The approach
At the town hall, parents were able to voice their concerns and desires for the resources at the new middle school, which included equitable resource distribution, offerings of the same programs across schools, and balancing experienced and inexperienced teachers.
Staffing decisions will be based on the school’s enrollment number, with the aim for 25-27 students per class, Superintendent Kimberly James said. Other concerns included transportation services.
“The integration of new schools and the impact on existing feeder patterns and transportation routes are significant points of discretion,” James said. “I definitely am seeing that, and like I said, definitely want to call it out that transportation, we're working on it. We're raising their hourly rates. ... We are doing what we can.”
James said it is important to see what everyone thinks in a low-stakes environment such as a town hall.
The specifics
Population and Survey Analysts will present the proposed rezoning boundaries at an upcoming meeting, which could be as early as February, Communications Director Jamie Fails said.
“If we like what we get, and the board likes what they see, and they vote, [that will become the attendance boundary],” Fails said.
The report from PASA will give a snapshot of the current population of Willis and Conroe to determine which addresses will fall into the new middle school.
“That's going to be like a report that they give us that says, ‘Here's all the new developers that are building homes and neighborhoods,’” Fails said. “‘Here's how many homes are in this neighborhood, here's how many homes are in this one, and here's what your growth is looking like.’”
WISD services a portion of northern Conroe, and currently portions of that area of the city are under a temporary development moratorium due to lack of water, as previously reported.
“That could impact our growth and how quickly that area develops,” Fails said. “It's already crowded, but I mean, still.”
In case you missed it
Homer C. Calfee Middle School is set to open in August, according to district officials. The name comes from the original land owners who the district purchased the land from, Fails said.
The Calfees had a one-room schoolhouse, named The White Oak School, for the children in their family and the children of surrounding farmers, Fails said. Later, WISD began serving the area of the Calfees’ schoolhouse. Fails said the Calfee children graduated from WISD during the 1920s.
Also of note
In the next week, all district fifth, sixth and seventh graders will vote on two mascot options for the new school: Calfee Cougars or Calfee Cheetahs, Fails said.
Fails said the students voted for mascots Lynn Lucas Lynx and Robert Brabham BobKats in 2004, and the district wanted to continue the tradition.
