The discussion
Assistant Superintendent of Operations Chris McCord discussed the process of rezoning and how overcrowding from the nearby elementary schools is affecting operations in some areas.
“Primarily the growth we are seeing is coming north of [FM] 1488. Now there is some growth in The Woodlands, but a lot of that down south and to the east is not to Conroe ISD,” McCord said.
Construction for both schools is funded through the $1.9 billion 2023 school bond approved by voters.
Eissler Elementary, a K-6 school, will feed into The Woodlands High School and will be located at 14000 Old Conroe Road, Conroe. It will provide relief to Bush and Buckalew elementary schools as well as Mitchell Intermediate and Deretchin intermediate schools.
Mittie J. Campbell Elementary School is located at 15895 Stonecrest Drive, Conroe. It will provide overcrowding relief in the region to Suchma, Oak Ridge and San Jacinto elementary schools in the Oak Ridge and Caney Creek high school feeder zones.
McCord said one reason overcapacity schools are a concern for the district is because of special programs within the schools that limit the amount of students in a classroom.
The board voted 4-3, with trustees Marianne Horton, Melissa Dungan and Melissa Semmler against the boundaries for Eissler Elementary, and 7-0 for Campbell Elementary.
How we got here
The district established an Attendance Boundary Committee to study student growth in the affected areas, and to make a recommendation for attendance boundaries, as previously reported by Community Impact.
The maps have been made with community feedback on items such as:
- Geographical location
- Minimizing impact on families
- Transportation patterns
“I appreciate all that you have done. As a Woodlands resident, there are a lot of complaints about kids that are spending too much time on the bus and that we also have a lot of splits in our feeders,” said Horton, who voted against the Eissler zoning plan.
“My one concern that I want to put out there is that when students are so far away from the schools where they attend, it makes it very difficult for relationships to happen outside of school, for a community of students to build because there’s that distance of travel,” board President Misty Odenweller said. Odenweller voter in favor of both attendance boundaries.
“I do think this [Eissler] will negatively impact our ADA [average daily attendance] negatively because we’ve got students running behind [and] we might not have them in school on time to count for their attendance. I think it can negatively impact our grades because I think that it is very hard as a parent to get your kid to school early for tutoring if they’re really far from the school,” trustee Melissa Semmler said. Semmler voted against the Eissler zoning.
