Frisco ISD proposed attendance zone changes for the 2023-24 school year during the board of trustees meeting Oct. 17.
This district has seven campuses at capacity, a FISD newsletter stated. These include four elementary schools and three middle schools. All new students who move to one of these campus attendance zones are being enrolled at neighboring schools, the newsletter stated.
Next year FISD will open Shana K. Wortham Intermediate School and Richard A. Wilkinson Middle School to provide capacity relief, staff said. It marks the district’s first intermediate school and will serve fifth- and sixth-grade students.
“Our growth happens in different areas of the district year to year, and we have to make adjustments based on that,” Chief Operations Officer Scott Warstler said. “This isn't something we take lightly. We understand it impacts families and impacts kids. But it is a necessary evil of being a district that is growing and continues to grow like Frisco ISD.”
School attendance zone changes are routine for Frisco ISD. Over the past 21 years, FISD has rezoned 18 times to balance enrollment and accommodate the opening of 63 new campuses, according to the district newsletter.
Demographic projections showed the district is expected to continue growing by about 1,000 students each year until 2025.
The proposed 2023-24 boundary adjustments affect middle and elementary school campuses. Starting with the opening of the middle school, some students who live in the Trent Middle School zone will be rezoned to the new campus under the proposed changes. Trent is one of the schools at capacity.
The central portion of the district contains three elementary schools that are at capacity. Changes are being proposed within the Allen, Bledsoe, Borchardt, Curtsinger, Riddle, Shawnee Trail, Smith and Spears zones to help relieve those campuses.
Isbell Elementary is the last elementary school at capacity. The proposed changes to relieve this campus are in the McSpedden and Isbell zones.
During the presentation, it was noted that with the opening of the intermediate school, none of the schools in the area would have fifth-grade classes, which creates availability at the schools. This means Comstock, Elliott and Ogle elementary schools will serve students through fourth grade, while Scoggins will become a campus exclusively open to seventh- and eighth-grade students, according to a district news release.
As a result of the change to Scoggins, the neighboring campuses Lawler and Vandeventer are proposed to have different attendance zones with Scoggins' zone growing.
Even though the new campuses are opening next year, establishing school zones now helps the district work behind the scenes to open the new campuses, according to the FISD newsletter. This includes student transfer requests, which will open in January, and staff hiring.
Families that are expected to be affected by rezoning will be contacted directly by the district. Parents and families are encouraged to share input and questions with district personnel about the proposed attendance zones. To provide feedback, parents can call 469-633-6031 or email [email protected]. All feedback will be compiled and communicated each week with the board of trustees, which will vote on attendance zones for the 2023-24 school year in November.
A public hearing is set for a Nov. 7 special board meeting, and the FISD board is expected to vote on the new attendance boundaries Nov. 14. The proposed changes would go into effect fall 2023 for that school year.
More information and proposed zoning maps are available at www.friscoisd.org/departments/attendance-zones/rezoning.
