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Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees finalizes new boundaries

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By Kelsey Wilkinson Wednesday, 08 April 2009

The Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees voted April 7 to change the district’s attendance boundaries in an effort to relieve specific campuses of overcrowding and under-utilization and to set new boundaries for schools opening August 2010.

The key issues addressed at the meeting were the repercussions of reorienting neighborhoods, changing feeder schools and the safety concerns of transporting students across IH 35.

After a presentation prepared by the boundary committee, the school board heard concerns about district restructuring from several of the district’s students, parents and teachers. After nearly three hours of emotional testimony to the panel, members of the board opened boundary restructuring to discussion and put the issues to a vote.

The board voted to send students residing in the Mayfield neighborhood to Sommer Elementary and to relocate students in the Stone Oak Neighborhood to Teravista Elementary for the 2009-2010 school year in order to relieve overcrowding at Cactus Ranch Elementary. The board offered the option for students entering fifth grade in 2009 and their siblings to transfer back to Cactus Ranch with no transportation provided by the district. In 2010, Mayfield and Stone Oak students will attend the new elementary campus currently in construction in the Stone Oak neighborhood. Charles Chadwell is the only board member who opposed the motion.

The board unanimously voted to maintain elementary boundaries in the southeast quadrant and to redraw boundaries for the elementary school in the Stone Oak neighborhood for the 2010-2011 school year. Students entering the fifth grade in 2010 will have the option to remain at their current school through their own transportation.

Trustees established boundaries for a new middle school to be located at the Stony Point 9th grade center in order to reduced attendance at Hopewell and Ridgeview middle schools.

They also voted to expand the CD Fulkes Middle School boundary to include the Callison elementary boundary, which reduces the Ridgeview Middle School attendance zone by that amount. The board elected to extend the eastern boundary of Canyon Vista in order to reduce the Deerpark Middle School boundary. Eighth graders in 2010 will have the option to remain at their current campus provided they utilize their own transportation.

Discussion of high school boundaries sparked the most discussion from the trustees as they weighed the balance of community opposition and school over crowding. In a four-three vote, the board decided to expand the Round Rock High School boundary to include the Great Oaks Elementary area which reduced the McNeil High School boundary.

In a less contested decision, the board voted to reduce the boundary of Stony Point High School by creating a boundary for Cedar Ridge High School. In addition to this area, students in the Wells Branch neighborhood currently attending Round Rock High School will move to Cedar Ridge. The Stony Point Boundary was expanded to include the Mayfield Ranch and Stone Oak areas in order to relieve Round Rock High School over-crowding. Finally, they voted to extend the Westwood High School boundary to reduce the McNeil attendance zone.

In addition to boundaries, the board also voted to determine which grade levels would be affected by the changes in redistricting. Trustees voted to open Cedar Ridge High School with “true” freshman and sophomores. Students zoned for these areas will not have the option to remain at their current campus unless they are approved for a program or academy that is not available at Cedar Ridge. The two-grade level option will be applied to all affected campuses for the 2010-2011 academic year. The district will provide transportation for freshmen who elect to begin their school year at their newly designated high school beginning in 2009.

For more information and to see read more about the boundaries, visit www.roundrockisd.org.