The details
Trustees approved the new zoning boundaries during their May 6 meeting.
The rezoning efforts are coming as the district completes an expansion project for Summerwood Elementary, included in HISD's $775 million bond election that was approved in 2022.
HISD Deputy Superintendent Terry Perkins said the rezoning changes were originally meant to affect all elementary students zoned to attend Summerwood and Centennial beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
However, because six new classrooms will be ready at Summerwood Elementary by the start of the 2025-26 school year, Perkins said the district is moving forward with the zoning changes a year earlier for kindergarten students and students moving in from outside the district to address anticipated overcrowding at Centennial Elementary.
“I wouldn't say that Centennial is overcrowded today, but with another incoming group of kindergartners next year ... it would push core classes outside the main building of Centennial and into temporary buildings,” Perkins said.
What's changing?
According to the new attendance zones, all incoming kindergarten students residing in Sections 55B and 55F, and all new students who move into Sections 55B and 55F, will be rezoned from Centennial Elementary to Summerwood Elementary beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
Additionally, the new attendance zones will be applied to remaining students in all grade levels at the campuses beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
Perkins said the zoning changes will stave off the need for Centennial Elementary officials to use temporary buildings in the 2025-26 school. He noted the changes will also address the potential for overcrowding in the future at the campus.
Had the attendance zones remained unchanged, enrollment projections from demographic firm Population and Survey Analysts shows the student populations for Summerwood and Centennial reaching roughly 600 and 1,340 students, respectively, by the 2031-32 school year.
With the approved zoning changes, the student populations for Summerwood and Centennial will reach roughly 980 and 960 students, respectively, by the 2031-32 school year, according to PASA data.
Also of note
Officials noted students who are already attending Centennial Elementary this year can remain at the campus next school year. However, rezoned students who would like to remain at Centennial Elementary beyond the 2025-26 school year will be required to go through the district's transfer process.
Additionally, officials said students with siblings at either campus will be allowed to remain at the same campus as their sibling by utilizing the transfer process.
Parents of transfer students are responsible for their children’s transportation to and from school, officials said.
