Seeking to address Plfugerville ISD’s rapid population growth, seven schools within the district will have students from new attendance boundaries for the 2019-20 academic year. The district's board approved the new zones Jan. 17 for Copperfield Elementary, Delco Primary and Dessau Elementary schools;Dessau and Westview middle schools; and Connally and Weiss high schools. "We have a very large district very close to us that is struggling right now with the idea of having to shut down a lot of schools in part because things have gotten out of hand and out of whack as far as enrollment in many of these schools,” trustee Carol Fletcher said, referring to neighboring Austin ISD’s recent efforts to address challenges caused by a budget deficit and a 6,000 student decline in enrollment since the 2013-14 school year. “They didn't have the political will starting many years ago to make the decision to maximize efficiency by making those small tweaks in boundaries as necessary." The new boundaries will be implemented by the start of the 2019-20 school year, but students who live in an area of the district that had its attendance boundaries changed may apply in March to be grandfathered into their current school. Transportation for grandfathered-in students will not be provided, said Kettisha Jones, PfISD assistant superintendent of elementary education. Over the summer, students will receive classroom assignments and updates on transportation changes. The eastern portion of PfISD near SH 130 has been identified by demographer Trent Smith of Templeton Demographics as the district’s fastest-growing area. Over the next five years, PfSD’s student population is projected to grow by nearly 3,000 students, according to a report presented by Smith to the board Nov. 15. Over 10 years, PfISD’s student population is projected to grow by over 5,000 students to a total of 31,047 students. Delco Primary will add three additional grades to offer Pre-K through fifth grade, Jones said. Dessau Elementary will add three additional grades to offer Pre-K through fifth grade. The attendance boundaries will also change to send more students to Copperfield Elementary School, which is a traditional Pre-K through fifth grade campus and is currently underenrolled. This will help ensure that adding additional grades to Delco Primary and Dessau Elementary will not overcrowd the schools, according to Jones' presentation. To ensure these changes do not create overcrowding in the middle and high schools in these feeder patterns, those attendance boundaries were shifted slightly as well, Jones said. Schools with larger growth projections were funneled fewer additional students from the elementary schools, and schools with slower growth projections were funneled greater amounts of new students. Fletcher said she is hopeful these changes will help the district address its growth in an efficient way. “We don't kick the can down the road,” she said. “We see that we are going to have a problem and we make an attempt to get ahead of the curve instead of waiting until it’s going into crisis and end up spending a lot of money that could have been spent more efficiently on our kids.” Parents, students and faculty with questions or concerns about the boundary alignment changes may contact Jones at [email protected].

2019-20 enrollment changes by campus

Copperfield Elementary School Enroll 159 students from Delco and Dessau Elementary Current enrollment: 404 students Building capacity: 764 students Delco Primary School Changed from Pre-K through second grade to Pre-K through fifth grade Current enrollment: 602 students Building capacity: 750 students Dessau Elementary School Change from third grade through fifth grade to Pre-K through fifth grade Current enrollment: 546 students Building capacity: 600 students Dessau Middle School Move 69 students to Westview Middle School Current enrollment: 842 students Building capacity: 1,058 students Westview Middle School Enroll 69 students from Dessau Middle School Current enrollment: 759 students Building capacity: 946 students Connally High School Enroll 30 students from Weiss High School Current enrollment: 1,733 students Building capacity: 2,475 students Weiss High School Move 30 students to Connally High School Current enrollment: 1,384 students Building capacity: 2,497 students