Updated Feb. 25 10:12 a.m.
Conroe ISD’s growth-oriented rezoning proposal for several schools within The Woodlands and College Park feeder zones was unanimously approved by the district’s board of trustees during a special meeting Feb. 25.
The board’s 7-0 vote in favor of the rezoning scenario, expected to affect more than 600 students currently attending Ride, Lamar, Galatas and Bush elementary schools and Wilkerson and Mitchell intermediate schools, came one week after trustees had rejected the same proposal in a 3-3 vote. The rezoning will go into effect for the 2020-21 school year.
The board’s reversal in the special session followed an extensive and public comment period during which more than 30 parents from around The Woodlands area shared their views on the rezoning proposal and the district’s efforts to address local population growth and overcrowding at several CISD schools.
A large contingent of parents were residents of the Jacob’s Reserve community north of FM 1488, which will have over 320 students rezoned through the approved process. Other parents came from throughout The Woodlands representing communities that may be split by the rezoning. Speakers commented on items such as the monthslong development of the proposal by the district’s parent- and staff-led attendance boundary committee, the effects the plan may have on their respective communities and the overall capacity needs of the district.
Following public comment, Deputy Superintendent Chris Hines—a representative of the committee who had presented on the plan at several previous district meetings—shared the rezoning proposal to the board and assembled parents for a final time alongside several examples of the committee’s rejected plans. Hines noted that while the final plan may not please every member of the community, the committee felt best about its recommended option out of the dozens it considered.
“We had an outstanding committee that wrestled with many issues. They gave a great deal of their time and effort to this process, they understood what it meant,” Hines said. “If this is approved tonight, our staff will welcome these students. We will implement a transition plan to help all of our families feel welcome and valued at the schools at which they are zoned.”
The trustees then took time to thank Hines, the committee and the assembled parents for their roles in the planning and feedback process before their unanimous vote for the rezoning plan.
“As we understand it, the ABC ... have exhaustively explored multiple scenarios, and the committee feels that this is the scenario that is least disruptive to families while addressing district capacity issues,” board President Datren Williams said in a statement before the vote. “We are blessed to live in an exemplary school district where each kid’s success is just as important as the next, and we consider all of our schools and teaching staff as exceptional.”
More information about the rezoning process and maps of the boundary committee's final recommendations may be viewed here.
