Residents of the Village of Diamond Bay, a neighborhood in the Pearland master-planned community of Shadow Creek Ranch, are petitioning to detach from Fort Bend ISD.
Citing a disconnect between themselves and the Shadow Creek Ranch residents who attend school in Pearland, the petitioners are asking to be annexed into Alvin ISD instead.
“The majority of students in Shadow Creek Ranch [Village of Diamond Bay] are attending schools other than the Fort Bend ISD zoned schools, which leads to a disconnect within the community,” the petition said. “The students are alienated and isolated from their peer groups.”
Most of Shadow Creek Ranch is in Brazoria County but Village of Diamond Bay is in Fort Bend County, and is zoned to Fort Bend ISD[/caption]
All of Shadow Creek Ranch has a Pearland mailing address, but unlike most of the master-planned community, the Village of Diamond Bay is in Fort Bend County. Students in the neighborhood attend FBISD schools Blue Ridge Elementary, Christa McAuliffe Middle and Willowridge High.
FBISD will hold a public hearing on the petition Sept. 26, but AISD Director of Communications Daniel Combs said his district has not set a date for its hearing. Each school district affected by a potential detachment and annexation is required to do so, according to the Texas Education Code.
“FBISD is currently evaluating the petition and has not yet made any determination about the petitioner’s request,” Kristin Tassin, president of the FBISD board of trustees, said in a statement.
The Village of Diamond Bay has 1,706 housing units and 2,400 owners, according to the company, but Combs and Amanda Bubela, FBISD director of External Communications and Media Relations, said they did not know how many students would be impacted by annexation. Combs said AISD is adding new schools and about 1,300 students every year.
The general boundaries of the Village of Diamond Bay are FM 521 to the west, FM 2234 to the north, Trinity Bay Drive to the east and West Broadway Street to the south, according to FirstService Residential Company, which manages Shadow Creek Ranch.
The petition states that the FBISD schools to which Shadow Creek Ranch residents are zoned received lower student achievement scores on their state accountability reports for the 2014-15 school year than scores received by the AISD schools zoned to the community.
“Given the lack of safe walkways and sidewalks, as well as distance, students in Shadow Creek Ranch [Village of Diamond Bay] are unable to walk or bike to school,” the petition said.
According to the state’s education code, a petition for annexation must be signed by a majority of either the registered voters residing in the territory to be detached and annexed, or “the surface owners of taxable property in the territory to be detached and annexed, if the territory does not have residents.”
Both boards of trustees must sign to detach and annex the students, respectively, and the Fort Bend and Brazoria counties’ Commissioners Courts must enter an order to redefine school district boundaries before the move is finalized.
If one board disapproves of the petition the petitioners may appeal to the commissioner but if both boards disapprove the decision may not be appealed, according to the code.
Most of Shadow Creek Ranch is in Brazoria County but Village of Diamond Bay is in Fort Bend County, and is zoned to Fort Bend ISD[/caption]
All of Shadow Creek Ranch has a Pearland mailing address, but unlike most of the master-planned community, the Village of Diamond Bay is in Fort Bend County. Students in the neighborhood attend FBISD schools Blue Ridge Elementary, Christa McAuliffe Middle and Willowridge High.
FBISD will hold a public hearing on the petition Sept. 26, but AISD Director of Communications Daniel Combs said his district has not set a date for its hearing. Each school district affected by a potential detachment and annexation is required to do so, according to the Texas Education Code.
“FBISD is currently evaluating the petition and has not yet made any determination about the petitioner’s request,” Kristin Tassin, president of the FBISD board of trustees, said in a statement.
The Village of Diamond Bay has 1,706 housing units and 2,400 owners, according to the company, but Combs and Amanda Bubela, FBISD director of External Communications and Media Relations, said they did not know how many students would be impacted by annexation. Combs said AISD is adding new schools and about 1,300 students every year.
The general boundaries of the Village of Diamond Bay are FM 521 to the west, FM 2234 to the north, Trinity Bay Drive to the east and West Broadway Street to the south, according to FirstService Residential Company, which manages Shadow Creek Ranch.
The petition states that the FBISD schools to which Shadow Creek Ranch residents are zoned received lower student achievement scores on their state accountability reports for the 2014-15 school year than scores received by the AISD schools zoned to the community.
“Given the lack of safe walkways and sidewalks, as well as distance, students in Shadow Creek Ranch [Village of Diamond Bay] are unable to walk or bike to school,” the petition said.
According to the state’s education code, a petition for annexation must be signed by a majority of either the registered voters residing in the territory to be detached and annexed, or “the surface owners of taxable property in the territory to be detached and annexed, if the territory does not have residents.”
Both boards of trustees must sign to detach and annex the students, respectively, and the Fort Bend and Brazoria counties’ Commissioners Courts must enter an order to redefine school district boundaries before the move is finalized.
If one board disapproves of the petition the petitioners may appeal to the commissioner but if both boards disapprove the decision may not be appealed, according to the code.
