Update: AISD board OKs attendance zone for new elementary school

"I voted to approve the boundaries so far because first of all, it's designed to give relief to Wooldridge and Cook," she said, noting both schools are overcrowded. "That part of town is full of rental properties that are full of people with children, so we need to make sure that we can accommodate them. Not only that, but I also think AISD has the best bang for our buck in what we can offer our kids because we offer a comprehensive education that is rich, particularly at our K–5 [level]."

The vote to approve the attendance zone passed 8-0-1. Trustee Robert Schneider abstained from the vote, later explaining that because he operates a consulting business that works with boundary data, voting on the matter would be a conflict of interest.

In October, the district broke ground on the site of the new school, and at its Dec. 2 work session, the board reviewed and discussed the attendance zone. Board documents show Cook is operating at 181 percent capacity in terms of enrollment, while Wooldridge is at 140 percent. The boundaries are expected to lower Cook's usage to 118 percent and Wooldridge to 96 percent, according to board documents.

The district's Boundary Advisory Committee hosted a public hearing Nov. 12 to provide information on the BAC process and present the proposed attendance area to the community. According to AISD, five community members representing the impacted attendance areas attended.

The new school is scheduled to open for the 2014–15 school year.