At its Dec. 11 meeting, the Magnolia ISD school board approved new elementary school boundaries in anticipation of Audubon Elementary opening next August. The new school is the first new elementary campus to open in MISD since 2005, Community Impact previously reported.
In a nutshell
Out of nearly 5,600 elementary students, 984 will be affected by rezoning, according to district documents. Of those 984 students:
- 366 will move to the new Audubon Elementary
- 618 will move to an existing MISD campus
Zooming in
Enrollment capacity at all of MISD’s elementary schools is 900, according to data from the district. Without redrawing boundaries to populate the new Audubon Elementary, several of those elementary schools would exceed capacity.
“Since I presented to [the board] last month, we have not heard much feedback whatsoever on anything that we’ve posted on our website that’s been proposed,” said Ben King, executive director of secondary student services, during the meeting. “So since I presented to you last month, really we’ve had no reason to change what we’re proposing.”
What else?
MISD does have an intradistrict transfer process families who are impacted by the rezoning could use if they want their children to stay at their current campus, King said during his presentation.
“We have not narrowed [intradistrict transfers] to say, ‘Hey, it can only be your last year in that elementary school,’” King said. “We would like to start off very general and let the capacity of schools, staffing and program availability be the driver of that decision-making so that we don’t pigeonhole ourselves into only being able to say it has to be your last year in that school in order for you to be granted a transfer.”
King also said the district’s goal is to have the intradistrict transfer process available by next February, and students who are granted transfers will be responsible for their own transportation.
“The one caveat is—we never have—we don’t intend to provide transportation for students on intradistrict transfers,” King said. “So if you’re zoned to Williams but you get your intradistrict transfer approved to stay at Magnolia Elementary, that’s awesome, you can stay at Magnolia Elementary, but we would not transport those students to Magnolia Elementary School.”
Transfers are valid for one school year, so parents are asked to apply each year, King said.
Learn more
To learn more about the rezoning, visit www.magnoliaisd.org/district/attendance-zones/2024-2025-rezoning.
