Worcester said he would work with district demographer Templeton Demographics to provide more detailed information.
Latest enrollment numbers show the district at 51,089 students as of Nov. 19. For the 2019-20 school year, Round Rock ISD has seven high schools—five comprehensive high schools, Early College High School and Success High School—11 middle schools and 34 elementary schools.
A weekly enrollment report dated Nov. 13-19 shows that 26 of 55 campuses were operating above capacity last week. This includes 13 elementary schools, eight middle schools and five high schools with more students enrolled than space allotted in the building.
The district’s last changes to attendance zones were approved in November 2016 and went into effect at the start of the 2017-18 academic year. The board altered boundaries for Cedar Valley, Chisholm Trail, Deerpark, Grisham and Walsh middle schools in order to carve out a new boundary for Pearson Ranch Middle School, which opened in August 2017.
Prior to this, the Round Rock ISD board of trustees approved in February 2012 school boundary changes for the 2012–13 school year, which aimed to relieve overcrowding at the high schools.
