The board also approved a grandfathering clause for students who will be entering fourth or fifth grade at the affected elementary schools or seventh and eighth grade at the affected middle school. This means the students will have the option to finish their final year or two at the campus to which they were previously zoned, if they chose.
A closer look
The board approved changes to Caraway’s boundaries with an intent to relieve overcrowding. With the board’s action, approximately 300 students—including rising fourth and fifth graders eligible for grandfathering—from the Alameda Trace Circle neighborhood and Riata Austin apartment complex have been rezoned to Jollyville Elementary School.
For C.D. Fulkes, changes approved by the board realign a split feeder pattern. Previously, approximately 150 students from the Berkman Elementary attendance area were zoned to attend C.D. Fulkes and would then transition to Stony Point High School. Now, all C.D. Fulkes students—including those in the Berkman Elementary zone—will transition to Cedar Ridge High School.
To alleviate overcrowding and help align feeder patterns at Elsa England, the board approved a zoning change that reroutes around 220 students—including rising fourth and fifth graders eligible for grandfathering—from the Highland Horizon neighborhood to Great Oaks Elementary School. Highland Horizon had previously been the only neighborhood at England that goes to Cedar Valley and Round Rock High School instead of Pearson Ranch Middle School and McNeil High School.
The board approved changes to Herrington’s boundaries with an intent to address overcrowding. For the 2020-21 academic year, approximately 60 students—including rising fourth and fifth graders eligible for grandfathering—were rezoned to Teravista. An additional 470 students were rezoned to Elementary No. 35 beginning in fall 2021. These changes affect students living in Paloma Lake, Ryan’s Crossing, Saddlebrook, Saddlebrook Estates, Settlers Overlook, Teravista and Vizcaya.
To alleviate overcrowding at Teravista, approximately 115 students—including rising fourth and fifth graders eligible for grandfathering—from the Chandler Creek neighborhood were rezoned to Double File Trail Elementary School.
For Joe Lee Johnson, changes will address a split feeder pattern. Previously, around 70 students in the Joe Lee Johnson attendance area were zoned to attend Chisholm Trail Middle School. Now all students attending Joe Lee Johnson will transition to Deerpark Middle School.
Reason for the changes
Boundary changes were approved in preparation for the opening of Elementary School No. 35 in fall 2021 to address campus capacity issues at three elementary schools and to realign feeder patterns, said Daniel Presley, the senior chief of schools and innovation for RRISD.
Elementary No. 35 will be built in the Ryan’s Crossing neighborhood near Old Settlers Park in northeast Round Rock. The school will provide space for about 900 students and is expected to cost approximately $48 million, according to the district.
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.
