McKinney ISD reschedules community input meeting on attendance zones to Dec. 4

The event will be a come-and-go style session to provide input on the work of the Educational Facilities Alignment Committee, or EFAC. The committee, which has met five times since September, will continue to meet through December to create a recommendation for new attendance zone boundaries within the district.

EFAC members requested an additional meeting be added to the committee’s schedule, which will be held Dec. 2 and is the cause for the community input event being rescheduled, Superintendent Shawn Pratt said at a Nov. 17 board meeting.

The context

Members of the EFAC, which was created by the school board at a Sept. 15 board meeting, were tasked with determining three elementary schools that will be closed and repurposed for alternative district uses, as well as creating new school attendance zone maps for the elementary, middle and high school levels that could be approved by the board and implemented by the 2026-27 school year.

The committee’s formation comes after various district planning efforts, including a Long Range Facilities Planning Committee that identified a need for potential school closures. Officials also identified that in the district’s southwest sector, south of US 380 and west of US 75, is expected to see a decline in elementary enrollment, according to data from demographics studies company Zonda Education, which prompted an evaluation of 13 campuses in that area by the committee.

“Significant residential growth in the northwest and northeast regions of MISD will lead to overcrowding at Frazier, Press, and Webb Elementary Schools,” the district’s website states. “At the same time, elementary enrollment in the southwest and southeast regions of the district has declined, creating an imbalance in student distribution.”

The changing enrollment is impacting secondary schools, with Johnson Middle School and McKinney North High School experiencing an increase in enrollment while the district’s four other middle schools and two other high schools are expected to see a decline, the website states.

The planned repurposing of campuses and attendance zone changes are also expected to reduce operational and staffing costs for “underutilized campuses,” the website states. The savings is expected to amount to $3 million annually, according to a presentation at a Nov. 5 special board meeting.

Looking ahead

Following the completion of committee meetings scheduled for November and December, as well as the second community input session, a recommendation for new attendance zones is expected to be presented to board members at a Dec. 15 meeting.

For more information on the committee, visit www.mckinneyisd.net/page/efac.