The district's board of trustees discussed grade level configuration during a Dec. 15 board meeting. The items was for discussion only, and no action was taken by the board.
The gist
District staff presented five scenarios for pre-K, elementary and middle school grade level configurations in November. Since then, the district has held community meetings and received feedback from CISD parents, staff and other community stakeholders. Across stakeholder groups, there was support for the grades 5-6 and grades 7-8 alignments over a grades 5-8 model in the middle schools, CISD Senior Chief Jason Johnston said.
The plan is to close the district's Early Childhood School and move pre-K programs to the district's elementary campuses. Willard Middle School will open with fifth and sixth grade students, while Moore Middle School will hold grades 7-8.
The campuses would follow this grade level alignment for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, then return to K-5 elementary schools and grades 6-8 middle schools, Johnston said.
In case you missed it
O’Dell Elementary is already at capacity this school year, Johnston said at the November meeting. Lykins, Martin, Bothwell and Vasquez elementary are all projected to surpass functional capacity levels by next school year, according to enrollment projections.
CISD administration and staff members created possible scenarios for the campus grade levels.
- In Scenario 1, the Early Childhood School would remain open while elementary schools remain grades K-5. Willard Middle School would open with sixth to eighth grade students, and Moore Middle School would remain a sixth through eighth grade campus.
- Scenario 2 would also keep the Early Childhood School open. Elementary campuses would serve K-4 students. Students in fifth and sixth grade would attend Willard Middle, and grades 7-8 would remain at Moore Middle.
- In Scenario 3, the Early Childhood School would move its students to elementary campuses based on zoning. Elementaries would serve pre-K through fourth grade. Willard Middle would serve grades 5-6, and Moore Middle would serve grades 7-8.
- In Scenario 4, elementary campuses would serve K-4 students, while fifth graders would move to their zoned middle schools. Willard and Moore middle would serve fifth through eighth grade students.
- In Scenario 5, the Early Childhood School would move its students to elementary campuses. Elementary would serve pre-K-4, while the middle schools would serve grades 5-8.
The district's board of trustees is expected to take a vote on 2026-27 attendance boundaries in January or February.
