The board of trustees approved the seventh and final attendance zone map draft Dec. 16. The rezoning helped create an attendance zone for Ramage Elementary, HCISD's 17th elementary school and newest campus set to open next year.
The details
Per agenda documents, the approved map:
- Moves some students from Hemphill Elementary planning units 69, 70, 71 and 72, Fuentes Elementary planning units 79 and 87, and Uhland Elementary planning units 66 and 140 to Ramage Elementary
- Moves some students from Uhland planning units 98 and 139 to Science Hall Elementary and Uhland planning unit 89 to Fuentes
- Moves some students from Camino Real Elementary planning units 63 and 64 to Uhland
Map 7 also provides some provisions, including allowing affected students entering fifth, seventh or eighth grade in 2025-26, along with their siblings, to choose to remain at their current campus. However, transportation for these zone-affected transfers will not be available.
Something to note
While the new attendance zone map does not make any changes to the Sunfield Elementary zone, district officials said a possible May bond could include building a new elementary school that would help alleviate Sunfield's growing population.
Holding off on rezoning Sunfield now prevents families from having to be rezoned now and possibly again in the future, per agenda documents.
The district is also set to implement a voluntary transfer program called Hays Choice. The program would seek voluntary student transfers before having to implement "cap and overflow," or when a school reaches capacity and new students moving to the area are required to attend the next assigned school.
McCormick Middle School students could choose to go to Dahlstrom Middle School through the program, freeing up space at McCormick for incoming students.
- Applications will be accepted throughout January, then reviewed to determine if there is enough student interest to run the program.
- Parents will be notified in February if transfer requests were approved and if transportation is included, and will have until March to accept or decline admission.
- Students must meet current transfer eligibility requirements to qualify for the program.
District officials said they are anticipating a "major review" of middle and high school attendance zone maps in the next few years if a fourth high school—which could be part of the 2025 bond—is built.
In the meantime, agenda documents show McCormick student capacity remains an issue. In 2025-26, the campus is projected to be at 106% capacity with 1,314 students. By 2027, the campus could reach 125% capacity with 1,546 students. Dahlstrom is projected to be at 62% and 61% capacity, respectively.
Suggested recommendations from officials to alleviate this include:
- Adding temporary portable classrooms
- Moving specialized districtwide programs to other campuses to free classroom space
- Piloting the Hays Choice program
