Frisco ISD officials have released the proposed zone for Frisco's seventh high school, Independence, set to open in August 2014.

The zones can be found here on the district website: www.friscoisd.org/news/2013/10/14/independence-zones

At the Oct. 14, meeting, Frisco ISD Board of Trustees and the public got their first glimpse of the new zone, which will affect the zoning of three existing high schools—Centennial, Heritage and Liberty—which are at or above capacity. All three house 2,100 students and Independence will house the same.

"[Without Independence] we could be grossly over capacity, not having enough science labs, cafeteria space, bathroom space," said board member John Hoxie. "Without doing this, without making these changes, we are just creating campuses that are intolerable, right?"

Richard Wilkinson, deputy superintendent for business services, confirmed that without Independence, the three high schools would be overcrowded and possibly out of compliance with city ordinances and other state school requirements.

Independence will house 9th-, 10th- and 11th-grade students and will be a 4A school, offering varsity sports its first year.

The public will be able to voice opinions at the regular Nov. 11 meeting. The board is expected to make a final decision at the December meeting.

Wilkinson told the board while Frisco ISD has been faced with tough re-zoning decisions before, this is the first time it has faced re-zoning three high schools at one time.

He also warned the board that while school officials believe the proposed zones are best for the district for the next two years, it's possible that if high schools eight and nine are necessary, re-zoning could come before the board again in two years for the same schools.

Reedy High School, the district's eighth high school, is set to open in fall 2015 at Stonebrook Parkway and 4th Army Road. Zoning for it will take place in fall 2014, which will affect Frisco and Wakeland high schools.

District community members decided in the early 1990s to maintain a small school concept, Wilkinson said, and as a result, more rezoning might take place in Frisco ISD than in other districts, such as Plano ISD, that have much larger high schools.

Several people spoke during the public forum at the meeting, including a Centennial High School student who, under the proposed new zones, would be attending high school at Independence for his junior year.

Wilkinson said juniors are being moved to Independence as well as 9th- and 10th-grade students because the schools would still be over capacity without the shift.