Conroe ISD sets sights on next phase of population increases

Meeks said the area experiencing the highest increase in student population within the district is in the Oak Ridge High School feeder zone east of I-45 and south of Conroe.

There are currently six elementary schools, with a seventh—Snyder Elementary—opening in the fall, that serve Oak Ridge High School.

Enrollment at those six schools totaled more than 5,100 for the 2011-12 school year, while the enrollment at Oak Ridge High School was more than 3,000 for the same year.

"Probably the next pressing need is for additional high school space for Oak Ridge," Stockton said. "We will definitely need space for Oak Ridge High School students, and we're currently looking for land for a new high school."

He said the district may consider holding another bond election in two to three years.

"There is a challenge in looking at growth," Stockton said. "We study it regularly, but we also have to be patient."

He pointed to the example of when the district opened Oak Ridge High School in 1981 during a strong economy.

Then the local economy faltered and Oak Ridge High School saw its student population decline.

"One of the biggest challenges is when you build, that you don't overbuild," he said. "If you build incorrectly and set peaks too high, then you have buildings that sit empty."

In addition to economic factors, Stockton said, populations within particular school zones change.

"What we see in The Woodlands is, you have lots of young families," he said. "But as the neighborhood gets a little bit older, the people get older and don't move out. You see the [population] peak at a school and enrollment comes down."

At Kauffman Elementary in Imperial Oaks, Stockton said, the population peaked at 1,100 students a few years ago. Now, that school has about 860 students.

"[The families] are not moving out as quickly as they are moving in," he said.