What’s happening
“This process will review all attendance boundaries in the district,” TISD Chief of Staff Amy Schindewolf said. “That doesn't necessarily mean that there will be a change to every attendance boundary in the district. It just means that every attendance boundary will be reviewed, and feedback will be gathered.”
The boundary reset will help with student population growth, which is forcing some TISD campuses to be near capacity or will cause them to exceed capacity, TISD Chief Operating Officer Steven Gutierrez said.
According to TISD, four additional schools—funded by the district’s 2021 bond—are expected to open in the coming school years:
- West Elementary School is slated to open in the 2024-25 school year.
- West Intermediate School is expected to welcome students for the 2025-26 school year.
- Intermediate School No. 5 and Tomball West High School are planned to open for the 2026-27 school year.
The planned timeline for the boundary rezoning is:
- Oct. 11-22: The community can provide feedback and submit questions online through ThoughtExchange.
- Oct. 25: The first committee meeting of all campus principals and one parent per campus will be held at 1 p.m. at the Tomball Event Center.
- Week of Oct. 30: Maps, committee information and a survey will be posted on TISD’s website.
- Nov. 8: Tomball Memorial High School’s auditorium will host the district’s first listening tour at 5:30 p.m. for community members and parents to provide feedback.
- Nov. 15: The district’s second listening tour will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Tomball High School’s auditorium.
- Dec. 4: TISD’s committee will meet again at the Tomball Event Center at 1 p.m.
- Dec. 11: A third committee will be held if needed.
- Week of Dec. 11: Boundary maps, committee information and a survey will be posted on TISD’s website.
- Jan. 8: New attendance boundaries will be proposed to the board of trustees at its workshop.
- Jan. 9: Trustees will consider approving the attendance boundaries.
“So far, it looks like it's a good process,” board Secretary Justin Unser said. “Hope we get off to a really nice start, and we just [work] together, [make] it happen, understanding constraints and all the things that come along with it.”
Administrators’ timeline has some flexibility, Schidewolf said in response to questions from trustees, but presenting the boundaries later than February would not be ideal due to West Elementary’s scheduled opening in fall 2024.
