The district began accepting applications for the fall semester July 18. Applicants will be able to choose from 13 elementary schools and two middle schools.
Officials approved during a June 16 meeting a pilot program to allow students who live outside of the district's boundaries to enroll at select campuses for the 2022-23 academic year.
The measure—which was brought forth by district staff, including Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez, as a method of increasing enrollment—was approved by the board in a 4-0 vote. Place 1 Trustee Jun Xiao was not in attendance, and Place 2 Trustee Mary Bone and Place 7 Trustee Danielle Weston left the meeting during public comment, after staying through the public hearing for the district's tax rate.
Azaiez told Community Impact Newspaper that while students attending RRISD schools through this pilot program would be able to take advantage of its programs and opportunities, state funding based on enrollment would also benefit existing students.
"The state doesn't look at whether they're zoned to you or not, they look at how many students you have," Azaiez said. "You get funded based on that. There's a basic allocation for each student, roughly $6,200. Then you add to it, depending on if the student belongs to another student group. So if they happened to be special needs students or in [career and technical education], then you get extra funding. Our current students zoned to us will definitely benefit because this will provide more funding to the school district that we will turn around and use for all of our students."
District administrative staff selected 13 elementary and two middle school campuses to participate in the pilot program. All are projected to be below 70% capacity during the next school year.
District data presented May 18 show more than 5,000 students living in the RRISD footprint were enrolled in local private and charter schools as well as neighboring ISDs during the 2021-22 school year. During that same school year, 507 students transferred into RRISD from neighboring districts, Azaiez said, as its employees are allowed to enroll their students in the district.
Priority for the program will be given to intra-district transfers—students who are already living in RRISD and attending schools but who may want to attend a certain campus with exclusive course offerings. Inter-district transfer students coming into RRISD under the open enrollment pilot will be guaranteed a place on their campus for the duration of their time on that campus, but the district cannot guarantee students will remain in the same feeder pattern once they have completed fifth or eighth grade.
Inter-district transfers will also be held to the same standards as intra-district transfer students and will be expected to maintain good grades, attendance and behavior. They will be evaluated for these on an annual basis.
The following campuses will be included in RRISD's pilot program:
Berkman Elementary School
Bluebonnet Elementary School
Caldwell Heights Elementary School
Canyon Creek Elementary School
Deep Wood Elementary School
Forest North Elementary School
Pond Springs Elementary School
Redbud Elementary School
Robertson Elementary School
Teravista Elementary School
Union Hill Elementary School
Voigt Elementary School
Wells Branch Elementary School
C.D. Fulkes Middle School School
Pearson Ranch Middle School School
